Advocates in the design industries have been pushing for years for the American Institute of Architects to take a stance on how prisons are designed.
Jonathan Hilburg reports that the national branch of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has updated its code of ethics to "prohibit the design of spaces intended for execution, torture and prolonged solitary confinement," adopting the change on December 10.
"Interestingly enough, the AIA has framed the decision as one not just of social justice but of specifically addressing racism in the built environment, acknowledging the disproportionate rates that minorities in America are subject to these spaces," explains Hilburg.
The source article includes more insight into the details of the AIA's new stance on prison reform, which has grown out of the public response to the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests that have continued around the country throughout the year.
Read the full story: The AIA updates its code of ethics, prohibits members from designing torture or execution chambers
Land use as protest: How American cities are fighting federal immigration detention centers
Across the country, city officials are using zoning codes and land use law to limit where ICE detention facilities can be built.
San Antonio sets new rules for immigration detention facilities
The city revised its zoning code to add new restrictions for private detention centers, but the ordinance won't apply to federally operated facilities.
Architecture Firm to Stop Designing ICE Prisons After Staff Outrage
Employees of one of the nation’s largest “justice facility” firms called on their company to end contracts for detention facilities.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
In Texas, data centers are swallowing promised parkland
Residents who moved to Taylor, Texas for a rural community now have to contend with three data centers in their backyard.
How a Chicago-sized wind farm beat the odds and powered on
The project spanned five presidential administrations and a standoff with a U.S. military base.
MTA gives itself 30 days to transform pit into basketball court
The site has been under construction since 2022; the city originally estimated it would finish the court in 2024.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority