Sean Canty: Black Abstraction in Architecture. Though Forms I Volume 1

Uses social and environmental justice theories to rethink the future of architecture.

Thought Forms is a series featuring provocative essays that analyze and reimagine the built and managed environments through the lenses of social and environmental justice. Edited by Esther Choi and featuring established and emerging BIPOC voices--scholars and practitioners re-envisioning architecture’s expanded field--the series positions architecture within social, cultural, environmental, economic, and political landscapes, and invites readers to consider spatial practices through situated perspectives. The authors encourage us to engage with architecture and space as dynamic and potent platforms for justice, community, and innovation. Taken together, the essays look to history and philosophy to understand the recent past and, importantly, embrace a spirit of speculation in which worldmaking can aspire to heal and repair the planet towards collectivized futures.

In this inaugural volume of the series, architect and scholar Sean Canty focuses on the social implications of abstraction in architectural form, drawing parallels and insights from the world of Black abstraction as seen in the works of three notable painters. His contributions reflect a deep engagement with form, space, and the socio-political narratives that shape them, presenting a unique perspective that blends academic rigor with creative exploration.

Sean Canty runs his architecture firm Studio Sean Canty in Cambridge, MA, and is assistant professor of architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design. He is also a founding principal of Office III, an experimental architectural collective that spans New York, San Francisco, and Cambridge, MA. Esther Choi is an architecture activist and scholar based in New York.