In the talk titled “Black Resilience,” we were given a tour of Reconstructions: Architecture and Blackness in America curated by the Black Reconstruction Collective (BRC) and heard a discussion between BRC members and students from the Georgia Tech School of Architecture. 

This spring, the BRC is hosting three presentations at Penn State, Georgia Tech, and the University of South Carolina. The presentations are a rejoinder to the Vitruvian maxim “Firmness, Commodity, Delight,” which has been inscribed in architectural theory and history through Vitruvius’ Ten Books on Architecture and his description of the “ideal man” — yet that ideal figure is European, white, male, and able-bodied. Penn State's presentation was a response to Delight, Georgia Tech's presentation was a response to Firmness, and the presentation at USC is a response to Commodity. 

We were joined by Emanuel Admassu, Swkou Cooke, J. Yolande Daniels, Mario Gooden, Walter Hood, Olalekan Jeyifous, Mitch McEwen, and Amanda Williams. 

During the presentation, members of the BRC shared several resources for further thinking, discussions, and learning for attendees. We are sharing those resources here to keep the conversation going.