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Winners of the 2020 NOMA, NAACP, and SEED Awards highlight design justice and equity within architecture and land development

2020-10-06T13:47:00-04:00

Since 2011, the SEED Awards highlight public interest design projects that address critical community issues at a social, economic, and environmental scale. This year's award winners represent projects that reflect justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion within the realms of design, architecture, and land development in collaboration with NOMA and NAACP.

Winners were selected thanks to a star-studded jury consisting of design leaders in the industry such as Carl Anthony, Kimberly Dowdell, Maya Henderson, and Tiffany Mayhew, among others. This year, seven winning projects were chosen.

View the winners below and selected project images.

2020 Project Winners

Memorial to Enslaved Laborers - Design Team: Design Team: Höweler + Yoon Architecture, Meejin Yoon, Eric Höweler, Namjoo Kim, Caroline Shannon, Anna Kaertner, Alex Yueyan Li, Caleb Hawkins, Boris Angelov, Julia Robert, Dr. Mabel O. Wilson, Studio &, Marlisa Wise, Dr. Frank Dukes, Gregg Bleam Landscape Architect, Eto Otitigbe, a...

Abandoned schools = new development opportunities

2015-08-05T19:02:00-04:00

Many school buildings that used to house children now just primarily house debris thanks to a precipitous drop in public school enrollment over several decades. One independent website puts the figure at over 1,000 abandoned schools in states stretching from West Virginia to Indiana.

Some advocate selling the empty buildings to charter schools, while others see the buildings as potential spaces for artists and inventive start-ups. According to NPR, "A few deals are in the works to renovate old schools into apartments, offices and artist spaces." In Japan, so-called "haiko camps" allow adults to camp overnight in refurbished former schools to both satisfy nostalgia and keep the buildings from becoming the eyesores and crime scenes they've become in the United States.

Gentrification through a cinematic lens

2015-07-29T16:54:00-04:00

Real Estate Fiction, a two-part short film series that compiles clips from movies that deal with issues of gentrification and land-grabbing, isn't the magnum opus of Los Angeles Plays Itself, but it's infused with the same analysis-as-entertainment spirit. Part one of the 20-minute short features clips from Batteries Not Included, Boyz'n'The Hood, Do The Right Thing, Le mani sulla citta, and numerous other films from around the world, interspersed with brief critical dialogue at the beginning of each chapter heading.

Divided by chapters with titles including "Conspiracy Over the Urban Scene," the film artfully investigates the tensions between city dwellers and the pressures of (usually greedy) developers and speculators. It's entertaining primarily because it explores realities that so often make for exceptionally dry academic reading. The concise commentary touches on the complexities of urban development, speculation, and repurposing without offering the depth and nuance of a ful...