https://chazandra.com Chaz Kern Wed, 05 Aug 2026 01:54:25 +0000 https://chazandra.com en https://chazandra.com/Home-Image-Scroll Wed, 05 Aug 2026 01:54:20 +0000 Chaz Kern https://chazandra.com/Home-Image-Scroll <img width="2084" height="2084" width_o="2084" height_o="2084" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/160b5314b8f678edc21ee6522cb09dcef0cc41120065f073495f0f46fc79d7c4/by-02.png" data-mid="250973723" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/160b5314b8f678edc21ee6522cb09dcef0cc41120065f073495f0f46fc79d7c4/by-02.png" /> https://chazandra.com/Office-of-Strategic-Plan Wed, 05 Aug 2026 01:54:23 +0000 Chaz Kern https://chazandra.com/Office-of-Strategic-Plan Strategic Planning <img width="3300" height="1277" width_o="3300" height_o="1277" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e93ed20d21dab64b6b8edcdc241c3054060a4c650c839bcf25e801e12a7662a9/OOO_Original-Font_w_o-Descriptions-06.png" data-mid="250973676" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e93ed20d21dab64b6b8edcdc241c3054060a4c650c839bcf25e801e12a7662a9/OOO_Original-Font_w_o-Descriptions-06.png" /> 2022-2023 Facilitator In late 2023, Office Of: began a strategic planning process to clarify our impact and align our programs with our core values. Through this work, we defined reparative urban development as our guiding framework. This framework centers the public’s right to space by structuring our operational model around the practice of repair and supporting people see themselves in the places they live. <img width="1575" height="2400" width_o="1575" height_o="2400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8d5a18d592d9df7314e45ed72e2bcf4a7ae9cc07aa0979d6ac9c4934171ed863/OOO_Original-Font_w_o-Descriptions-02.png" data-mid="250973686" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8d5a18d592d9df7314e45ed72e2bcf4a7ae9cc07aa0979d6ac9c4934171ed863/OOO_Original-Font_w_o-Descriptions-02.png" /><img width="1415" height="951" width_o="1415" height_o="951" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a08985b65e65955c517921c6f5203d8b8bab03ef7613192b515e3208eab719d4/OOO_Original-Font_w_o-Descriptions-04.png" data-mid="250973679" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a08985b65e65955c517921c6f5203d8b8bab03ef7613192b515e3208eab719d4/OOO_Original-Font_w_o-Descriptions-04.png" /> From the beginning, one of our core intentions was to bridge the gap between theory and the lived experiences of those most impacted by inequities in the built environment. We set out to reimagine urban development toward a future grounded in resident-directed development, community networks, and abundant neighborhood resources. As we moved through the strategic planning process, we came to understand that collective transformation requires collective process and that meaningful change happens over time –through cumulative, often messy efforts. <img width="2979" height="1866" width_o="2979" height_o="1866" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ea80223a46196254eeccd34481c7e47cc69683c54a2100f5af1e827d11632d49/OOO_Original-Font_w_o-Descriptions-01.png" data-mid="250973684" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ea80223a46196254eeccd34481c7e47cc69683c54a2100f5af1e827d11632d49/OOO_Original-Font_w_o-Descriptions-01.png" /> https://chazandra.com/ARDJI Wed, 05 Aug 2026 01:54:23 +0000 Chaz Kern https://chazandra.com/ARDJI Index Framework <img width="1500" height="952" width_o="1500" height_o="952" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/eedd3fbd7f7b7f097f956c3e1d3c3f50f01d18c9c27e853f0508e01b93a0fc9b/ARDJI-Spread-5.png" data-mid="250973696" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/eedd3fbd7f7b7f097f956c3e1d3c3f50f01d18c9c27e853f0508e01b93a0fc9b/ARDJI-Spread-5.png" /> <img width="1012" height="1320" width_o="1012" height_o="1320" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dfa0fe52613ed18d419c00af309ebdfdfdde6a594f2ded892caa0ce9b2c1dc92/Screenshot-2024-08-06-at-6.51.23PM.png" data-mid="250973697" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/dfa0fe52613ed18d419c00af309ebdfdfdde6a594f2ded892caa0ce9b2c1dc92/Screenshot-2024-08-06-at-6.51.23PM.png" /> Design as ProtestFramework Co-author, Facilitator&nbsp; The Index is a tool for architects, designers, planners, policymakers, and community activists committed to taking action towards identifying and dismantling systemic racism within our practices, organizations, academic institutions, and local governments. The goal of the Index is to achieve justice and liberation within design institutions by holding them accountable to their anti-racist commitments. It provides a visual way to track accountability and resources for guiding concrete actions <img width="1220" height="813" width_o="1220" height_o="813" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2ff6fa04be6108e4c82549657e234f52c16dd42cbd55c5a9cc1c02e244c13a34/large_220329_ccc_deps_dap_0015.jpg" data-mid="250973711" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2ff6fa04be6108e4c82549657e234f52c16dd42cbd55c5a9cc1c02e244c13a34/large_220329_ccc_deps_dap_0015.jpg" /> https://chazandra.com/Reimagining-Home-Across-the-Asian-Diaspora-Lab Wed, 05 Aug 2026 01:54:24 +0000 Chaz Kern https://chazandra.com/Reimagining-Home-Across-the-Asian-Diaspora-Lab Facilitated Lab &nbsp; <img width="2084" height="2084" width_o="2084" height_o="2084" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8e462aa2d5d1eef0bf2a9158cd4c0af97592c94a55e6f831a8ae3ea924ab261b/AAJIL_Lab_Reimagining-Home-01.png" data-mid="250973737" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8e462aa2d5d1eef0bf2a9158cd4c0af97592c94a55e6f831a8ae3ea924ab261b/AAJIL_Lab_Reimagining-Home-01.png" /> <img width="2084" height="2084" width_o="2084" height_o="2084" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/70d1d3a636712bca286fcd6f22eda3b72f18564e8ef7573030df5c669c4247be/AAJIL_Lab_Reimagining-Home-03-copy.png" data-mid="250973740" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/70d1d3a636712bca286fcd6f22eda3b72f18564e8ef7573030df5c669c4247be/AAJIL_Lab_Reimagining-Home-03-copy.png" /> 2024 Facilitator How do we shape, experience, and imagine "home" within the Asian diaspora? &nbsp; In partnership with the Asian American Justice Innovation Lab, this Lab invited participants to explore "home" as both an imagination and a geography—examining how Asian identities are formed and expressed through spaces outside of their 'homeland.' &nbsp;By looking at both private and public spaces in the built environment, we identified where we feel affirmed or erased within our personal dwellings, neighborhoods, cities, and beyond. Through collective discussions and design exercises, we explored how identity, migration, ancestry, and the complexities of cultural expectations hold visual presence and meaning in the spaces around us. This lab ran for 5 months in 2024 and invited anyone who identifies as part of the South Asian, East Asian, South East Asian, West Asia, Central Asian, and Pacific Island Diaspora. This Lab is indebted to and was inspired by: Center for Babaylan Studies, "Home Bound: Filipino American Lives Across Cultures, Communities, and Countries" by Yen Le Espiritu, the Design as Protest Collective, the Urban Humanities Network and “Is There Such a Thing as Asian Diasporic Architecture?” in the Dark Matter Issue of Architects Magazine by Tonia Sing Chi, BZ Zhang. <img width="1878" height="1210" width_o="1878" height_o="1210" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e146c741e3a119bf3090a07823a2e07026ddd10e0c552afd3366de302bcf155d/Screenshot-2025-09-17-at-12.35.54PM.png" data-mid="250973741" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e146c741e3a119bf3090a07823a2e07026ddd10e0c552afd3366de302bcf155d/Screenshot-2025-09-17-at-12.35.54PM.png" /> <img width="2386" height="1380" width_o="2386" height_o="1380" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2cbbf1ead43b5f2fc5fe19f2087994bfb0bf247da78f76a0442fe6cf16544560/Screenshot-2025-09-17-at-12.32.31PM.png" data-mid="250973739" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2cbbf1ead43b5f2fc5fe19f2087994bfb0bf247da78f76a0442fe6cf16544560/Screenshot-2025-09-17-at-12.32.31PM.png" /> <img width="1354" height="544" width_o="1354" height_o="544" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1548880c2add25246f2447fe6b9a3e0c5faf8bba432a1de8fb1abe00514780b4/Screenshot-2025-09-17-at-12.38.17PM.png" data-mid="250973742" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1548880c2add25246f2447fe6b9a3e0c5faf8bba432a1de8fb1abe00514780b4/Screenshot-2025-09-17-at-12.38.17PM.png" /> https://chazandra.com/Loren-Eiseley Wed, 05 Aug 2026 01:54:25 +0000 Chaz Kern https://chazandra.com/Loren-Eiseley 4. Loren Eiseley <img width="2000" height="2700" width_o="2000" height_o="2700" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/52edac0a32ddee92e030f8abeb8d0863df298c6e5f7f66f163e55dc4682783a8/22.jpg" data-mid="250973663" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/52edac0a32ddee92e030f8abeb8d0863df298c6e5f7f66f163e55dc4682783a8/22.jpg" /> <img width="2000" height="2700" width_o="2000" height_o="2700" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6ec529f96bf3a266636f9b02c683868d2073b83d92b39b12f2678b837d5e58ec/11.jpg" data-mid="250973664" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6ec529f96bf3a266636f9b02c683868d2073b83d92b39b12f2678b837d5e58ec/11.jpg" /> LE / 1957 From The Immense Journey &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; A billion years have gone into the making of that eye; the water and the salt and the vapors of the sun have built it; things that squirmed in the tide silts have devised it. Light-year beyond light-year, deep beyond deep, the mind may rove by means of it, hanging above the bottomless and surveying impartially the state of matter in the white-dwarf suns. <img width="2000" height="2509" width_o="2000" height_o="2509" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9f15a9a346e395667b6b4d0811b722b055f813700d5ed5914eaeaf061558b729/d.jpg" data-mid="250973665" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9f15a9a346e395667b6b4d0811b722b055f813700d5ed5914eaeaf061558b729/d.jpg" /> Yet whenever I see a frog’s eye low in the water warily ogling the shoreward landscape, I always think inconsequentially of those twiddling mechanical eyes that mankind manipulates nightly from a thousand observatories. Someday, with a telescopic lens an acre in extent, we are going to see something not to out liking, some looming shape outside there across the great pond of space. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Whenever I catch a frog’s eye I am aware of this, but I do not find it depressing. I stand quite still and try hard not to move or lift a hand since it would only frighten him. And standing thus it finally comes to me that this is the most enormous extension of vision of which life is capable: the projection of itself into other lives. This is the lonely magnificent power of humanity. It is, far more than any spatial adventure, the supreme epitome of the reaching out.