An Architectural Education Renaissance, Action, Well-Being, Radical Racial Equity, Kindness, Resilience, Xenobots… The Community Shares Their Predictions for 2022

After reflecting on this past year’s news and events in Archinect’s 2021 Year in Review, we move our focus onto what we can expect in the coming year.

As we approach 2022, and Archinect’s 25th anniversary, we’ve reached out to our community of contributors, previously interviewed individuals, firms leaders, designers, and academics to share their thoughts and predictions for the coming year.  

Pascale Sablan, FAIA, NOMA, LEED AP
Associate at Adjaye Associates Architects, Founder & Executive Director Beyond the Built Environment and NOMA National President-Elect ’21-’22

2020 was the year of pledges. Many organizations and firms made statements of solidarity. 

2021 was the year of conversation. People brought conversations of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion into new places and spaces and echoed their importance. The year created a culture of awareness of truths and experiences and accountability to everyone to fight for justice–not just those disenfranchised by architecture. 

My prediction for what we are in for in the coming year is that 2022 will be the year of action! Enough talk, let’s work! Empowered with information, and supported by a coalition of people with aligned values, we are positioned to launch and monitor programming, initiatives, and efforts designed to dismantle and eradicate racism, sexism, and oppression from the profession and built environment. These established methods will provide opportunities to track the metrics of progress, that will allow for further refinements to move towards justice in the most efficient and effective way possible.