The Architect's Newspaper September 2020
Phil Freelon’s legacy lives on in Freedom Park page 8
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New York City’s Foley Square Black Lives Matter mural page 10
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Melvin L. Mitchell advocates an equitable urbanism page 16
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Office of Jonathan Tate crowdfunds development page 20
Kate Wagner on modernism’s A/C dependency issues page 60
Landscapes for Justice From Minneapolis: the cultural landscapes that matter now.
CHRIS FAUST
RAISING EXPECTATIONS
The Tower Renewal Partnership retrofits Southern Ontario’s concrete high-rises for a sustainable and affordable future. Read on page 23.
COURTESY ER A ARCHITECTS
6 ICYMI 12 Eavesdrop 56 Marketplace
On May 25, 2020, 46-year-old George Floyd died on the street while in the custody of the Minneapolis Police. This was only the latest event in a chain of police killings of Black citizens over decades, one that sparked protests across the country and around the world. From the ground here in Minneapolis, the initial news of Floyd’s killing seemed like more of the same. We’ve lived for years with a militarized police force that is largely white, often incompetent, and beholden to its union chapter, the Minneapolis Police Federation. Lieutenant Bob Kroll, a Trump spokesperson and the chapter’s elected president, is a bad-boy cop straight out of central casting. Roughly 1,500 buildings across Minneapolis and St. Paul were damaged or destroyed in the week of protests following Floyd’s murder. The vast majority of the damaging incidents of arson were instigated by outside white continued on page 54
SUPPORTING BLACK LIVES How can architects promote Black liberation while designing police stations?
KIWIDEAPI/ WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Pillars of the Community LA-Más pivots to direct aid in its own backyard.
As pandemic and lockdown settled over Los Angeles this past spring, urban design nonprofit LA-Más saw the positive outcomes of its projects abruptly reversed. The office's “backyard homes” initiative, which installed Section 8 affordable housing in the backyards of assenting Angelenos, stalled, as the design team was unable to complete site visits and homeowners suddenly faced other financial concerns. At the same time, the small, minority-owned businesses whose properties spruced up by LA-Más in recent years began to close, some for good. Since its founding in 2012, LA-Más has developed a methodology that could be a byword for design agency, pairing architecture with policy know-how to make an impact on people’s lives—in particular, those living in northeast Los Angeles, where the practice has its office. But in the face of a major health crisis, even this seasoned troupe was left continued on page 14
RUSSELL HORNING
Glass
Dive into the annual glass special section for the latest on energy-efficient IGUs, innovative glazing applications, and more. See page 30.
BILL TIMMERMAN
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