The Architectural League of New York has named ten editorial teams that it has commissioned to document a collection of “small to mid-size communities from across the United States” in an effort to “bring together on-the-ground perspectives on the condition of American communities and what they need to thrive going forward.”
The group’s American Roundtable initiative will “give voice to local places to envision a better, collective future,” according to architect Paul Lewis, Architectural League President.
A press release highlighting the initiative states, “Communities across America are being transformed by changing economic drivers; new patterns of mobility; legacies of environmental, racial, class, and spatial injustice; volatile and vitriolic politics coupled with chronic short-termism and near-sightedness; the impacts of climate change; and other forces. Yet our understanding of these small and mid-size communities is often reduced to caricature and oversimplification.”
The statement adds, “The hope for American Roundtable is to highlight, in all their complexity and nuance, communities too often overlooked and to provide platforms for individuals and organizations to share their stories and work imagining, understanding, and improving their local built environments.”
After combing through 125 proposals, the League selected ten teams that will investigate communities all over the country, from Appalachia to the US-Mexico border and Washington state.
The editorial teams are as follows:
Let's be very, very clear here: are these "editorial teams" on the ground people *from* the regions they are reporting on? Or are they New Yorkers swooping in like colonialists to study the local savages? Because what some might consider "overlooked communities" might actually be people just living their lives unconcerned about what people in NYC think of them.
Hi Donna, Aaron Cayer and I are from the place we are covering, my family still lives there as does his, and I just wrote a book about it too, which took me ten years to write. We are very connected to our hometown, even if we do not currently live there, and care deeply about it and its future. I believe this was part of the call for submissions from the organization.
Hi Donna - great question! The North Carolina editorial team is guided by Noran Sanford, who was raised and lives in the area. Morgan and I are not from NC but have been working with Noran for a number of years. We’re super excited to give a platform to the many collaborators we’ve been working with to share their experiences and work!
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Let's be very, very clear here: are these "editorial teams" on the ground people *from* the regions they are reporting on? Or are they New Yorkers swooping in like colonialists to study the local savages? Because what some might consider "overlooked communities" might actually be people just living their lives unconcerned about what people in NYC think of them.
Hi Donna, Aaron Cayer and I are from the place we are covering, my family still lives there as does his, and I just wrote a book about it too, which took me ten years to write. We are very connected to our hometown, even if we do not currently live there, and care deeply about it and its future. I believe this was part of the call for submissions from the organization.
More pictures and descriptions of the individual projects here:
https://archleague.org/project...
From their site.
Communities across America are being transformed by . . . volatile and vitriolic politics coupled with chronic short-termism and near-sightedness. . . .
Rural areas and small towns do not have a monopoly on these. Let's hope we all learn something. Keep us up to date?
Sounds like NYC under de Blasio and Jamie Dimon.
Hi Donna - great question! The North Carolina editorial team is guided by Noran Sanford, who was raised and lives in the area. Morgan and I are not from NC but have been working with Noran for a number of years. We’re super excited to give a platform to the many collaborators we’ve been working with to share their experiences and work!
Hi, This sounds very interesting - We would like to contribute or assist.
I was born and raised in Brownsville, TX. My family is still there and we visit often. Fascinating region with rich history, geography and a social fabric like no other. Is the team covering Brownsville, from the valley?
Sincerely, Manu Garza - et al.
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