JEDI in Design Workshop

This workshop will seek to advance social justice through design by going beyond raising awareness of issues of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) – by identifying and generating specific, useful, and actionable ideas for implementing JEDI into design processes and design outcomes. Participants will be asked to consider how inherent bias creates our architecture – and schools in particular – as they explore a broad range of topics, such as:

the role of design in addressing the important issues of JEDI;
truly inclusive and equitable design processes that embrace diversity and strive for justice;
how to design a place that feels safe and welcoming for all students;
how designs that incorporate JEDI function, look, and feel;
the suitability of a school namesake, mascot, or caricature that reflects a history or practice hostile to a school’s population;
how culture affects a space and human interactions
how our evolving understanding of gender and identity is affecting design of safe and inclusive spaces, and how are these represented in architectural form or style;
how a grand entry can welcome more than the able-bodied;
the role of color, pattern, and materials;
the importance of food, performance, and self-expression;
racialized spaces;
heteronormative spaces;
how inequitable funding manifests the ways schools are designed, built, and maintained;
current stumbling blocks or challenges to addressing these – and others - in participants’ area of practice.

These will form the basis for focused discussion and exploration. Participants will assemble in small groups for focused exploration of these or other JEDI-specific topics. Each group will be facilitated by an A4LE JEDI Champion who will report out to the whole group at the end.

Please bring your ideas, questions, and challenges you see in specific areas of JEDI – a word, thought, sketch, or photograph. Bring them with you to the workshop or submit them to A4LEJEDI@gmail.com – now, before the conference, even if you cannot attend. Your discussions, ideas, and solutions that are explored and developed will be compiled into a report to be published by the A4LE JEDI Committee after the conference. This type of workshop is intended to be an annual event with an annual publishing of JEDI-specific and inspiring design ideas and solutions.

Learning Objectives:

Develop awareness of a broad spectrum of JEDI in design processes and outcomes.
Develop the capacity to identify and address issues of JEDI in design processes and outcomes.
Learn to consider alternative experiences and perceptions of design processes and outcomes.

Ross Parker, AIA, ALEP, NOMA

Principal | Co-chair of A4LE JEDI Committee, IBI Group, ross.parker@ibigroup.com

Ross is IBI Group’s Education Studio Lead in Seattle. He has a passion for culturally relevant, experiential design of educational facilities. His 3-decade architectural portfolio spans northern Canada, the UK, the US South, and the Pacific Northwest. Three of his projects are James D. MacConnell Award projects – 2010 recipient and 2004 and 2020 finalist. He is currently co-chair of A4LE’s JEDI Committee, and a member of NOMA-NW and AIA Seattle’s Diversity Roundtable.

Julia Eiko Hawkinson, AIA, ALEP, LEED AP BD+C, O+M, WELL AP

Senior Facilities Development Manager, Los Angeles Unified School District, julia.hawkinson1@lausd.net

Julia has been working for school districts for the past 19 years to make better places for students to learn. She manages the planning of major projects transforming existing school sites and leads the effort to develop, update and align LAUSD’s design standards and educational specifications with its instructional vision. In her professional and personal efforts, Julia advocates for inspiring learning environments that provide all children the opportunity to learn, to grow and to dream.

Saif Vagh, AIA, DBIA, LEED BD+C

Associate Principal, NAC Architecture, SVagh@nacarchitecture.com

Saif is an Associate Principal and Designer at NAC Architecture’s Los Angeles office and a leader of the firm’s JEDI committee. As a design thinker, his experience working with a broad spectrum of clients has sculpted his view of how policy and the built environment can incorporate a broader perspective of inclusion. He strives to create facilities that help break down stereotypical assumptions and help a broad cross-section of students grow and thrive. He has spoken on issues of designing for inclusivity and equality at numerous conferences and continues to lead valuable discussion in planning and executing the design of educational spaces.

Track: The Learners’ Experience

What is the learners’ experience? Who are they? How do they differ? How do they respond differently from one another to similar environments? Is there a one-size-fits-all solution? Or is a custom solution composed of aggregate parts more appropriate?

Primary Core Competency
Design of Educational Facilities: Acts as a resource to the design team in providing ongoing guidance and support to ensure that the emerging and ultimate design aligns with the established community vision, education goals, future programming, written design standards, best/next practices and education policy.

Learning Units/Health, Safety, Welfare (LU/HSW)
The singular focus on JEDI is geared towards creating design processes and environments that contribute to the physical, mental, and social-emotional health and well-being of all students, educators, and community members associated with schools.