Cleaning out designers' attics to fight systemic racism
A 1966 photograph of Las Vegas by architect Denise Scott Brown was one of the items auctioned by the Design Yard Sale.
"Prompted by the death of George Floyd in late May, a group of five Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) students and alumni were moved to rethink the power of design. 'Most of us in the design school felt like design couldn't provide immediate assistance,' says Yaxuan Liu, a current architecture master’s student at Harvard University. 'In the larger sense, we can design for equity but it will take a longer time to achieve this goal.' Undeterred, Liu and peers Tessa Crespo, Grace Chee, Izzy Kornblatt, and Edward Han Myo Oo came together to invent a way that their industry could provide instant support for anti-Black racism, based on a concept pulled straight from imagery of suburban America: the yard sale.
"After reaching out via survey to fellow students and partnering with co-sponsor nonprofit The Architectural League of New York, the group began Design Yard Sale, a month-long fundraising event that auctions and sells design pieces online. 100% of the proceeds benefit nonprofit The Bail Project and New Orleans-based architecture and design justice practice Colloqate Design, organizations that are dedicated to fighting systemic racism. Since its July 1 launch, Design Yard Sale has raised over $80,000 for racial justice."
Article: Harvard GSD Students And Alumni Raise $80,000 For Anti-Racism With Design Yard Sale