PANELISTS:

Jerome Haferd (@jhaferd  @brandt_haferd) is an architect and educator based in Harlem, NY and the Hudson Valley. He is co-founder of the award-winning design and research practice BRANDT : HAFERD. Jerome’s work focuses on how architecture establishes a dialogue between contemporary phenomena and non-hegemonic users and spaces. His writing on Blackness, archaeology, and speculation has been published in Log and Project journals. His studio was the winner of the 2020 AIA New Practices Award, and the 2019 ZeroThreshold competition. Jerome is currently substitute assistant professor at City College SSA, and adjunct faculty at Columbia GSAPP and Yale University. He is a core initiator of Dark Matter University.

Lexi Tsien (@lexitsien  @soft__firm) is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia GSAPP and Yale School of Architecture, a designer based in New York, and co-founder of Soft-Firm. Lexi is interested in new forms of representation, vernacular spatial practices, and their ability to shape and self-determine the built environment. Her interdisciplinary practice, Soft-Firm is a flexible platform off which to expand design hunches into architectural ideas, spaces, and artifacts. Soft-Firm's work is speculative and concrete: taking a playful and lo-fi approach to visual perception, elemental forms, and material contrast. Soft-Firm pursues progressive and collaborative programs to promote agency and equity, seeing architecture at the intersection between culture and built infrastructure. The practice has designed interactive exhibitions, residential and commercial projects, and public installations.