Baltimore-based Neighborhood Design Center Announces Reverberations Conference + Gala

On June 8-9, the Neighborhood Design Center, a Baltimore and Prince George’s County based non- profit, will celebrate 50 years of serving local communities in Maryland with Reverberations: Roots and Relevance of Community Design, a public conference, and the 50th Anniversary Gala.

The Neighborhood Design Center was founded in 1968, following civil unrest after the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., to address the clear inequities in Baltimore’s built environment. For the last 50 years, the organization has partnered with community members and local institutions to envision a more inclusive, equitable future for the City.

Now, in partnership with the Association for Community Design, NDC is excited to host a weekend of events that will push this vision forward in new and radical directions. Bringing together design practitioners, community partners, government officials and others from around the country, the conference will provide a platform for critical reflection on the state of community design and where we’re going next.

Dr. Sharon E. Sutton, the 12th African American woman in history to be licensed to practice architecture, will deliver the opening keynote. TED Fellow and Next City Vanguard Antoinette Carroll will deliver the closing address. We will also introduce attendees to the city of Baltimore, to learn more about ways to design for inclusion and equity, the importance of centering communities in the design process, and more.

The gala will be at the Angelos Law Center at the University of Baltimore on June 9th and will feature light fare from local taqueria and mezcaleria Clavel, a soul shake-down by Save Your Soul DJ Rob Macy, a silent auction, and volunteer awards. Learn more about the event at: http://www.ndc-md.org/reverb.

FEATURED EVENTS:

  • Opening Keynote: Dr. Sharon E. Sutton: “Racism and Resistance in American Cities.”
  • Pre-Conference: Rooted in Baltimore: Exploring Environmental Justice on the Waterfront
  • Featured Panel Topics: Community Land Trusts for Development without Displacement; Design as Protest; Designers of Color Birthing New Design Genres; Hip Hop Architecture; Undesign the Redline; Intersectional Exclusion in Public Space
  • Featured Speakers: Bryan C. Lee of Colloqate Design, Justin Garrett Moore, Dan D’Oca of Interboro Partners (The Arsenal of Exclusion & Inclusion), April De Simone of Designing the WE, Kristen Jeffers of The Black Urbanist, Garrett Jacobs of Open Architecture Collaborative, and so many more!
  • Happy Hour Mixer with Baltimore’s NEW chapter of the National Association of Minority Architects Reverberations Gala: June 9, 7-10 p.m., Angelos Law Center, University of Baltimore, 1401 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD. 21201. Tickets: http://www.ndc-md.org/reverb

MEDIA CONTACT

Briony Hynson, Neighborhood Design Center 301-830-5219