News - Designing Justice + Designing Spaces

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“We can build ecosystems of care just as easily as we have built prisons and jails.” – Deanna Van Buren

DJDS in the News

2024

The Pop-Up Village Offers a ‘Constellation’ of Community Resources in San Francisco

KQED – April 10, 2024

Meet the designers changing what abolition looks like

Fast Company – April 13, 2024

Core City buildings could be spared from demolition amid pushback

Bridge Detroit – February 28, 2024

2023

Detroit Month of Design events for people who are overwhelmed by it al l

Detroit Metro Times – September 15, 2023

Deanna Van Buren, Architect and Analogue Immersive Installation Artist, 2023 USA Fellow

United States Artists – August 2023

BIPOC Design Matters

Panel at Gensler – February 16, 2023

The Care(ful) Work of Abolishing Prisons

yes! Magazine – February 27, 2023

100 Women: Architects in Practice

Riba Publishing – January 12, 2023

2022

Oakland Architect And Activist Deanna Van Buren Uses Design As A Means For Restorative Justice

NewsOne – March 30, 2022

This architect went from creating luxury malls to imagining a world without prisons

MSNBC – March 29, 2022

Reimagining NYC’s borough-based jails

Epicenter-NYC – March 29, 2022

Unbuilding racism: Activists confront injustice in Washtenaw County’s built environment

Concentrate – February 16, 2022

Black History Now: How Visionary Architect Deanna Van Buren Is Reimagining What Justice Looks Like

Shondaland, February 10, 2022

2021

Do Prisons Deserve a Second Chance?

Bloomberg CityLab – November 9, 2021

Architects See Promise in Integrated Practice Models, Pre- and Post-Katerra

Architect Magazine – October 27, 2021

Can Architects Help End Solitary Confinement?

Solitary Watch – October 7, 2021

Does Building Better Jails Go Far Enough?

The New York Times – September 24, 2021

Bay Area developer looks to address mass incarceration with Detroit buildings

Outlier Media – September 15, 2021

Developers see new data analysis and gathering tool s as key to more equitable development

The Architect’s Newspaper – August 9, 2021

In New York City, New Jails Threaten Dreams For True Community Spaces and Restorative Architecture

Shadowproof – July 28, 2021

“California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Author Julie Lythcott-Haims On ‘Adulting,’ And Architect Deanna Van Buren”

Hosts Ethan Elkind and Grace Won, KALW’s State of the Bay, June 7, 2021 (Deanna’s segment starts at the 47:00 minute mark)

“Remodel, rebuild, reimagine: Group submitted plans to close, repurpose Atlanta city jail”

Matt Pearl and Lindsey Basye, NBC Atlanta’s 11 Alive, May 26, 2021

“Designing safe and supportive spaces for recently released incarcerated people is essential to real justice”

Tamar Sarai Davis, Prism Reports, May 6, 2021

“Meet the architect imagining a world without prisons”

Helen Barrett, Financial Times, March 7, 2021

“Community know-how and design expertise reinforce one another at this Detroit hub for social justice”

Anjulie Rao, The Architect’s Newspaper, March 3, 2021

“Paying Community Members for Their Time”

Brittany Hutson, Shelterforce, February 26, 2021

“Reconceiving Justice”

Patrick Sisson and Emily R. Pellerin, Oculus, AIA New York, Winter, 2021

“How Oakland architect Deanna Van Buren’s passion for restorative justice manifests in her work”

Donna M. Owens, NBC News, February 26, 2021

“Take No Prisoners”

Lydia Lee, Alta Journal, February 17, 2021

“Blue Walls, Big Windows: A New Generation of Justice-Oriented Spaces”

Justin Agrelo, California Magazine (CAL Alumni Association), January 27, 2021

2020

“Think Beyond the Stocking — AN’s 2020 Giving Guide”

The Editors, The Architect’s Newspaper, December 11, 2020

“Free your mind, and good design will follow”
(View PDF)

Ellen McGirt & Aric Jenkins, Fortune, December 1, 2020

“Restore Oakland”

Archello, 2020

“Restore Oakland”

Katie Gerfen, Architect Magazine, November 30, 2020

“Commentary: Decarceration and Designing to Divest”

Garrett Jacobs and Deanna Van Buren, Architectural Record, October 5, 2020

“AIANY Advises Members To Stop Designing Prison Projects, Focus Instead On Restorative Justice”

Elizabeth Fazzare, Forbes, September 30, 2020

“Atlanta’s Jail Will Close. Here’s How Organizers and Law Enforcement Agreed on What Will Replace It”

Emily Nonko, Next City, September 25, 2020

“Building Public Places for a Covid World”

James S. Russell, The New York Times, September 11, 2020

“Community voices come first in reimagining of downtown Atlanta detention center”

Matt Hickman, The Architect’s Newspaper, August 21, 2020

“How to Re-design the World for Coronavirus and Beyond”

Politico Magazine, July 3, 2020

“Why Justice in Design Is Critical to Repairing America”

Meaghan O’Neill, Architectural Digest, July 2, 2020

“Q&A: Oakland Architect Deanna Van Buren Is Building a World Without Prisons”

Violet Rawlings, Ms. Magazine, June 27, 2020

“‘A whole lot has to get built to end mass incarceration’ says Deanna van Buren”

Eleanor Gibson, Dezeen, June 25, 2020

“Racist monuments are coming down all over the U.S. What should replace them?”

Alex Gray, Fast Company, June 25, 2020

“This Atlanta jail will transform into a center for justice and equity”

Adele Peters, Fast Company, June 15, 2020

“Mass Decarceration and COVID-19”

Deanna Van Buren & F. Javier Torres-Campos, Stanford Social Innovation Review, June 9, 2020

“Designing Justice + Designing Spaces on ‘Unbuilding Racism’”

Antonio Pacheco, Archinect, June 5, 2020

“Designing for Decarceration in a Pandemic”

Cathleen McGuigan, Architectural Record, May 27, 2020

“Space for Restorative Justice” (PDF)

Impact Justice and Yale School of Architecture, May, 2020

“Can architecture slow gentrification? Restore Oakland wants to show that it can”

John King, San Francisco Chronicle, March 10, 2020

“What Would a World Without Prisons Look Like?”

Patricia Leigh Brown, The New York Times, March 6, 2020

“Making Space for Restorative Justice”

Amanda Abrams, Yes!, February 19, 2020

“8 Black Designers Whose Socially Impactful Work Challenges the Status Quo”

Stephen Zacks, Dwell, February 18, 2020

“Design for Equity” (download PDF, or view online)

Jen Krava and Jon Spayde, Public Art Review, Issue 59, January 14, 2020

2019

This School on a Bus Is Bringing Education to Everyone (Video)

Great Big Story, 2019

“10 Things We’re Talking About — 09: A Neighborhood Haven”

Tanya A. Christian, Essence Magazine, November 22, 2019

“Designing Justice + Designing Spaces builds infrastructure to end mass incarceration”

Shane Reiner-Roth, The Architect’s Newspaper, October 30, 2019

“Can a building help end mass incarceration?”

Diana Budds, Curbed San Francisco, October 24, 2019

“Architect Deanna Van Buren on Designing Beautiful Spaces That “Amplify Self-Care, Love, Restoration, and Respect””

Antonio Pacheco, Archinect, October 8, 2019

“What to Build Instead of Prisons”
Deonna Anderson, Yes! Magazine, September 11, 2019

“This Ingenious New Community Center Is a Powerful Model for Change”
Meaghan O’Neill, Architectural Digest, September 3, 2019

“Oakland’s Restorative-Justice Hub Wants to Redefine Public Safety”
Sarah Holder, CityLab, August 23, 2019

“Opinion: We Must Plan for a Decarceration Nation”
Deanna Van Buren, Architect Magazine, May 7, 2019

“Rising Stars in Criminal Justice Reform”
Amanda Winkler and Lise Metzger, Freethink, April 17, 2019

“You Got Your High School Diploma?”
Elizabeth Weil, The California Sunday Magazine, March 27, 2019

“A socially minded Oakland architect who’s winning attention and awards”
John King, San Francisco Chronicle, January 9, 2019

2018

“Deanna Van Buren Awarded 2018 Berkeley-Rupp Prize”
Berkeley-Rupp Architecture, November, 2018

“These Rising-Star Designers Are Making the World a Better Place”
Meaghan O’Neill, Architectural Digest, November 6, 2018

“Upstart 50 Creatives: Redesigning justice, one step at a time”
Fiona Kelliher, San Francisco Business Times, September, 2018

“Gerechtigkeit gestalten / Prison Break” [PDF 2.7MB]
Raphael Sperry, form 278, June, 2018

“Workers in Progress – Deanna Van Buren and Kyle Rawlins”
Elizabeth Greenspan, Architect Magazine, May, 2018

“Creating ‘A Service Economy That Actually Serves People, And A Justice System That Is Actually Just’”
Eillie Anzilotti, Fast Company, January 3, 2018

2017

“Architecture in video games: How real-world designers are helping to build virtual worlds”
Steve Dinneen, City A.M., September 27, 2017

“Mobile classroom bus will steer adults toward a diploma“
Jill Tucker, San Francisco Chronicle, June 28, 2017

2016

“Designing a Way out of Mass Incarceration”
City Lab, December 13, 2016

“The Pop-Up Approach to Fighting Mass Incarceration”
Danya Sherman, Next City, October 27, 2016

“Deanna Van Buren: Building Worlds: From Gameplay to Peacemaking”
MIT Architecture, October 21, 2016

“Beauty, Justice and Alternate Finance”
Ebony McKinney, Grantmakers in the Arts, October 18, 2016

“Community members and leaders discuss future of Oakland at Impact Hub”
Ryan Lindsay, Oakland North, September 30, 2016

“Kudos to Designing Justice + Designing Spaces”
Lynne Elizabeth, ADPSR, May 16, 2016

“Designing for Peace: In Conversation with Deanna Van Buren”
Sasha Kosminsky, Skin Deep, Apr 27, 2016

“Deanna Van Buren Has a BIG Idea”
Barbara Epstein, Loeb Fellowship, February 8, 2016

“Designing Justice + Designing Spaces”
Culturally Responsive Teaching

“Artist as Activist: Deanna Van Buren”
Robert Rauschenberg Foundation

2015

“Panama, Prisons, and a Journey Towards Human Rights”
Raphael Sperry, Urban Fabrick, September 22, 2015

“Deanna Van Buren Is Making Space For A New Kind Of Justice”
Sanjena Sathian, Ozy, August 26, 2015

“Criminal Justice and the Planner’s Role”
American Planning Association, April 18, 2015

“A New Way to Design and Build Prisons”
Dianne Frazee-Walker, Prison Law Blog, January 8, 2015

2014

“Restorative Justice by Design: Using restorative justice values to design transformative spaces”
The Center for Justice & Peacebuilding, December 10, 2014

“What Would A Prison Designed By Inmates Look Like?”
Kathleen O’Brien, NationSwell, August 26, 2014

“Great Read: What Kind Of Prison Might The Inmates Design?”
Lee Romney, Los Angeles Times, August 18, 2014

“Creating Restorative Spaces with Barb Toews and Deanna Van Buren”
Molly Rowan, Restorative Justice on The Rise, January 23, 2014

2013

“Peace Building: Architecture and design as a restorative practice”
Joshua Wachtel, International Institute for Restorative Practices, August 27, 2013

“Restorative Justice: An Interview with Deanna VanBuren”
Rory Stott, ArchDaily, August 26, 2013