Lateral Office

So honored to receive Silver Prize with Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation in the North America region of Holcim Foundation Awards 2021. https://www.holcimfoundation.org/media/news/awards/awards-north-america-2021

most thoughtful review yet of “New Middles” is on The Architect's Newspaper.

The 2021 edition of Exhibit Columbus asks “What Is the Future of the Middle City?” The 2021 edition of Exhibit Columbus, the buildings step aside; they are not romanticized, rather they form a backdrop for speculative futures

"It seems opportune, 20 years Jencks' diagram, to re-examine in greater detail the impact and contributions within the activist tradition, in isolation from other traditions, and how it has realigned the discipline. This re-examination begins with a constellation of architects working in the 1960s to early 1980s and another resurgence of activism in the mid to late 1990s and then further in the 2010s. In homage to Jencks’ attempt to identify competing agendas for the discipline, the activist tradition has been re-drawn and expanded in isolation from other traditions using his diagrammatic technique over the period 1950-2020. Isolating the activist tradition reveals that it has expanded and bifurcated, showing even more activity and development than Jencks had predicted. Revisiting the diagram also creates the opportunity to understand the arc of the activist tradition and the forms of practice within it today. In what way have architects operated as activists in both the past and present? What are their tools and agendas?"
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from "Notes on the Activist Tradition" by Lola Sheppard and Mason White in Perspecta #53, 2020.

“The activist tradition can be understood as the use of spatial practice to expose injustice and foster socially inclusive and politically motivated design. In an attempt to clarify and articulate the tradition, the criteria for sub-categories within the activist tradition is established according to tools, strategies, methods and intentions of activism. It considers the questions: how is activism in architecture understood and materialized? What modes of practice distinguish it from other traditions? Who has the privilege and the voice in the activist tradition? As the profession expands its gender, cultural and demographic representation, a wider range of voices are participating on behalf of those under-represented in spatial and aesthetic discourse. In politics, activism is understood as the use of direct, often confrontational action in support of a cause, whether social, political, economic or environmental. Embedded in the notion of activism is the assumption that some kind of action is necessary for structural transformation. In architecture, how this action might be practiced is as varied as its motivation. In the reconsideration of practices and agendas within the activist tradition, some have embraced a critique of the discipline’s models of practice and have offered counter-points to conventional client-based services; others are driven to redress social or economic inequalities; and still others use design-based research to reveal political, economic or logistical forces that are surreptitiously shaping our physical environment. This expanded notion offers a wider understanding of the architect as an activist agent.”
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from "Notes on the Activist Tradition" by Lola Sheppard and Mason White in Perspecta #53, 2020.

We contributed to the current issue of Perspecta, the Yale Architectural Journal published by . Issue #53 is titled Onus and is edited by Caroline Acheatel, Paul Lorenz, Paul Rasmussen, Alexander Stagge.
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Our essay "Notes on the Activist Tradition in Architecture" explores the shift in activist practices since the 1960s with the emergence practices centered on inclusivity, everyday-ism, social good, equity, and forensics.
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Its a fantastic collection of contributions including

Looking forward to this in 2021 - and to be among these lovely people for Exhibit Columbus - NEW MIDDLES - curated by Mimi Zeiger and Iker Gil. We will be University Design Research Fellows representing both The John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design and Waterloo Architecture

Bracket 4: Takes Action … is out!
Edited by Neeraj Bhatia and Mason White
Designed by Haller Brun
Published by Applied Research and Design
This is the fourth volume in a series of books about architecture, environment, and digital culture.
The rise of several divisive leaders within contemporary politics, has once again brought action to the foreground. As a new generation makes their voices heard, they are also grappling to find effective platforms for action through design. This is particularly important to consider at a moment when the authoritative systems—Governments and corporations—appear more divergent to the voices on the ground. At the same time, within an increasingly pluralistic society, what we collectively value is increasingly unclear, which presents a primary challenge on taking action. Bracket [Takes Action] is situated at a critical point in history where the who, what, where, and how of action need to be re-conceptualized to relate to who we are, how we live, and how we communicate today. The role of design and the agency of the designer are at stake in facilitating or stifling action.
To celebrate the launch of Bracket [Takes Action], purchase it with 30% off - limited time offer - from AR+D Publishers: https://aerbook.com/maker/productcard-5269587-4768.html

CLEARING // 2008
Interactive installation at
Project Team: Lola Sheppard, Mason White, Joseph Yau.
Clearing is a commission for a room-sized interactive space that invites visitors to investigate the politics of personal space. The room is nested into the gallery as elevated and independent. Participants enter and organize their own space as a tangible substance though the manipulation of a dense fibrous field of black elastomeric cables. Visitors use serrated acrylic discs to gather and arrange the cables like long black hair. More than 4,000 of these cables, which can stretch up to twice their original length, are strung into loops of varying density and attached across a grid of perforated metal sheets along a suspended ceiling and floor. The possible configurations are infinite.

Thank you to the wonderful faculty and students at and for hosting us this week. Special thanks to profs and

Heading to Columbia GSAPP tomorrow for an evening talk "Other Environments, Other Agencies" and in conversation with the amazing Andrés Jaque / OFFPOLINN.
Hope to see old and new friends!

Lola Sheppard - Columbia GSAPP Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation

Looking forward to the visit to KTH Arkitektur next week - come by to say hello!

Architecture in Other Formats!