Black Community Resilience Project

Type: Travel Research
Location: Canada, Europe, USA, Caribbean.
Status: In Progress May 2023 - December 2025
Award: Prix de Rome in Architecture — Professional

The Black Community Resilience project explores built spaces of the Black Atlantic. The work will take us to Western Europe, the English-speaking Caribbean and the Northeast/Midwest USA. We aim to take an intersectional approach through a Black diasporic lens in studying housing justice, Black community space, and climate justice. We'll investigate how various communities have established spaces of care and gathering through and in spite of architectural interventions. By probing these three themes in isolation and conjunction, we intend to learn and disseminate knowledge gained from this experience.
Building on our Professional Prix de Rome award, we will explore the spatial narratives of sites ranging from 200-year-old Black churches in Ontario, to Community-built Housing in London, to neighbourhood-wide art interventions in Chicago, to climate-resilient housing in St John Parish, Barbados.
Get in touch with suggestions as we continue these explorations.

With Alyssa-Amor Gibbons in St. John, Barbados for the Black Community Resilience Project developed by SOCA — With Alyssa-Amor Gibbons, St. John, Barbados.

Image of the Newton Slave Burial Ground in Barbados for the Black Community Resilience Project developed by SOCA — Newton Slave Burial Ground, Barbados.

Map of New World as reference for the Black Community Resilience Project developed by SOCA. Map created by Sebastian Munster and held by the National Gallery of Jamaica — Map of New World, Sebastian Munster, 1552 - National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston, JA.

Image of Community Dinner in Bijlmer for the Black Community Resilience Project developed by SOCA — Community Dinner, Bijlmer, Amsterdam.

Touring Bijlmer, Amsterdam for the Black Community Resilience Project developed by SOCA — Touring Bijlmer, Amsterdam

Image of mural for the Black Community Resilience Project developed by SOCA. Mural credits to RESOLVE Collective — Come in Love, stay in peace, by RESOLVE Collective, Brixton, UK.

Image of the Black Cultural Archives for the Black Community Resilience Project developed by SOCA — Black Cultural Archives, London, UK.

With Jonathan Hagos of Freehaus for the Black Community Resilience Project developed by SOCA — With Jonathan Hagos of Freehaus, London, UK.

The Autograph Gallery for the Black Community Resilience Project developed by SOCA — Autograph Gallery, London, UK.

Image of memorial for the Black Community Resilience Project developed by SOCA — Brixton, London, UK.

Image of Brixton Market for the Black Community Resilience Project developed by SOCA — Brixton Market, London, UK.

Image of the Africa Centre in London for the Black Community Resilience Project developed by SOCA — The Africa Centre, London, UK.

Image of the Nubia Way Black Housing Co-op in London for the Black Community Resilience Project developed by SOCA — Nubia Way Black Housing Co-op, London, UK.