Inspiring Conversations with Christopher Locke of Designing in Color

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher Locke.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
As a creative changemaker, I have always been drawn to opportunities that allow me to express the passion I have for my identity. This all started in 2016 when I moved to LA without a clear path for a job but instead the responsibility to share my experiences of the inequities in architecture school. Designing in Color was started by combining my love for activism, design, film, and spatial impact. My goal has always been to change how black and brown people experience cities. My background as a first-generation Jamaican-American helped shape my point of view of how vital it is to create communities for diverse groups of people to be successful. My parents came to the United States without much education but arrived in Hartford, CT which has one of the largest populations of Jamaicans per captica outside of the US. The existence of a culture they knew and understood was important in their comfort and success for building an evolving life.

I consider myself a changemaker who uses design to change the way people experience space and cultural narratives. As a skilled orator and advocate for racial justice, my work over the last 6 years in LA has involved creating spaces for communities to be centered in the design process. This work is done by designing spaces through architecture, making films, and activism through the lens of design justice, a process that uses design to undo harm and trauma in the built environment. This includes leading organizing efforts for projects such as the new  community spaces for Watts, designing student spaces at Cal State LA, or being a speaker and advocating for the eradication of racialized spaces. I balance my role as president of DCo with my 9 to 5 job as a designer with the goal of running Designing in Color full-time in the next 2 years.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Coming from a family and community that does not have experience running businesses is a challenge. Architecture school teaches you the practice of the field but not the business of it. As a result, the profession lacks a strong understanding of how to value the work that is being done for clients. As a black-founded organization, we are focused on not repeating the exploitative practices that have plagued a mostly white lead industry. We are constantly thinking of innovative ways to build our fees, team culture, and provide our services. As a design justice-based organization there is no template for the work we do, as a result we have to find ways to not repeat the undesirable work practices of the field, which takes time and effort to accomplish. This is a challenge that we are happy to take on in order to better impact marginalized identities.

While we are a team of 6 people spread across the country with great work ethic, our biggest challenge is time. We are all part-time in our work for the organization so balancing our capacity for impact and our time for the rest of our lives is important. It is an ongoing challenge that relies upon our team’s communication and commitment to each other. In the last few years, we have come along the way. The creation of team retreats has helped our team connect in person. Personally, having a family and continuing to nurture my personal interest will be a new challenge I am excited to integrate into my life. It will not be easy but the growth it will encourage me to have is invaluable.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Designing in Color?
Designing in Color (DCo) is a collective of architects and designers of culture. We work to diversify the way architecture is taught and practiced to amplify the voices of marginalized communities who face systematic oppression in design.

Our team consists of six designers and architects located throughout the country from Detroit, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Boston, and Seattle. DCo facilitates educational programming, creates workshops, designs socially responsible projects, and distributes digital initiatives, each meant to dismantle the systemic racism built into the practice of architecture. Everything DCo creates is proudly informed by the principles of social justice, spatial justice, and design equity. We want our partners, from students, professionals, institutions, and local communities, to emerge from our collaborations knowledgeable of the injustices of their fields and excited to begin to pursue justice, all while designing in color.

DCo was started after my graduation from grad school in 2016 and in partnership with my cofounders Opalia Meade and Rubin Quarcarpoome. We all experienced inequities in our education in architecture school and wanted to change how design education centered on eurocentric methodologies disenfranchise black and brown designers. Our original goal was to change the curricula of academia, through our career journeys the mission has grown to not only change the profession but the communities it impacts.

Our story and brand is based on the expansion of the definition of what an architect should do and how it can better impact marginalized people.

What an architect is and can do shouldn’t be commodified or defined by white patriarchy. We are constantly thinking of ways to unbuild racism in the built environment and provide our services in creative ways beyond just building new spaces. One of those services is our Racialized Architecture Course. As a part of the Designing with Action Series, this course is the basis for our workshops on racial oppression and systemic inequity in design fields. This curriculum covers the dynamics in which the architecture practice has willingly participated in the racist actions of colonized space. Our course is made available via video, engaging online webinars, and in-person workshops. Our clients range from firms in architecture, engineering, construction, developers, nonprofits, universities, and anyone who wants to make an impact in the built environment.

Starting our design process by understanding the impact of race and injustices in the communities of our the work, helps us to better build spaces for people who have silenced in the design process. We enjoy partnering with other creatives in this work whether you are an artist, engineer, academic, or community advocate, we look forward to opportunity to the work with you the Griot on creating new spaces.

How do you think about luck?
Entrepreneurs have to be persistent and perseverant to achieve their biggest dreams and goals. There is also an element of luck that is achieved by increasing your odds of getting the right opportunities. Sometimes it’s a roll of a dice that the right people are in your space at the right time. For me, this has been the case. Being visible doing public speaking has brought me opportunities I would have never thought of. As a young business owner, it is important to understand that being present in what you are doing is important, you never know who is watching you. For Designing in Color our work has largely been word of mouth or via speaking or public appearances. All of our opportunities have been a blessing that God has brought to us. We are indeed lucky and blessed to have clarity in our work as a team.

Contact Info:

• Website: designingincolor.com
• Instagram: @clll_smooth or @designingincolor
• Youtube: Designing in Color

Image Credits
Rubin Quarcoopome