Summer Salon
In the Summer and Fall of 2021, US Architects Declare hosted a virtual, monthly salon on the second Thursday of the month at 7pm ET / 4pm PT.
We came together to discuss topics of relevance to our organizing and to create a common understanding through an intersectional approach to this crisis of/in the built environment. The topic, question, and recommended / supplemental texts ground the conversation, but all who want to discuss the topic are welcome.
The 2021 Salon is now complete. Thank you to everyone who joined in the conversation.
Full Series
DWELLING
Why is housing consistently at the heart of struggles for systemic change, and how is it intersectionality linked to the crises of climate / justice / biodiversity?
Salon 1 // June 2021
Recommended Readings
A Green New Deal for Housing, Daniel Aldana Cohen
The Red Deal - Part 2: Heal Our Bodies, The Red Nation
The Ten-Point Program, Black Panther Party
Race for Profit with Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, The Dig
Supplemental
The Seventh Wonder of the ZAD, Kristin Ross
BUILDING
Knowing that we have to build out infrastructure to meet the goals of decarbonizing with a climate justice lens, how do we do so in the least destructive/most respectful way possible?
Salon 2 // July 2021
Recommended Readings
Thin Thread of Carbon, Stephanie Carlisle + Nicholas Pevzner
Seize and Resist, Thea Riofrancos
Design for Freedom Report, Section 4: Take a Closer Look at the Materials You Build With, Grace Farms
Will Bad Economics Kill the Green New Deal? Pitchfork Economics (podcast)
Supplemental
Decolonization is not a metaphor, Eve Tuck + K. Wayne Yang
Race and Modern Architecture: A Critical History from the Enlightenment to the Present, Irene Change, Charles Davis, + Mabel Wilson
MOVING
How do we reckon with the timescales of projects and the crises, knowing that there is urgency now, what we are working on now will not be built for years, and the timescales of these crises will be measured in centuries or more?
Salon 3 // August 2021
Recommended Readings
Slow Violence, Rob Nixon
Just Transition Framework, Climate Justice Alliance
Mutual Aid, Dean Spade
Supplemental
The Mushroom at the End of the World, Anna Tsing
Reciprocal Landscapes, Jane Hutton
EMISSIONS
What are emissions anyway? Why do they matter, where do they come from, and how do we measure them?
Salon 4 // September 2021
Recommended Readings
Post-Extractivist Green Transitions: An Interview with Thea Riofrancos, A World to Win with Grace Blakeley (podcast)
Climate change means the US must start building big things again, James Temple, MIT Review
Is Your Carbon Footprint BS?, How to Save a Planet (podcast)
Supplemental
AR6 Climate Change 2021 Summary for Policy-Makers, IPCC
“I’ve been polluting the planet for years. I’m not an oil exec—I’m an architect.” Stephanie Carlisle. Fast Company.
DRAWDOWN / NATURAL CLIMATE SOLUTIONS
While most efforts toward reducing emissions have been focused on fossil fuel use, new science shows that the conservation, restoration and management of forests, grasslands and wetlands—can deliver up to a third of the emission reductions needed by 2030.
Salon 5 // November 2021
Recommended Readings
What are Natural Climate Solutions?, The Nature Conservancy (short video)
Climate Colonialism and Reparations, Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò on For The Wild (podcast)
An Even More Inconvenient Truth: Why Carbon Credits For Forest Preservation May Be Worse Than Nothing, Lisa Song, Propublica
Nature-based solutions can help cool the planet — if we act now - Cécile A. J. Girardin et al., Nature
Supplemental
About Planting Trees, TILClimate (podcast)
Zero, Then Negative: The Congressional Blueprint for Scaling Carbon Removal , Carbon180
The climate solution actually adding millions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere , James Temple and Lisa Song
CarbonShot: Federal Policy Options for Carbon Removal in the United States , World Resources Institute
COMMITMENTS / NET ZERO
You can’t build your way to zero, or can you? Why do they matter, how do they matter, and how do we measure?
Salon 6 // December 2021
Recommended Readings
“Chasing Carbon Unicorns: The Deception of Carbon Markets and ‘Net Zero,” Friends of the Earth International
“Don’t get too bummed out by COP26,” David Roberts, Volts podcast
“A Just Transition for the Building Sector: toward a radical transformation of housing and the built environment,” Architecture Lobby Green New Deal Working Group, Policy Report
Supplemental
Zero, Then Negative: The Congressional Blueprint for Scaling Carbon Removal - Carbon180
“The COP26 Deal Was Another Betrayal of Climate Justice,” Sam Knitghts
Thanks for joining the conversation!
The Architects Declare Summer Salon was curated and hosted by Xan Lillehei, Caitlin Watson, and Stephanie Carlisle.
US Architects Declare launched a Summer Salon in June 2021 to take the place of the monthly working group meetings. Due to its success, we are extending the salon through the fall and are inviting anyone interested in discussion to join us!