Designers create public document listing black-owned studios

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A group of designers and architects have come together to create a public Google file compiled of design, architecture, engineering or planning studios founded by black, indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC). 

Entitled BIPOC Studios, the list was created following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, and aims to promote opportunities at these design studios, and those owned by women or non-binary people. Set to public, anyone can view the spreadsheet, which also includes whether the studios are hiring and any specific opportunities available.

Architect Dong-Ping Wong, one of the brains behind the spreadsheet, announced the project on June 4, the same day the list was made live. His most recent post (above) shares the success of the project up to that point, along with a request to "keep it going", and details of how to add a studio to the list.

If you want to be included on the database, Wong asks for a DM or email to bipocstudios@gmail.com with details of your studio.

On the BIPOC Studio sheet is the list of studio names, whether they are black or indigenous owned and if the owner is female or non-binary. Though job vacancies are included, Wong is quick to point out that designers shouldn't be put off if it appears a studio isn't hiring. 

"Send them your portfolios anyway," he says. "It doesn't mean they aren't hiring and trust me you never know where an office is at week by week, including mine."

The other creatives involved in the BIPOC Studio spreadsheet are Louis Vuitton menswear artistic director/founder of Off-White Virgil Abloh, designer Mahfuz Sultan, artist Hassan Rahim, architects Dominic Leong, Joey Swerdlin, Naïla Opiangah, Oana Stănescu, Preeti Sriritana, and critic Esther Choi.

This group is just one of the many examples of the way creatives are standing with the black community in the fight against racism. 

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