ACSA Online Discussions

Conveners:

Kim Tanzer, University of Virginia
Thomas Fisher, University of Minnesota
Michael J. Monti, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture

Co-Conveners:

Elgin Cleckley, University of Virginia
Shannon Criss, University of Kansas
Stephen Luoni, University of Arkansas
Linda Samuels, Washington University in St. Louis
Kenneth Schwartz, Tulane University

The suddenness and urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic has been breathtaking, but at some point, this urgency will abate and we need to ask what a post-COVID 19 world might look like. This discussion will seek answers to questions such as: How can the current crisis suggest seeds for a preferred world? What impact will social distancing have on the built environment, present and future? How will our homes become our workplaces? Where will we learn, or socialize? How will we shore up the communities we have, and create new ones? How will services and goods, and those that provide them, be realigned? What impact will the sudden cessation of much of the world’s movement have on our changing climate? Which of our educational assets, skills, and experiences–gained pre-COVID or during this moment of crisis–can be productively repurposed?

After brief presentations, multiple co-conveners will lead online breakout groups to discuss possible action agendas for architects and designers. 

Density and Mobility:  How might our built environments—our cities, streets and landscapes–transform to accommodate our conflicting desire for connection and mandate to social-distance?  What impact might changes have on our carbon footprint? On the natural environment?

Rebalancing Our Hierarchy of Needs:  How have the sobering experiences of self-isolation and shortages, and the persistent threat to our health and survival, helped us refocus on the basics:  food, clothing, shelter, and beyond? How will these experiences impact the post-COVID design of homes, businesses, communities, food systems, and public health?

Economy and Equity:  Given the inevitable reshuffling of the world’s priorities, can design post-COVID take advantage of this upheaval to reconsider a more just approach to economics and social equity?  What role might new modes of production and new means of economic exchange play?

Higher Education:  How has the pandemic forced us to reconsider the creation and dissemination of knowledge, and how can we capitalize on this unexpected change?

Faculty, staff, and students are invited to join the discussion, as all have a stake in creating positive change. Participants are encouraged to sign up in advance so we can better plan breakout groups.

Thomas Fisher is a professor in the School of Architecture and thedirector of the Minnesota Design Center at the University  Minnesota.

Elgin Cleckley is an Assistant Professor of Architecture and Design Thinking (with appointment in the Curry School of Education and School of Nursing) at the University of Virginia, and principal of _mpathic design.

Shannon Criss is a licensed architect, a professor in the Architecture Department at the University of Kansas, and a co-founder of the Dotte Agency, a multi-disciplinary design collaborative engaging neighborhoods to shape the built environment in order to improve public health.

Stephen Luoni is the Steven L Anderson Chair in Architecture and Urban Studies and the director of the University of Arkansas Community Design Center.

Associate Professor Linda C. Samuels teaches urban design and architecture at the Sam Fox School at Washington University in St. Louis and writes about the future of infrastructure and systems-based urban design.

Kenneth Schwartz is a professor of architecture, former dean of the Tulane School of Architecture, and currently director of the Phyllis Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking at Tulane.