The deeply intertwined dual pandemics of COVID-19 and White supremacy inflict well-documented harms to the health, safety and welfare of Black people, Indigenous people and other people of color in the United States. Racism, colonialism, sexism and exploitation are perpetuated by architects through our interventions in the built environment, but we receive insufficient training about how, or what we can do differently.

Just Practice is a professional development resource designed to facilitate conversations in design workplaces. The interactive curriculum encourages critical dialogue on Whiteness, White supremacy, racism, patriarchy and power within architectural work, and provide resources for continuing engagement with these subjects. This course is an hourlong introduction to the full curriculum offered by Collaborative Design Workshop.

There is no ‘quick fix’ to the problems of White supremacy in architecture; like antiracism itself, just practice is not an endpoint to be reached, but a continual process. In the words of Rosa Sheng, principal at SmithGroup and a founder of Equity by Design, “Justice and equity are preconditions for diversity and inclusion.”

This workshop is free and open to the public. AIA members will receive 1 LU Credit.