Guest Editors: Ann de Graft-Johnson and Renée Tobe

The murder of George Floyd and the significantly increased Black Lives Matter movement have brought race issues to the fore in a global context (Daradahi 2020, Hincks 2020). This issue aims to address areas of race and space in the context of design, architectural education and location, taking into account that space might be seen as physical, virtual, cultural and/or intellectual. Central western architectural institutions, such as the AIA in the USA (Equity in Architecture Commission, 2017) and the RIBA in the UK (Inclusion Transparency Report), have long proclaimed their pursuit of an equitable and inclusive architectural profession. However, the charge remains that much architectural education operates within the territory and lens of white western, frequently male, pedagogies, and perpetuates the framework of colonial legacies in many parts of the world. The failure to reflect a global, culturally appropriate view ignores the diverse context in which architectural practice takes place. 

Charrette 8(1) invites research and commentary that engage with processes and perspectives of changing the architectural narrative in education and practice; disruptive models of transformation; models for changing the paradigm; erased or suppressed narratives and inclusion. Authors are encouraged to provide insightful critical reflection on the state of play relating to the context and content of architectural education, as well as present personal narratives relating to race and space.

Possible Topics include the spatial journey of students of colour and issues of race and space related to:

• diversity or the absence of diversity in the curriculum
• global contexts
• assessment models
•  awarding gaps
• cultural behaviours, hierarchies, assumptions and patterns in higher education
• ‘architectural heroes’/architectural icons
• intersectionality, diverse identities 
• decolonising the architecture school
• decolonising the mind-set
• dismantling colonial legacies
• the possibilities for divergence from receives traditional pedagogies and practice
• raced locations
• race exclusions

 

Submission Formats

Contributions are invited from all members of the educational community: teachers, researchers and students, and can be made to one of the three categories of Charrette: Essay, Project or Freespace, as defined in the journal’s guidelines to authors. All three categories can draw on both scholarly work and descriptive/reflective content related to personal narratives and experiences of architecture and its education. Authors are welcome to submit contributions that may prioritise visual over written material (e.g., visual essays, graphic novels, drawings). Full-length submissions should be submitted to charrette@architecturaleducators.org by 31 October 2021 [new extended deadline] for publication in May 2022.

References

Borzou Daragahi, ‘Why the George Floyd protests went global’, Atlantic Council: New Atlanticist (10 June 2020) <https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/george-floyd-protests-world-racism/> [Accessed 5 July 2021]

Joseph Hincks, ‘In Solidarity and as a Symbol of Global Injustices, a Syrian Artist Painted a Mural to George Floyd on a Bombed Idlib Building, TIME (6 June 2020) <https://time.com/5849444/george-floyd-mural-idlib-syria/> [Accessed 5 July 2021]

The American Institute of Architects (AIA), Equity Diversity & Inclusion: Executive Summary (2017) <https://content.aia.org/sites/default/files/2017-01/Diversity-EquityDiversityInclusionCommission-FINAL.pdf> [Accessed 5 July 2021]

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), Inclusion Transparency Report (2020) < https://www.architecture.com/-/media/GatherContent/Paywalled-resource-with-many-PDFs-VPC/Additional-Documents/Inclusion-transparency-report-Oct-2020pdf.pdf. [Accessed 5 July 2021]