Metropolis, February 22, 2021, Architects Didn’t Invent Redlining, But We Helped Reinforce It- On Two Continents
Architecture and planning are at the root of racial bias against people of color in America and around the world. One example: Although discrimination and segregation has always existed in the United States, in 1934, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) put it in writing by instituting the National Housing Act, which created the discriminatory practice called redlining.
Architecture is never neutral; it either heals or hurts. According to a study by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, three out of four U.S. neighborhoods that were redlined on government maps 80 years ago continue to struggle economically. We as architects are not just the designers of glass skyscrapers and infinity pools, but are direct contributors to these injustices. As Winston Churchill best put it, “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.”
