Practicing Spatial Justice: Design-Organizing for Abolition

Abstract

This project presents a critique of the profession of landscape architecture, extending the liability of a licensed professional to include accountability for slow, systemic violence, in addition to individual health, safety, and public welfare. The project is developed on the site of “Cop City,” a “public training facility” designed to uphold the police state in greater Atlanta, Georgia. The project documents racial and environmental harm on the site through a critique of the legal tools of the profession. It proposes a new kind of abolitionist practitioner, the designer-organizer, who works to build local power and repair relationships between plant and human communities. This requires new practices of codesign, featuring fuzzy future models that embed skills of organizing and designing into decision-making processes. Mutual liability is held between the community and designer-organizers to promote true public welfare in this abolitionist landscape.