Essential Work: Designing the End to Mass Incarceration

Deanna Van Buren is an architect, but she goes far beyond just designing buildings. She uses her craft to demonstrate new structures for justice in our society. Van Buren is the co-founder and Executive Director of Designing Justice, an organization that she says focuses on "ending mass incarceration through innovations in the built environment, using both finance and design together."  Designing Justice has launched projects across the country: They're behind a Peace Making project in Syracuse, a restorative justice project in Detroit, and they're looking to convert an Atlanta jail into a community center. Locally, they've refurbished a MUNI bus to create a mobile school in San Francisco and in East Oakland, they've built a community center based in restorative justice practices. This week on Rightnowish, Deanna Van Buren discusses what it means to design for a more equitable society. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices