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PKPR Clients

Designing Justice + Designing Spaces

Designing Justice+ Designing Spaces engages communities in the design and development of new buildings, spaces, and tools to attack the root causes of mass incarceration: poverty, racism, lack of access to resources.

Designing Justice + Designing Spaces in the News

DJDS in MSNBC

29 March 2022

MSNBC published a wonderful profile of Deanna Van Buren by reporter Julia Pepitone – “This architect went from creating luxury malls to imagining a world without prisons.”

NewsOne profile of DJDS

2 March 2022

Check out this in-depth profile in NewsOne – “Oakland Architect And Activist Deanna Van Buren Uses Design As A Means For Restorative Justice.”

DJDS in Shondaland

10 February 2022 — Design

Deanna Van Buren, the founder of Designing Justice + Designing Spaces, is profiled today in Shondaland as part of their Black History Now series.

DJDS in Bloomberg CityLab

9 November 2021 — Design

Bloomberg CityLab’s Zach Mortice talked to DJDS’s Deanna Van Buren about the challenges of transforming closed jails into spaces that benefit communities.

DJDS in New York Times

24 September 2021

In a New York Times piece examining post-Rikers plans, Deanna Van Buren of Designing Justice + Designing Spaces urged New York to invest in restorative justice spaces instead of pursuing “humane jail design.”

Deanna Van Buren on WNYC

15 October 2020 — Design

Deanna Van Buren of Designing Justice + Designing Spaces discusses how architects are taking the lead in building alternatives to prisons.

DJDS in Ms. + Fast Company

10 July 2020 — Design

As the debate grows for defunding police and shifting financing, Designing Justice + Designing Spaces is working toward a world without prisons.

DJDS in Fast Company

15 June 2020 — Design

Check out the story in Fast Company today: This Atlanta jail will transform into a center for justice and equity.

DJDS TED Talk

30 October 2019 — Design

PKPR has secured a series of profiles looking at how Designing Justice + Designing Spaces is using design to end mass incarceration.

DJDS in Bloomberg, AD

5 September 2019 — Design

In 2017, PKPR client Deanna Van Buren delivered a TED Talk – What a World Without Prisons Could Look Like— that has been viewed more than one million times.