Current Issue

Editorial: A Legacy of Creative Protest
“…we are the heirs of a legacy of creative protest.”
–Martin Luther King, Jr.

Six years after Dr. King uttered the words quoted above he was silenced by an assassin’s bullet and bigotry. That same year (1968) Robert F. Kennedy was struck down by an assassin. A world away, the Tet Offensive in Vietnam brought on the death of 99,843 American and Vietnamese soldiers. It was a year of turmoil and tragedy. The same year saw upheaval in political conventions, central cities and college campuses. This unrest represented the awakening of a generation of citizens and students discontent with the inequity so fundamental to their time.

As students–among them scores of architecture students–around the globe took their discontent public, they became part of a rich history of activism. This, of course, begs the question: are we prepared to assume this legacy? Is our generation as comfortable and capable expressing our unwillingness to stand intolerance, injustice and inequity as our predecessors were?

Contributors to this issue of Crit answer these questions with compelling insight into spaces of protest, the unique and parallel circumstances of the various protests, and the role of students and designers in standing up and taking action. We are also honored to have a dear friend, former AIAS officer, former Editor of this journal, architectural activist and 2007-2008 recipient of the prestigious Rome Prize, John Cary, joining us as guest editor. John brings his ongoing research of Activist Architecture–and 1968 in particular–to the pages of Crit. Finally, students and recent graduates share with us their stories of architectural activism and protest from today, 40 years after the turmoil of 1968.

In that year of soul-stirring tragedy, we also saw an image of hope. For the first time, we were presented with a photograph of planet Earth. It may mean little to us today as it is almost interchangeable with a globe, but never before had we seen the Earth in all its finiteness. While this was a paradigm-shifting artifact, it also inspired some, along with events of tragedy and the subtle injustices of everyday life, to employ pen and prose, fist and picket, toward massive change. A cursory look into the past exposes innumerable instances where this realization sparked protest, riot, defiance, action and expense of energy by one, by many. As Whitney Young so boldly reminded the AIA during its convention in 1968, those entrusted with the design of cities and houses are no exception.

Thus, today it is our inheritance to carry on the legacy of creative protest.

Jacob Day
Editor-in-Chief
E crit@aias.org