Black—Still offers an accessible entry point into architecture. Its insulated volume invites users to enter the space for reflection, serving as a respite from the outside world and visual noise of the immediate site and greater Los Angeles. This respite demonstrates how architecture can engage and transform the senses. Situated within the Craft Contemporary’s courtyard, the reverential volumes are responsive to various obstacles beneath the surface, on the ground, and above. The prism’s glossy black finish evokes the tar running below the ground’s surface—the use of the color black frames an introspective space. Black is celebrated as “clean,” “pure,” and “good,” and is a source of collective healing. Its blackness subverts traditional and modernist notions of whiteness, presenting novel and diverse expressions of architecture. Through black and the attenuated environment, Black—Still resonates as a space of wellness and healing, a posture towards a more optimistic future.

Megan Echols is an urban planner, designer, and artist with a background in design and architectural design. As an urban practitioner she worked in Florida’s public sector for over six years. Echols is passionate about environmental issues and improving public spaces for all. During her schooling at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD), she was an integral player in the creation and development of the inaugural Black in Design Conference at the Harvard GSD. Echols is a cofounder of enFOLD Collective. On the project team, Echols leads the conceptual design process and project narrative. She received a master’s degree in urban planning from the GSD in 2016 and a bachelor’s of architecture from Howard University in 2013. Echols is originally from Gulf coastal Texas and currently lives and works in Miami, Florida.

Dana McKinney is a passionate licensed architect and urban planner with more than seven years of experience. She is dedicated to designing inspired and equitable environments, especially advocating for heightened considerations of vulnerable and disenfranchised populations. McKinney cofounded enFOLD Collective. On the project team, she leads the documentation and construction. She is also a design critic at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design in the department of urban planning and design and runs an independent consulting practice, Studio KINN, where she provides design, justice, and equity consulting. McKinney received her master's in architecture and a master’s in urban planning from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design in 2017. During which, she was the president of the African American Student Union and cofounded the inaugural Black in Design Conference in 2015. She graduated with her bachelor's degree in architecture from Princeton University in 2011. Originally from Connecticut, McKinney now resides in Washington, DC.