Inspired by the transformative events of 2020, Columbia University graduate student Alek Tomich shifted the focus of his studies to address equity across different scales of the built environment. "I'm interested in analyzing the sociopolitical context of a building or site and the implications associated with deploying a new architectural program," he explains. "I have come to realize that the built environment has historically codified and preserved inequities present at every level of American life." For him, standard interventions such as building development cannot always rectify problems such as systemic urban disinvestment or remedying historical injustices. Tomich served as the codirector of Columbia University's Queer Students of Planning, Architecture, and Preservation (QSAPP) association, where he was a member of the team that published Safe Space: Housing LGBTQ Youth Experiencing Home-lessness in 2019. He's currently working on a project that will include spaces that are absent from the canon of New York City's queer history.
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