The built environment reveals how architecture and its respective commissioned process embodies spatialized psychologies (mental perceptions and behaviour) towards the authorship of human value. All too often to the detriment of reinforcing and architecting perceptions of supremacy, inequity, and dehumanization.

Transdisciplinary applications steeped in this understanding will invoke the necessary pedagogy and methodologies to interrogate/dismantle/abolish existing paradigms while co- actualizing representations of a spatialized ecology of equity.

April De Simone's lecture will be followed by a panel discussion with:

• Thijs van Spaandonk, Dean of Urban Design, Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and Urban Design (RAvB)
• Dr. Roberto Rocco, Associate Professor of Spatial Planning and Strategy at the Section of Spatial Planning and Strategy of the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)
• Coleman Jordan, Faculty Architecture at Morgan State University of Architecture + Planning (MSU SA+P)

TIME & REGISTRATION

3:30pm EDT Maryland time, which is 21.30 CET Netherlands time. The lecture is approximately 1 hr, followed by 30 min panel discussion and audience Q&A.

Open to the public.

Admission is free but we invite people to register using the 'Donation Ticket' and pay whatever you can afford, for example $3 (€3), $5, $10, or $30. Donations go to the speaker to support the powerful work she do to bring positive systematic changes to the urban landscape!

Advance registration required.

The webinar will be conducted in English language.

AUDIENCE

The lecture is geared towards architects, developers, community organizers, social enterprises, city planners, policymakers, professors, and students.

About the speaker

April De Simone is a transdisciplinary design practitioner focused on the intersectionality of systems thinking, human condition, and design to advance equitable strategies within the built environment. Ms. De Simone explores how dominant mental models and perceptions centered on hierarchical value systems inform design outputs that perpetuate unsustainable and inequitable systemic conditions. In 2015 she co-founded designing the WE.

About designing the WE

designing the WE (dtW) is a for-purpose research and transformative design firm engaging in community-driven social cultural and economic development. designing the WE is a for-benefit design studio positioned within the fields of social innovation and community driven social, cultural and economic development.

dtW facilitates collaborative processes to redefine how big picture systemic challenges are approached, identify opportunities for action, and co-design more holistic and resilient strategies centered on positive transformation.

dtW is the producer of the Undesign the Redline interactive exhibit, workshop series, and curriculum.

About this webinar series

This lecture is one of a series of lectures in 2021 organized by Cristina Murphy, Assistant Professor at Morgan State University School of Architecture + Planning (MSU SA+P), with assistance from Baltimore-Rotterdam Sister City Committee (BRSCC). The webinar series includes speakers from the U.S.A. about cityscape and urban design, and speakers from the Netherlands about innovative construction materials and circular design systems such as reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling in the built environment. Special thanks to Jeremiah Ekoja, Graduate Assistant at MSU SA+P, for his help with coordinating the lecture series.

See other lectures in this series

The April De Simone lecture on 15 April is co-hosted by Cristina Murphy from MSU SA+P, Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and Urban Design (RAvB), and BRSCC. It is part of an ongoing collaboration between RAvB and MSU SA+P.

During the spring 2021 semester, a collaborative cross-Atlantic design studio for graduate architecture students takes place, coordinated by Assistant Professor Cristina Murphy & co-instructed by Jason Charalambides from MSU SA+P in collaboration with these persons from RAvB: Rowin Petersma (Bureau Rowin Petersma) and Wouter Veldhuis (MUST), with support from Daryl Mulvihill (Studio dmau), and Débora Schiltmans (Walkie Talkie). Students from both schools are exploring how to contribute to the just city. Cristina Murphy has collaborated with RAvB since 2018.

Webinar sponsorship

Interested in sponsoring this webinar by April De Simone and having your firm's logo included in this event? Contact Baltimore-Rotterdam Sister City Committee, the event organizer for more information. Proceeds for this webinar's sponsorship will go to April De Simone.

Thank you to the bronze-level sponsor of our spring 2021 webinar series, Brennan + Company !