April De Simone has been developing contextualized frameworks for advancing more equitable, humane and just representations of spatial authorship for more than 20 years.

April is a transdisciplinary design practitioner who navigates the intersectionality of architecture, planning and systems thinking to develop contextualized frameworks that advance more equitable, humane and just representations of spatial authorship.

In her work at Trahan Architects, April investigates the implicit and invisible relationship between architecture and human condition, connecting a deeper understanding of how inequity, supremacy (in its various forms) and dehumanization become spatialized and proliferated.

April has worked on numerous projects demonstrating the equitable, humane and just capacities of architecture and design mediums, including a supervised visitation site at the Bronx Borough Courthouse and the social enterprise venture Urban Starzz. In 2015, she cofounded designing the WE, where she co-created the nationally recognized Undesign the Redline platform investigating the implicit and invisible relationship between architecture and human condition. Enterprise hosted multiple Undesign the Redline exhibits across the country to provide an informative look at the history and long-term impact of redlining, a federal policy that led to disinvestment in neighborhoods based entirely on race.

April’s vision for the next 40 years in the affordable housing and community development sector is driven by the courage to rethink “housing as a human right.” She wants to avoid furthering the dehumanizing and segregated experience of communities via influencers like stigmatization and devaluation. In going further, April believes we can allow individuals and families to harness community wealth-building, while deconstructing the deep divisions of our society.

Image

We must be informed of how our decisions are steeped in historical legacies. This understanding will inform processes that scale our humanity.

April De Simone

April is an invited lecturer, speaker and facilitator at multiple institutions. Her board affiliations include the American Sustainable Business Council and she works closely on a local and national level with diverse stakeholders within the design sector, like the Urban Design Forum, on issues of race, equity and new economies.

A Dean Merit Scholar recipient, April received her Master of Science in Design and Urban Ecologies from Parsons School of Design. She is currently pursuing her master’s in architecture.