AIA Releases Justice Supplement to Guides for Equitable Practice

{"version":"0.3.0","atoms":[],"cards":[],"markups":[["a",["href","https:\/\/www.aia.org\/resources\/6246433-guides-for-equitable-practice","target","_new"]],["a",["href","https:\/\/www.aia.org\/resources\/6307295-strategic-plan","target","_new"]],["b"],["i"],["a",["href","https:\/\/www.aia.org\/pages\/6450234-justice-in-the-built-environment","target","_new"]]],"sections":[[1,"h2",[[0,[],0,"AIA solidified its commitment to providing firms with the\nbest possible resources to effectively address questions of equity, diversity\nand inclusion (EDI) in architectural workplaces with the 2017 release of the\n"],[0,[0],1,"Guides for Equitable Practice. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"In partnership with the University of Washington\nand the University of Minnesota, AIA\u2019s Equity and the Future of Architecture\nCommittee, guided by the recommendations of the 2017 Equity Commission, conceived\nof the guides as a resource covering topics from recruitment and retention to\nmeasuring process in the areas of EDI. The release of the guides demonstrated\nAIA\u2019s commitment to continuing to build out the direction identified in the "],[0,[1],1,"AIA\nStrategic Plan. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"A new supplementary edition of the guides, \u201cJustice in the\nBuilt Environment,\u201d is now available for download. It serves as a guide to architects\nand design professionals who may be asking how they can do more to advance\njustice in the context of their work, but also wonder whether there is anything\nan individual practitioner or firm can do help solve long-standing societal\nproblems such as inequity in the built environment and in society. It is the\nfirst of two new equitable practice resources being released this year, in\naddition Justice in Higher Education."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The first of two new equitable practice resources being\nreleased this year, Justice in the Built Environment and Higher Education, as\ntwo supplemental editions to the Guides for Equitable Practice. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Ren\u00e9e Cheng, FAIA, the project lead on the supplement\u2019s\nresearch and writing team, points out that this section is meant to be more external\nfacing than other chapters of the guides. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cThere was really increasing demand for how one explains the\nvalue of equitable practices to others, especially clients,\u201d Cheng says. \u201c[This\nguide] is about understanding that larger context that is not necessarily\narchitectural practice-specific, but more about how design is perceived by\nothers.\u201d "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"The two forms of justice in the built environment "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Members of the Equity and the Future of Architecture\nCommittee note that this installment does one very important thing: it provides\na working definition of the meaning of the word \u201cjustice\u201d when used in the\ncontext of architectural practice. Definitions of \u201cjustice\u201d can sometimes be\ntricky to pin down, and this guide hopes to lay the foundation for future\nconversations about how to talk about it as it relates to the work of\narchitects. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"As the introduction to the supplement explains, justice can\ntake the form of "],[0,[2],1,"just processes"],[0,[],0," (ones that involve people who have\nexperienced harm) and "],[0,[2],1,"just outcomes"],[0,[],0," (spaces that are safe, welcoming,\nand worthy of the beings that inhabit them) when applied to the built\nenvironment. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"As the supplement notes, there are at least five different\nways to make the case for justice in the built environment: moral, ethical,\nbusiness, societal, and professional. The supplement outlines each area and\nencourages readers to think through which one might be most relevant for their\nproject or portfolio of projects. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cWe took the approach that justice can be part of any\nproject,\u201d Cheng says. \u201cIt\u2019s part of the fabric of how all architects work,\nbecause all built environments affect how people access or aren\u2019t able to\naccess [buildings], and messages that get sent. This is relevant to every\npractice and every project.\u201d "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Cheng and Karen Williams, AIA, another author on the\nproject, point out that this supplement includes more hands-on interactive\nexercises than the original guides. Worksheets and contextual timelines can be\nused within project teams or with clients or partners to explore different ways\nthat the project in question might impact different communities or historically\nmarginalized groups. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Cheng acknowledges that the societal shift that has taken\nplace since George Floyd\u2019s murder in 2020 made the need for a guide addressing\njustice a more pressing one. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cYou have to walk through the world considering how justice\naffects \u2013 not just access \u2013 but the approach to space: being in it, who\u2019s\nallowed. That lens defined how we made the justice chapter inclusive,\u201d says Williams.\n"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"Justice as the end goal "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Emily Grandstaff-Rice, FAIA, 2023 President-elect and chair\nof EQFA from 2017-2020, sees the justice supplement as the culmination of the\nwork of the Guides for Equitable Practice thus far. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cAnyone who does community-based work is aware of calls for\njustice, considering where we are now with the greater awareness [of social\nissues],\u201d she says. \u201cMany dominant-culture people and a subset of that [group] \u2013\narchitects \u2013 are finally aware of frameworks and practices and entrenched ways\nof doing things which have had a negative effect.\u201d "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Grandstaff-Rice, as well as Cheng and the rest of the\nco-authors of the supplement, hope that the previous installments of the guides,\nin conjunction with the latest supplement, are laying the foundation for transformative\nconversations that have the potential to change the profession \u2013 and the built\nenvironment \u2013 for the better. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cWe subscribe to the philosophy that justice is the result\nof this work \u2013 all of it feeds into justice,\u201d she says. "]]],[1,"p",[]],[1,"p",[[0,[3],0,"Download\n\u201cJustice in the Built Environment,\u201d a supplement to AIA\u2019s Guides for Equitable\nPractice, "],[0,[4],1,"here"],[0,[],1,". "]]]]}