Ethics Over Aesthetics

Always zigging where other historians zag, Dana Cuff emceed a fun-forward book launch for Spatial Justice—her latest publication and one committed to “ethically driven architectural efforts,” according to an introduction from UCLA architecture chair —in the courtyard of Perloff Hall. Taco-wielding attendees mingled against a backdrop of protest banners and DIY “Catholic prayer candles for architecture” made by , an activist-in-residence at cityLAB, which Cuff directs.

Spatial Justice contextualizes case studies from the likes of Chilean firm Elemental against global resistance movements. “This book is a reminder that we need to be anti-spatial injustice in the same way that we must commit to anti-racism,” Cuff said. Her husband, the architect Kevin Daly, lamented the majority of building codes that “are only about protecting wealth” to contrast them with those made possible by cityLAB, including AB2299, which streamlined the “densification of California suburbs” via ADU construction.

The festivities concluded with a lively set from architecture PhD student ANIRUDH GURUMOORTHY, AKA DJ Class Struggle.