Meet ARCHITECT's Game Changers

In this issue, ARCHITECT celebrates a dozen inspirational individuals and organizations who, through their practices, projects, and ideas, are changing the world of architecture and design. Many of these game changers are emerging in their fields of expertise, but they all provide innovative solutions to obstacles we face every day. The leaders profiled here are challenging the status quo to lay the groundwork for inclusive, sustainable, and caring environments around the world. If one thing brings them together, it’s that they offer a model for practitioners during our turbulent times–demonstrating the power of architecture and design to forge real change.

Meet these game changers below.

The Game Changers Issue

Next Progressives

Next Progressives: Delma Palma

by edited by Alex V. Cipolle and Madeleine D'Angelo

The New York City Housing Authority deputy director of design wants to do away with the "idea that one person behind a desk can best understand how to design for a community of users."

The Game Changers Issue

Laurian Ghinițoiu Offers a Fresh Approach to Photographing the Built Environment

by Anjulie Rao

The photographer focuses on its social, political, and physical contexts.

The Game Changers Issue

In Tuskegee and Pennsylvania, Educators Lead the Next Generation of Architectural Preservation

by Anjulie Rao

Leaders from Tuskegee University’s Department of Architecture and University of Pennsylvania’s Weitzman School are spearheading an initiative dubbed “Capacity Building for Sustainable Preservation of Civil Rights Heritage Places.”

The Game Changers Issue

Open Design Collective Gets Communities Involved in Planning Their Own Neighborhoods

by Annie Howard

The Oklahoma City–based nonprofit's first major project sought to repair damage from urban renewal in the local, largely Black community of South of 8th Street.

The Game Changers Issue

Nupur Chaudhury Imagines Public Health as a Matter of the Built Environment

by Anjulie Rao

Working alongside Dark Matter University, the urbanist and health-equity expert helped launch a curriculum that trains communities to lead their own design processes.

The Game Changers Issue

Tonika Lewis Johnson Uses Maps to Explore the Effects of Contract Buying on a Chicago Neighborhood

by Annie Howard

Called Inequity for Sale, the social justice artist's new project came to life during a 2021 residency with the National Public Housing Museum.

The Game Changers Issue

With This Knit-Casting Process, Concrete Leans Sartorial and Minimizes Production Waste

by Edward Keegan, AIA

Tsz Yan Ng, Sean Ahlquist, and Evgueni Filipov are harnessing CNC-manufactured knits to develop a process that results in intricate and efficient glass-fiber-reinforced concrete.

The Game Changers Issue

Segregation by Design Examines Systemic Racism in American Cities

by Edward Keegan, AIA

Founded by the New York architectural designer Adam Paul Susaneck, the website presents the stark reality of racist urban planning practices in the built environment.

The Game Changers Issue

This Nonprofit Uses Schools to Anchor Mixed-Use, Income-Diverse Community Development

by Annie Howard

Helmed by Nora Jendoubi and Derwin Sisnett, Memphis, Tenn.–based Maslow Development aims to create structures for all residents to succeed.

The Game Changers Issue

TreesAI Shows Communities How to Maintain and Grow Their Urban Forests

by Andrea Timpano

The startup, founded by the Amsterdam-headquartered, not-for-profit Dark Matter Labs, offers a software aimed to help cities plan and sustain urban foliage.

The Game Changers Issue

At CCA, a Land-Acknowledgment Working Group Bolsters Ties with Indigenous Communities

by Anjulie Rao

Formed by The Canadian Centre for Architecture in 2021, Living Lands has produced residencies, exhibitions, and more.

Editorial

Youssef Nassef Wants to Lead Us Down the Path to Permanent Resilience

by Paul Makovsky

In his editorial for our Game Changers Issue, editor-in-chief Paul Makovsky highlights the work of Youssef Nassef, the director of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change adaptation workstreams.

This feature first appeared in the October 2022 issue of ARCHITECT.