The Diversity Environment

This GSAPP Incubator event presents its first session focusing on representation, diversity, and community building. Bringing together students, academic, and professional organizations connected with the school, these guest participants will share some of their practices, strategies, and models to discuss how we could collectively build a more equitable space for all.

From the smallest to the broadest actions, provocations, planning to identify opportunities, and differences, what is the common ground, and how can we collaborate among ourselves to build a more inclusive environment in the education and professional field?

Participants:

Black Student Alliance +GSAPP
The purpose/mission of BSA+GSAPP is to support the advancement of students who self-identify as members of the African diaspora, to succeed both academically and socially during their tenure at GSAPP and beyond; enabling them to ultimately become a valuable network resource to current and future students after graduation, as alumni. The goal is to provide a community and source of collegial support mechanisms at GSAPP that actively promote the interest of the black students, alumni, and future students.
https://www.arch.columbia.edu/bsa

Latin GSAPP Student Association
The organization is to function as a platform for the interdisciplinary exchange of ideas about national, regional, and international planning and design issues in Latin America. The group serves to connect Latin American GSAPP students, faculties and alumni who are interested in sharing their broad and diverse cultural expressions.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/latingsapp/about/

QSAPP
Queer Students of Architecture Planning & Preservation (QSAPP) is a student organization that seeks to foster both conversation and community among LGBTQ students, their allies, faculty, and alumni of GSAPP. We actively explore contemporary queer topics and their relationships to the built environment through an engagement with theory and practice.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/qsapp/about/?ref=page_internal

GSAPPXX+
ArchiteXX is a national women’s organization aimed at bridging the gap between academia and practice. Here at GSAPP, it is an independent, student run organization. We are committed to using the ArchiteXX platform to expand and diversify our communal academic endeavors by injecting the voices of inspiring women who practice in the field of design.
https://www.facebook.com/gsappxxplus/

APT - Architectural Practice Talks
APT is a design community that consists of young design talents and creative minds in architecture, interior, landscape urbanism, and art. APT fosters an international design community by curating a series of diverse and engaging cultural events. APT is committed to nurturing design excellence and encouraging interdisciplinary dialogues through the power of online and offline experience. Founded in a small apartment in New York, which is also where the name APT comes, today APT brings together over 1,000 industry influencers and reaches thousands of readers in design community. APT now has New York and Chicago chapters.
www.aptalks.org

Moderated by

Karen Kubey
Karen Kubey is an urbanist and visiting associate professor at Pratt Institute specializing in housing and health. Kubey co-founded the Architecture for Humanity New York chapter (now Open Architecture/New York) and New Housing New York, and was the first executive director of the Institute for Public Architecture. She is the guest-editor of Housing as Intervention: Architecture towards Social Equity (Architectural Design) and has recently collaborated with the New York City agencies on projects promoting social justice through design. She is a current member at the GSAPP Incubator.
www.karenkubey.net

Rajiv Fernandez
Rajiv Fernandez is an illustrator who draws pictures to draw attention. Trained as an architect, he now designs to highlight contemporary social issues and the perspectives of underrepresented communities. His work has been published in Posters for Change and featured in The Washington Post, WSJ, and The Guardian among others. He sat on the boards of multicultural students groups at Iowa State University and co-founded Green Builders at Columbia (GBAC). He is an instructor at the School of Visual Arts and a current resident at the GSAPP Incubator.
www.lil-icon.com

RSVP here

Organized by Columbia GSAPP Incubator