About

Who We Are

Another Possible Imaginary (API) is a community of Asian diasporic architects, designers, educators, and cultural practitioners who are committed to antiracism in architecture.

Purpose

Our collective purpose is, through any and all means available to us, to amplify, support, collaborate on, and do antiracist work within our expanded field, including in education, cultural work, and the professional sector. We view antiracist work broadly, to include intervening in society and culture at large, in institutions, in the workplace, and in ourselves. As for the latter, we are intentional about building our internal community and culture as a space for shared learning, care, and generosity.

Values

  1. Antiracism: We acknowledge architecture and design’s historical and contemporary alliances with structures of power, dispossession and disenfranchisement, structural violence, systemic inequity, racialized thinking, and white supremacy. Countering this ongoing history of violence, we seek to use the tools we have as designers, cultural workers, and practitioners to reorient our field toward justice and to support BIPOC-led agendas to dismantle white supremacy. In particular, we seek to integrate three organizing strategies borrowed from political activist and mutual aid groups: 1) identifying harmful systems and sites of intervention; 2) redistributing resources to those in need; and 3) modelling alternative systems.

  2. “Asianness”: We use our Asian identities as a point of connection and a political device for inclusion and coalition building, not as a means of gatekeeping or exclusion, aware of the vastly different meanings that “Asianness” has for each of us. We also acknowledge that our space is not yet complete—nor will it ever be. We invite more perspectives, particularly those which are not well represented within this group, and we recognize that we are not immune to the problematics of race, gender, and power as we work toward our goals. We also seek to interrogate and celebrate the wide diversity of cultural contribution that our Asian identities contribute to design.

  3. Solidarity as Accomplices: As Asian-identifying architects, we aim to reckon with our privileges within the field while simultaneously grappling with our otherness. Historically, the myth of the model minority has acted as a wedge between different racial groups. We seek to root out the presence of this myth within our field as one that is borne out of white supremacy, while also using the privileges some of us have been afforded to further antiracist work. We recognize that key practices in this pursuit include: 1) building intersectional coalitions across different racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, gender, sexuality, and ability groups; and 2) recognizing the limits of our ability to speak to others’ experiences and, as such, work as accomplices to those who are making change. (cf.)

  4. Process: We believe antiracism is a process rather than a fixed point, and needs to be addressed systematically, collectively, and continuously. This process will be ongoing: our work does not end at one statement, event, conversation, or new hire. Instead, we seek to organize ourselves as non-hierarchical, flexible, dynamic, creative, speculative, and sustained.

  5. Community: We strive to operate from a place of collectivity, learning, empathy, humility, generosity, care, joy, pleasure, tenderness, accountability, openness, and fearlessness with ourselves, each other, and those that we encounter in this work. Toward this end, we seek to promote within our own community opportunities for mentorship, individual and collective learning, and celebration.

*This statement is a reflection of our ongoing learning and as such is living and dynamic, and will change over time.

Origin

Another Possible Imaginary formed as a reaction to the murder of George Floyd in the summer of 2020. We held a series of small conversations and collective workshops to try and figure out how to take meaningful action within our spheres of influence that would be sustained over the long term. These initial conversations have since evolved into a monthly meeting space where we could learn about each other and build community, along with several ad hoc working groups who take on projects that help sustain the group and accomplish our goals.

People

Ellie Abrons, Nancy Ai, Erica Allen-Kim, Kate Yeh Chiu, Stephanie Choi, Annie Chu, Jonathan Jae-an Crisman, Wendy Fok, Gary Riichiro Fox, Kian Goh, Jia Gu, Lynne Horiuchi, Tanya Sew Hoy, Alvin Huang, Janette Kim, Simon Kim, Melissa Lo, Ann Lok Lui, Tszyan Ng, Jason Nguyen, Cyrus Peñarroyo, Philip Poon, Doris Sung, Vincent Yung, Linda Zhang

Connect

Contact us at anotherpossibleimaginary@gmail.com if you want to get involved, or sign up for our mailing list to receive updates.

References

This document links to reference materials and toolkits we continuously borrow and learn from as well as other organizations we support.

Initiatives

What We Are Currently Working On

More information coming soon. Reach out to us at anotherpossibleimaginary@gmail.com to get more information or involved about any of the initiatives.

Mutual Aid and Microgrants

OVERVIEW

API’s microgrants are small-but-impactful, unrestricted grants to students and/or early career designers who are working to enact change within architecture and seeking support in a critical moment in the formation and development of their work/practice.The microgrant project attempts to address the insufficient support systems available to those who are working towards change and transformation within our profession. Architecture’s system of rewards is one that is typically established on the basis of “genius” and “talent.” This is true of design academics, scholars, executives and entrepreneurs alike. Systems of support centering on single or collective authorship are unable to acknowledge and bolster those who are working to build systems of care within architecture—the work of organizing, advocating, repairing and transforming that is often rendered invisible.Furthermore, our systems of reward advance deep inequities in our field. Architecture’s professional, educational, and cultural organizations are deeply invested in value systems that reward access to generational wealth, social capital, and whiteness. Survivability is increasingly impossible for low to middle-class persons, whose success is made untenable by current economic models, including high student debt, deep entrenchment with speculative real-estate, and client-based business models. Independent practice for early-career architects is no longer possible except for a select few, as the profession transforms from its early model as a small business to its capitulation to the organizational logic of multinational corporations. The field’s dependency on elite private school education over an investment in a democratic model of public schooling further reinforces this gap. Our current systems are unable to acknowledge the inequities within our field, including the many ways in which the personal (race, wealth, gender) intersect with the professional, and instead reproduce the uneven system of distribution that is perpetuating some of society’s most harmful inequities, including racial and wealth inequality.This microgrant project seeks to support those who are working to change these systems in which we are all embedded, during a critical moment of their personal and professional lives. It is an effort to model an alternative system of support for those doing the invisible work of enacting change.

FAQ

Who can apply?
This microgrant program is for students from the United States or Canada, early career designers, and/or individuals without access or networks who are doing work to enact change in our field. The intention is to redistribute resources in a supportive manner without unnecessary obstacles.What can the funds be used for?
The funds are unrestricted (i.e., you don’t have to prove that you spent them in a particular way) and can support a broad range of things, such as public transportation costs, health insurance premiums, dependent care costs, or web hosting. We acknowledge that professional expenses are often personal expenses and aim to eliminate this distinction that often diminishes the need for supporting the latter.How big are the grants?
They vary based on need, up to $500How do I apply?
Applications are submitted through this simple, online form that asks for name, contact information, affiliation, website/social media handle (optional), a brief statement describing your work, and the amount you are requesting.How can I support API Microgrants?
If you are able, we hope that you will contribute to this program so that we can continue to give out funds. Donations can be sent to @materialsandapplicationsWhat is the timeline?
The application deadline is rolling. You can expect to hear back from us within 14 days.