Body Politics: Social Equity and Public Space

Joel Sanders, founder and director of JSA/MIXdesign, will discuss how the inclusive design think-tank and consultancy has expanded its mission to consider the inevitable impact that the coronavirus pandemic has had on social equity and public space. Addressing the spatial implications of COVID-19 is an extension of MIXdesign’s commitment to the creation of safe and accessible designed environments that meet the needs of “non-compliant bodies”: people of different ages, races, genders, religions, and abilities that the discipline of architecture has traditionally overlooked.

Joel Sanders

Joel Sanders, FAIA is the founder of MIXdesign, an inclusive design think tank and consultancy that is a branch of his New York based, LGBTBE-certified architecture studio JSA (Joel Sanders Architect). MIXdesign is dedicated to making everyday building types like restrooms, art museums, and university campuses accessible and welcoming to people of different ages, genders, abilities, cultural identities, and religions. MIXdesign initiatives include Stalled!, an AIA award-winning project that responds to national controversies surrounding transgender access to public restrooms. In addition to being Principal of JSA/MIXdesign, Sanders is a Professor at Yale School of Architecture.