Enabling Equitable Design in Architecture: Tool Development for Actionable Information

Abstract

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement, architecture firms nationwide have committed to more equitable practice. Discussions on diversity in the architectural profession have become common, indicating industry-wide intention for change. However, how to push these equitable intentions into action has been unclear. Many firms lack experience and struggle to find relevant resources. Additionally, there are no tools currently available to aid this process that are specific to architectural projects. This research proposes a web tool that audits a project’s design decisions to bring equitable design to the project level. This tool generates customized equity-improving action reports to the user and links relevant resources for further reading. To better understand the feasibility of this tool in practice, this research completed small-scale user testing with practicing architects. Users immediately saw ways to implement this tool in practice, suggesting that equitable design information is easier to implement when it is customized to a project. Their feedback also suggests that there is a role for tools and computational design in complex social problems.