October 2023 Table of Contents

Dark Matter U, a democratic collective responsible for the design, content, and coediting of this month’s issue of ARCHITECT, was formed in 2020 alongside protests for the reinvigorated Black Lives Matter movement and the global COVID-19 pandemic. Read more

Reflections on the creation of design justice network in academia and the zeitgeist of a movement. Read more

How practitioners can hold a more expansive view of the architect’s role within the design profession. Read more

Rethinking context as a tool of liberation woven from reflections, thoughts, and conversations within the Dark Matter U network. Read more

A collaborative manifesto. Read more

Helmed by Miami-based designer Germane Barnes, the Regenerating Roots project "shifts the narrative of this community from one of vulnerability and charity to one of power and authenticity," Barnes writes. Read more

With the New Orleans– and Portland-based firm Colloqate serving as design architect, this "library renovation connects the stories of its residents into its architectural fabric," Colloqate founder Bryan C. Lee Jr. writes. Read more

Dreamed up by Double Happiness, the Bentway Conservancy–commissioned project "offers an urban 'lounge' for human recreation, while acting as an aggregation of spaces designed for animal inhabitation and awareness," the architects write. Read more

The project, which includes a 1.75-mile nature trail, also "integrate[s] science and art, fostering a connection with the land and enhancing cultural belonging," María A. Villalobos H. writes. Read more

The Los Angeles–based firm used community discussions and thorough research to frame the expansion and adaptive reuse project. Read more

Brought to life by Jennifer Newsome and Tom Carruthers of Dream the Combine, this Columbus, Ind., project addresses "extractive and exploitative practices." Read more

Working with Midjourney, Curry J. Hackett conjured photorealistic worlds that evoke the "sophistication and resourcefulness embedded in Black material culture." Read more

Realized by the New York–based Jerome Haferd Studio, Sankofa is a modular structure that provides a gathering space for nearby communities. Read more

Dark Matter U's approach to historic and cultural preservation is not only more just and sustainable, it's multivocal, multigenerational, and multicultural. Learn how the collective finds joy in connecting with what’s been left behind by engaging with who has been left to care for it. Read more

What would it look like for our Asian diasporic communities to experience a deep affirmation of who we are in the buildings, landscapes, and everyday spaces we occupy and shape? Read more

Dark Matter U's work with the Gowanus community Brooklyn, N.Y., resulted in a Neighborhood Design Fellowship in which residents "participated in workshops that centered community knowledge and visioning of goals and objectives for collective spaces." Read more

The New York–based organization’s Humanities in Place program aims to support designers who are preserving and building more just communities. Read more

Meet the BIPOC professors and professionals in service of rural communities. Read more

Teaching anti-racist models of design education to the youth. Read more

NOMA youth summer camps train tomorrow’s design justice advocates. Read more

Building on the work of Dark Matter U, these members of the next generation of design justice advocates are bringing experience and situated knowledge to transform the classroom and the discipline, making it more inclusive and community-centered. Read more

Read excerpts from the design justice network in conversation, as collected in May 2023. Read more

How can architects prioritize health and equity for all communities? Read more

The impact of new technology is still an unknown quantity. Read more

Designers are confronting changes in practice and purpose wrought by sweeping technological shifts. Read more

AIA’s point of view as a client for our building renewal. Read more

Respond to The Dark Matter Issue. Read more