Erasing Invisibility

Can buildings promote social change? Improve society? Promote social equity?

In 2022, architects Sara Caples and Everardo Jefferson of Caples Jefferson Architects published Many Voices: Architecture for Social Equity, which includes their own work for underserved communities in New York City, assembled case studies from around the world, and interviews with architects, including Sara Zewde, Tatiana Bilbao, and Wanda Dalla Costa, to make the case that architecture that reflects its communities can make the world both better and more beautiful.

Join Sara and Everardo, as well as one of the book’s interviewees, MASS Design principal Katie Swenson, at Head Hi on Tuesday, April 15 to discuss the book and test its thesis.

If you pre-order the book (available at checkout) or are a NYRA subscriber, you attend for free. Not a subscriber? Easy to fix, just start one at nyra.nyc/subscribe.

About the Speakers:

Sara Caples and Everardo Jefferson are Principals and co-founders of Caples Jefferson Architects. Caples Jefferson’s social equity work has gained national recognition in the US and has been published internationally for its exceptional design qualities. Among its most notable projects are Heritage Health & Housing social services agency, located in a former garage in Harlem; Queens Theatre-in-the-Park, expanding a World’s Fair building into a public theatre; and Weeksville, a new visitor’s building and campus built around a rediscovered freedmen’s preservation site. Sara is a practising architect who has worked on social equity projects for over 30 years. Everardo’s community service has included serving on the boards of social justice and educational institutions, and he is currently acting as a Commissioner of the New York City Landmark Preservation Commission. Everardo and Sara frequently teach as guest educators in schools of architecture, most recently as Davenport Professors at Yale University. Sara is currently Fellow for Innovation in Engagement at Pratt Institute.

About the organizers:
New York Review of Architecture reviews architecture in New York.

Head Hi is is an organization dedicated to art and design specializing in publications and cultural programming with an espresso bar located in Fort Greene, Brooklyn by the Navy Yard. We feature a curated selection of publications from around the globe. Working with local and international artists, designers, publishers, community members and organizations in various fields, Head Hi is a space for exploration and interaction that hosts talks, book launches, art shows, music performances and other events.

Host or Publisher New York Review of Architecture