Pollinators, Keepers, and Builders

The World Around: Architecture’s Near, Now, and Next, a summit organized by independent curator Beatrice Galilee in collaboration with the Guggenheim, kicked off with Galilee and Cyra Levenson, the Guggenheim’s deputy director of education and public engagement, emphasizing ideas about civic space. “This is a civic space, a place for dialogue, and for a collective sense of wonder,” said Levenson of the Guggenheim. Galilee followed with the statement, “We’ll be hearing from scientists and visionaries who are changing the conversation around race and civic space. Giving visibility to new narratives, representing and amplifying the voices of Indigenous communities, creating new canons, and dismantling stereotypes.” What was made clear throughout the all-day symposium on January 30 is that twenty-first century civic space is not centered around institutions, but is instead being shaped by architects, urban planners, and activists across the globe.

The summit went digital following its first iteration at the TimesCenter last year, and has made the most of its online form…