Nearly 15 years after earning an M.Arch degree from the University of California, Berkeley College of Environmental Design, architect, educator, and author Vishaan Chakrabarti has taken the reins of the college as its new Dean. 

In a welcome note published to the school's website, Chakrabarti reflects on the "intertwined challenges" facing rising architecture and design students, explaining that "the world is at an inflection point like no other."

"From the righteous calls on city streets for racial, economic, and environmental justice; to the disproportionate impacts of this global pandemic on black and brown communities; to the promise and pitfalls of new technologies; to the fraying sense of a public commons shred apart by neoliberalism; to a teetering worldwide economy increasingly susceptible to fascism; to the relentless drumbeat of climate change ever rising in the background—these swirling forces envelop us and push us to do better, to do the right thing, and to do so together,"  Chakrabarti writes.

"The nature of today’s challenges demand our values-driven disciplinary expertise, built upon the twin pillars of design and research excellence, placing a particular responsibility on the CED community to imagine, create consensus around, and build a new global environment centered on Sustainability, Equity, and Accessibility—a SEAchange that demands we see change," he adds, "Our tumultuous world needs to be infused with hope for all as we fight to remake the future of human habitation...and because of who we are and what we stand for, we, my friends, are the tip of the spear."

Chakrabarti takes over for CED Acting Dean Renee Chow, who also serves as Chair of CED's Department of Architecture, and comes to the west coast from New York City, where he leads the multi-disciplinary firm Practice for Architecture and Urbanism. As part of Chakrabarti's relocation to the west coast, the firm will grow to include a new California office.

"All institutions are imperfect," Chakrabarti continues in his note, "but institutions remain our best defense against tyranny and ignorance. Together, our college—outside of and hopefully soon within the beautiful brutality of Wurster Hall—will continue to prioritize excellence in our design, research, and teaching missions centered on equity, diversity, and anti-racism, and in doing so we will continue to make groundbreaking contributions to our collective fields through scholarship, design, and interdisciplinary innovation focused on justice. No virus can stop us from this, our shared calling."