Student-led initiative supports anti-racism through architecture

If you always wanted to own a creative work by one of the world's leading contemporary architects, now might be the chance to do that, as a series of original pieces by the likes of Frank Gehry, Billie Tsien, Farshid Moussavi and Denise Scott Brown are going on sale via auction this Saturday through the Design Yard Sale.

The event is part of a month-long fundraiser that sees a new set of items being sold each week. Now half way through, more pieces are being added, including art by Herzog & de Meuron, AMO/Rem Koolhaas, Mark Foster Gage, as well as Snøhetta founding partner Craig Dykers.

The sale launched on 1 July and proceeds are going to go towards supporting the Bail Project and Colloqate Design, two organisations dedicated to fighting systemic racism. What kicked off just a couple of weeks ago as a small website by a group of Harvard students, Design Yard Sale has now grown into a key player in its field, having raised by now over $50,000 for racial justice.

The auctions run on eBay with bids starting at a variety of price points – and if you miss those, worry not. A pop-up online shop by Design Yard Sale offers a selection of rare signed books, furniture and student drawings, to further support the cause.

‘This student-led initiative clearly acknowledges that racism cannot simply be fixed through design alone but through how and where we choose to spend our money,' says auction contributor, Los Angeles based architect and designer Jerome Byron. ‘Even the selection of charitable organisations points to a fundamental understanding that in order to combat systemic racism you have to disrupt the flow of cash to institutions that promote inequality and diminish the voices of the most vulnerable.'

INFORMATION

designyardsale.org