Office Hours
2020
World Wide Web
Social practice, video conferencing software
Overview

An artist-run project exploring radical pedagogy that cultivates the sharing of world-making knowledge amongst cultural practitioners who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

Links

Instagram: @office_hours.nyc
Website: Office-Hours.design
Contact: info[@]office-hours[.]design

Office Hours

Office Hours (2020–present) is a participatory knowledge sharing project by and for BIPOC cultural workers that explores radical pedagogy as artistic practice. Started by Esther Choi in July 2020, 2500+ people representing the global majority have participated in this artist-run project from 22+ nations and territories including the United States, Canada, Jordan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Palestine, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, India, Australia, South Africa, and the Philippines.

Office Hours' bimonthly 75-minute sessions are advertised on Instagram at @office_hours.nyc and on its website. The first 200 BIPOC students and practitioners that register receive a link to the free Zoom event held later that week.

Through its seasonal programming, Office Hours aspires to render liberatory worldmaking strategies by BIPOC practitioners available to wider audiences, while providing free information and resources that address the barriers to entry and access for minoritized cultural workers. As an experimental space of sociability, its dialogical format promotes knowledge sharing, listening and dialogue, lived experience, and multi-racial and inter-ethnic solidarity as crucial tools for social transformation. Embracing intersectionality, Office Hours encourages speakers and attendees to engage in intimate discussions about the ways in which their overlapping social identities have shaped their personal journeys and insights. In addition to abiding by community agreements, all participants are asked to turn their cameras on and arrive accountable to the group dynamic.

Speakers have included: Sumayya Vally (Counterspace), Sean Canty (Studio SC/ Office III), Grace Wales Bonner (Wales Bonner), Jonathan Jackson (WeShouldDoItAll), Tammy Eagle Bull (Encompass Architects), Tei Carpenter (Agency–Agency), Quilian Riano (DSGN AGNC/ Pratt), Asad Syrkett (Elle Décor), Justin Garrett Moore (Mellon Foundation), Bryan C. Lee, Jr. (Colloqate), David Fortin (David Fortin Architects), Sunil Bald (Studio SUMO), Eddie Opara (Pentagram), Dori Tunstall (OCAD University), Ana María León (Harvard GSD), Germane Barnes (Studio Barnes), and Jennifer Newsom (Dream the Combine), among others.

To learn more, visit www.Office-Hours.design.

How To Support Office Hours

Donations to Office Hours are tax deductible and can be made here. Office Hours operates under the fiscal sponsorship of The Architectural League of New York, a recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Press

Bryony Roberts and Abriannah Aiken, "Feminist Spatial Practices, Pt 1," E-Flux (March 2023). Web.

Jess Meyers, "Esther Choi Is Building a Global Community to Nurture the Next Generation of Designers," Dwell Magazine, (Sept. 2021). Print and web.

Wanda Lau, "Esther Choi: Courage is a Muscle," (Interview), Architect Magazine, (June 2021). Web.

Mateo Sancho Cardiel, "Racismo y fluidez de género en el mundo del diseño y arquitectura," El Pais, (May 2021). Web.

Jack Balderamma Morley, "Second Season of Esther Choi's Office Hours Promises More Opportunities for Young Bipoc Designers." Arch Daily. Web.

Jack Balderamma Morley, "The second season of Office Hours promises more opportunities for young BIPOC designers." The Architect's Newspaper. (March 4, 2021). Print and web.

Mimi Zeiger, "It's Time to Abolish the Architecture Critic," Dezeen, (March 1, 2021).

Architizer Editors, “Office Hours is shifting the landscape for BIPOC creatives,” Architizer. (Oct. 23, 2020). Web.

Charu Suri, "A Grassroots Mentorship Program Aims to Break Down Industry Barriers," Architectural Digest Pro (Oct.19, 2020). Web.