Nexus Podcast | July 13, 2022

Sean Canty

Season 2, Episode 10: Sean Canty expresses the value of looking outside the profession, especially other visual cultures, to create new meanings for our work as architects.

Sean Canty

Sean Canty. Photo courtesy of Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Overview

Sean Canty’s architectural practice is deeply rooted in and draws from other artistic disciplines and visual cultures. By expanding his source of references beyond the field of Architecture, Canty draws from visionaries like Basquiat to integrate questions of identity and representation in subtle ways. His work pushes us to ask how we can create spaces that honor and reflect on tragic moments in the past while bringing joy to and benefitting hurting communities today.

About Sean Canty

Sean Canty is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and the founder of Studio Sean Canty (SSC), an architecture practice based in Cambridge, MA. Canty is also one of the founding principals of Office III (OIII), an experimental architectural collective that spans New York, San Francisco, and Cambridge. Selected as a finalist for the 2016 MoMA PS1 Young Architects competition, OIII has completed a Welcome Center for Governors Island and exhibited work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Canty was the recipient of the 2020 Richard Rogers Fellowship. Prior to joining the faculty at the GSD, Canty held teaching positions at the Cooper Union, University California Berkeley, and California College of the Arts. He received an M.Arch from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and a B.Arch from California College of the Arts.

How to Listen

You can listen to all available episodes and find program notes here on our website, or subscribe to the series via one of these providers: iTunes, GoogleSpotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher.

About the Show

Developed by the African American Design Nexus at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, The Nexus is a podcast that explores the intersection of design, identity, and practice through conversations with Black designers, writers, and educators. The Nexus is produced in conjunction with a commitment by the Frances Loeb Library to acquire and create an open-access bibliography of various media suggested by the GSD community on the intersection between race and design.

Show Credits

The Nexus Season 2 is hosted by Tara Oluwafemi and Darien Carr, students in the Master of Architecture program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. The show is recorded and edited by Maggie Janik, and the theme music is produced by DJ Eway.

Contact

For all inquiries, please email [email protected].