Event
May 11, 2026 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM
BSA Space290 Congress StreetBoston, MA
Free to attend, but must register.
Architecture shapes the spaces where public life unfolds—but its deeper potential lies in how it advances the common good. The Public Life of Architecture brings together leaders from the Architecture Fringe, the City of Boston, the Boston Public Art Triennial, and the Boston Society for Architecture to explore a more expansive civic role for the discipline at a moment of urgent social and environmental transformation. The conversation will consider how professional bodies, cultural institutions, and biennial-style festivals can actively inform public life and understanding—positioning architecture not only as practice, but as an evolving civic infrastructure. Through cultural programs, public campaigns, and experimental platforms, architecture can be reimagined as a civic actor that talks truth to power, upholds equity, and works towards a truly sustainable future. This dialogue invites architects, students, policymakers, and the public to rethink architecture as a public agent—and as a catalyst for systemic, imaginative change in collective civic life.
Andy Summers is an architect whose work explores architecture's relationship to civil society and cultural democracy and is a founding director of the Architecture Fringe, an activist non-profit based in Scotland. A current Loeb Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Andy is also faculty teaching architecture at the University of Edinburgh and represented Scotland at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale. With an interest in queer theory, public narratives and architectural culture, his expanded practice in architecture includes exhibition-making, public programs, curation and teaching with a focus on supporting emerging practitioners who are interested in society and the wider common good.
Marguerite Wynter is an arts administrator and curator whose work focuses on the intersection of community and public engagement. Through public programming and community-centered initiatives, she creates welcoming entry points that connect diverse audiences to creative practices. Her work is driven by a deep commitment to supporting artists while fostering inclusive, community-centered experiences. She currently serves as Director of Partnership + Engagement at the Boston Public Art Triennial. Previously, she was the Public Programs & Partnerships Manager at the Chicago Architecture Biennial, held curatorial roles at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and 80WSE Gallery, and consulted with Deem Journal on its annual Designing for Dignitys ymposium.
Joseph Zeal-Henry is a designer, curator and public servant currently serving as Chief of Arts and Culture at the City of Boston and is an assistant professor at Columbia GSAPP. He has written for Tank Magazine, Dezeen and Casabella. Joseph was selected as the 2024 Artlab/Loeb Fellow at Harvard University GSD. In 2022, the British Council selected Joseph to co-curate the British Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023. The pavilion, 'Dancing Before the Moon,' explores the need for architecture to look beyond buildings and economic structures and towards everyday social practices. Joseph worked for the Mayor of London in the Culture & Creative Industries Unit, delivering new cultural infrastructure for London. Joseph worked on the New London Museum, East Bank and the Thames Estuary Production Corridor. In 2019 co-founded the social enterprise platform Sound Advice to explore new forms of spatial practice through music. In 2020, they published the book NOW YOU KNOW.
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