We are excited to share an opinion piece published by Dr. Sharon Sutton, renowned scholar, activist, educator and Parsons Visiting Professor, that has recently appeared in the AIA Journal. Dr. Sutton reflects on the current situation when business as usual has come to an unprecedented halt, and opportunities this pause presents to architects, urban scholars and activists in reversing the entrenched thinking and approach to how we inhabit places and coexist. Designing a vision for coexistence, she argues, requires a new communitarian contract as the foundation of architectural practice if the latter is to reverse the old patterns that keep contributing to the commodification of our basic need for and right to housing:

Dr. King noted that, like Rip Van Winkle, protectors of the status quo sleep through social revolutions. As obstructers of injustice, architects can remain vigilant and work toward transforming attitudes about collective life.

You can read the full article here.