The Architect as a Civic Practitioner: Reimagined Approaches for the Architecture Field to Advance Equitable Practice

This thesis asks the question, 'How can equitable approaches be advanced within the architectural discipline in order for architects to make increasingly meaningful social and civic impacts on vulnerable communities?' It is a product of my experience working on a project for a low-income community of color, along with my realization that I did not possess the tools to be able to design in a way that fostered equity for this community. In an attempt to design those tools for myself and question how architectural practices can be used to enhance equity in one's work, the thesis features the reimagining of several architectural approaches. The approaches take inspiration from the discipline of equitable creative placemaking, drawing from concepts such as cultural asset mapping, co-creation, and fostering community agency.