The Academy of Architecture for Justice (AAJ) promotes and fosters the exchange of information and knowledge between members, professional organizations, and the public for high-quality planning, design, and delivery of justice architecture.
Only 61% of U.S. citizens voted in the presidential election in 2016, and that percentage is even lower for state and local elections. How can design address this low voter turnout? Students from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture, in collaboration with the AAJ University Outreach Committee, will present their visions for a better polling place and what the experience of voting could be. They will share work from this past semester that challenges systemic barriers to voting and discuss their insights about how voting rights, public policy, and polling place architecture affect equity in social justice. The spring semester studio included: an in-depth case study exploring the relationship between design, power, and social justice; development of a public policy poster detailing the electoral process and voting rights; identification of polling station guidelines; and a design proposal of a polling station rooted in site analysis, needs of the user, and the symbolic nature of the space.01:15:37