Issue 1
ISSUE
STORY TYPE
AUTHOR
13
BOOK REVIEW
November 25, 2024
A Mind-Body Experience of Architecture, Delivered in a Photo
by Marianela D’Aprile
13
PERSPECTIVE
November 18, 2024
Seeing Chinatown as a Readymade
by Philip Poon
13
PEOPLE
November 11, 2024
The Place of the Handmade Artifact in a Tech-Obsessed Era
by Anne Quito
13
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
November 4, 2024
How a Storied Printmaker Advances the Practice of Architecture
by Diana Budds
12
PEOPLE
October 21, 2024
Sounding Out a Better Way to Build
by Jesse Dorris
12
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
October 7, 2024
What It Means—and What It’s Worth—to Be “Light”
by Julie Lasky
12
PERSPECTIVE
September 23, 2024
Redefining “Iconic” Architecture and Ideals
by Sophie Lovell
12
PERSPECTIVE
September 9, 2024
Surrendering to What Is
by Marianne Krogh
11
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
August 26, 2024
Sometimes, Democratic Design Doesn’t “Look” Like Anything
by Zach Mortice
11
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
August 19, 2024
What Does Your Home Say About You?
by Shane Reiner-Roth
11
BOOK REVIEW
August 12, 2024
Is Building Better Cities a Dream Within Reach?
by Michael Webb
11
PEOPLE
August 5, 2024
The Value of Unbuilt Buildings
by George Kafka
11
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
July 29, 2024
Future-Proofing a Home Where Water Is a Focus and a Thread
by Alexandra Lange
11
BOOK REVIEW
July 22, 2024
Modernist Town, U.S.A.
by Ian Volner
11
PEOPLE
July 15, 2024
Buildings That Grow from a Place
by Anthony Paletta
10
URBANISM
June 24, 2024
What We Lose When a Historic Building Is Demolished
by Owen Hatherley
10
PERSPECTIVE
June 17, 2024
We Need More Than Fewer, Better Things
by Deb Chachra
10
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
June 3, 2024
An Ode to Garages
by Charlie Weak
10
PERSPECTIVE
May 28, 2024
In Search of Domestic Kintsugi
by Edwin Heathcote
10
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
May 13, 2024
The Perils of the Landscapes We Make
by Karrie Jacobs
10
PERSPECTIVE
May 6, 2024
Using Simple Tools as a Radical Act of Independence
by Jarrett Fuller
9
PERSPECTIVE
April 29, 2024
Why Can’t I Just Go Home?
by Eva Hagberg
9
PEOPLE
April 22, 2024
Why Did Our Homes Stop Evolving?
by George Kafka
9
ROUNDTABLE
April 8, 2024
Spaces Where the Body Is a Vital Force
by Tiffany Jow
9
BOOK REVIEW
April 1, 2024
Tracing the Agency of Women as Users and Experts of Architecture
by Mimi Zeiger
9
PERSPECTIVE
March 25, 2024
Are You Sitting in a Non-Place?
by Mzwakhe Ndlovu
9
ROUNDTABLE
March 11, 2024
At Home, Connecting in Place
by Marianela D’Aprile
9
PEOPLE
March 4, 2024
VALIE EXPORT’s Tactical Urbanism
by Alissa Walker
8
PERSPECTIVE
February 26, 2024
What the “Whole Earth Catalog” Taught Me About Building Utopias
by Anjulie Rao
8
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
February 19, 2024
How a Run-Down District in London Became a Model for Neighborhood Revitalization
by Ellen Peirson
8
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
February 12, 2024
In Brooklyn, Housing That Defies the Status Quo
by Gideon Fink Shapiro
8
PERSPECTIVE
February 5, 2024
That “Net-Zero” Home Is Probably Living a Lie
by Fred A. Bernstein
8
PERSPECTIVE
January 22, 2024
The Virtue of Corporate Architecture Firms
by Kate Wagner
8
PERSPECTIVE
January 16, 2024
How Infrastructure Shapes Us
by Deb Chachra
8
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
January 8, 2024
The Defiance of Desire Lines
by Jim Stephenson
7
PEOPLE
December 18, 2023
This House Is Related to You and to Your Nonhuman Relatives
by Sebastián López Cardozo
7
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
December 11, 2023
What’s the Point of the Plus Pool?
by Ian Volner
7
BOOK REVIEW
December 4, 2023
The Extraordinary Link Between Aerobics and Architecture
by Jarrett Fuller
7
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
November 27, 2023
Architecture That Promotes Healing and Fortifies Us for Action
by Kathryn O’Rourke
7
PEOPLE
November 6, 2023
How to Design for Experience
by Diana Budds
7
PEOPLE
October 30, 2023
The Meaty Objects at Marta
by Jonathan Griffin
6
OBJECTS
October 23, 2023
How Oliver Grabes Led Braun Back to Its Roots
by Marianela D’Aprile
6
URBANISM
October 16, 2023
Can Adaptive Reuse Fuel Equitable Revitalization?
by Clayton Page Aldern
6
PERSPECTIVE
October 9, 2023
What’s the Point of a Tiny Home?
by Mimi Zeiger
6
OBJECTS
October 2, 2023
A Book Where Torn-Paper Blobs Convey Big Ideas
by Julie Lasky
6
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
September 24, 2023
The Architecture of Doing Nothing
by Edwin Heathcote
6
BOOK REVIEW
September 18, 2023
What the “Liebes Look” Says About Dorothy Liebes
by Debika Ray
6
PEOPLE
September 11, 2023
Roy McMakin’s Overpowering Simplicity
by Eva Hagberg
6
OBJECTS
September 5, 2023
Minimalism’s Specific Objecthood, Interpreted by Designers of Today
by Glenn Adamson
5
ROUNDTABLE
August 28, 2023
How Joan Jonas and Eiko Otake Navigate Transition
by Siobhan Burke
5
OBJECTS
August 21, 2023
The Future-Proofing Work of Design-Brand Archivists
by Adrian Madlener
5
URBANISM
August 14, 2023
Can a Church Solve Canada’s Housing Crisis?
by Alex Bozikovic
5
PEOPLE
August 7, 2023
In Search of Healing, Helen Cammock Confronts the Past
by Jesse Dorris
5
URBANISM
July 31, 2023
What Dead Malls, Office Parks, and Big-Box Stores Can Do for Housing
by Ian Volner
5
PERSPECTIVE
July 24, 2023
A Righteous Way to Solve “Wicked” Problems
by Susan Yelavich
5
OBJECTS
July 17, 2023
Making a Mess, with a Higher Purpose
by Andrew Russeth
5
ROUNDTABLE
July 10, 2023
How to Emerge from a Starchitect’s Shadow
by Cynthia Rosenfeld
4
PEOPLE
June 26, 2023
There Is No One-Size-Fits-All in Architecture
by Marianela D’Aprile
4
PEOPLE
June 19, 2023
How Time Shapes Amin Taha’s Unconventionally Handsome Buildings
by George Kafka
4
PEOPLE
June 12, 2023
Seeing and Being Seen in JEB’s Radical Archive of Lesbian Photography
by Svetlana Kitto
4
PERSPECTIVE
June 5, 2023
In Built Environments, Planting Where It Matters Most
by Karrie Jacobs
3
PERSPECTIVE
May 30, 2023
On the Home Front, a Latine Aesthetic’s Ordinary Exuberance
by Anjulie Rao
3
PERSPECTIVE
May 21, 2023
For a Selfie (and Enlightenment), Make a Pilgrimage to Bridge No. 3
by Alexandra Lange
3
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
May 8, 2023
The Building Materials of the Future Might Be Growing in Your Backyard
by Marianna Janowicz
3
BOOK REVIEW
May 1, 2023
Moving Beyond the “Fetishisation of the Forest”
by Edwin Heathcote
2
ROUNDTABLE
April 24, 2023
Is Craft Still Synonymous with the Hand?
by Tiffany Jow
2
PEOPLE
April 17, 2023
A Historian Debunks Myths About Lacemaking, On LaceTok and IRL
by Julie Lasky
2
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
April 10, 2023
How AI Helps Architects Design, and Refine, Their Buildings
by Ian Volner
2
PEOPLE
April 3, 2023
Merging Computer and Loom, a Septuagenarian Artist Weaves Her View of the World
by Francesca Perry
1
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
March 27, 2023
Words That Impede Architecture, According to Reinier de Graaf
by Osman Can Yerebakan
1
PEOPLE
March 20, 2023
Painting With Plaster, Monica Curiel Finds a Release
by Andrew Russeth
1
PERSPECTIVE
March 13, 2023
Rules and Roles in Life, Love, and Architecture
by Eva Hagberg
1
Roundtable
March 6, 2023
A Design Movement That Pushes Beyond Architecture’s Limitations
by Tiffany Jow
0
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
February 7, 2023
To Improve the Future of Public Housing, This Architecture Firm Looks to the Past
by Ian Volner
0
OBJECTS
February 7, 2023
The Radical Potential of “Prime Objects”
by Glenn Adamson
0
PEOPLE
February 20, 2023
Xiyadie’s Queer Cosmos
by Xin Wang
0
PEOPLE
February 13, 2023
How Michael J. Love’s Subversive Tap Dancing Steps Forward
by Jesse Dorris
0
SHOW AND TELL
February 7, 2023
Finding Healing and Transformation Through Good Black Art
by Folasade Ologundudu
0
BOOK REVIEW
February 13, 2023
How Stephen Burks “Future-Proofs” Craft
by Francesca Perry
0
ROUNDTABLE
February 27, 2023
Making Use of End Users’ Indispensable Wisdom
by Tiffany Jow
0
PEOPLE
February 7, 2023
The New Lessons Architect Steven Harris Learns from Driving Old Porsches
by Jonathan Schultz
0
PERSPECTIVE
February 7, 2023
The Day Architecture Stopped
by Kate Wagner
0
OBJECTS
February 7, 2023
The Overlooked Potential of Everyday Objects
by Adrian Madlener
0
ROUNDTABLE
February 7, 2023
A Conversation About Generalists, Velocity, and the Source of Innovation
by Tiffany Jow
0
OBJECTS
February 7, 2023
Using a Fungi-Infused Paste, Blast Studio Turns Trash Into Treasure
by Natalia Rachlin
Untapped is published by the design company Henrybuilt.
SHOW AND TELL
02.07.2023
Finding Healing and Transformation Through Good Black Art

Many of the artists collected by Phillip Collins found the art world difficult to navigate and filled with barriers. He now helps them gain momentum.

Brendon Reis, “Couple Breeze” (2021)
Brendon Reis, “Couple Breeze” (2021)
“This painting is inspired by a famous photograph called ‘Three Navy Sailors’ (1969–72) by Alvin Baltrop, taken after a few Black sailors got off a ship,” says Good Black Art founder Phillip Collins. “It’s one of my favorite photos of all time. I’m fascinated by the queer Black experience before the AIDS epidemic.”


When describing the impetus for Good Black Art—a platform for buying from, discovering, and mentoring emerging Black artists—its founder, Phillip Collins, harkens back to his days growing up Black and queer in Kingsport, Tennessee. With a population of fewer than 60,000, which is 90 percent white and roughly 3.5 percent Black, Collins lived as an outsider in his hometown. He moved to North Carolina to study at Elon University’s Martha & Spencer Love School of Business, and after graduating, boarded a plane for Shanghai and started what would become a near-decade-long career running communications for some of the world’s biggest brands, including American Express, G.E., Ford, and Disney. “Shanghai is where my world really opened up,” Collins says, who has also lived and worked in Brazil, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. But in 2017, after nearly a decade abroad, he began to feel incomplete and stifled, and longed to be closer to his family and his culture. He decided to return to the United States. 

Collins’s experience following his homecoming, marked by professional difficulties and personal triumphs, introduced him to the challenges of being Black in the predominately white work environs of corporate America. And yet, he remained determined to chart his own path. “I came to New York, and immediately everything I ran away from when I was 22 came back: the homophobia, the racism,” he says. “I was very unhappy.” 

During his tribulations, Collins found himself turning to art as a source of inspiration, as it gave him a sense of belonging in the world. He began collecting, often discovering and DMing with artists on Instagram, and has since amassed an ever-growing personal compendium of more than 150 works by emerging Black artists from around the globe. For Collins, collecting art was healing and transformative, and ignited a hidden passion he had to create spaces to tell Black stories, like his. 

The activity also revealed a lack of guidance for the artists he championed, who, Collins discovered, often found their industry opaque and difficult to navigate. They had long needed support—from pricing their work to getting it in front of collectors—that he was uniquely positioned to offer. So Collins channeled his energy, and the lessons he learned through collecting, into Good Black Art, which he started in the summer of 2021 to aid up-and-coming Black artists and collectors in moving through the commercial art world. 

A multifaceted resource, the platform features three pillars of engagement for users. Its global network provides direct-to-consumer sales, in-person and virtual exhibitions hosted at Collins’s SoHo home and at galleries throughout New York City, and an ongoing series of articles and videos, called Good Talks, that delve into the lives of artists and their respective practices. Collectors receive a Collector’s Kit, filled with the essentials to protect one’s artworks: gloves, a measuring tape, a carpenter’s pencil, a level. “I want to help other budding collectors on their collecting journeys avoid the same mistakes I made,” Collins says. “It’s important to use these items in protecting the value of the physical artworks. In doing so, and more importantly, this protects the narratives these artworks represent.” 

Many of the artists mentored by Good Black Art, including PJ Harper, Mario Joyce, and Adrian Armstrong, have seen their stars rise swiftly. Such momentum will likely continue this year: “Molded,” an exhibition of culturally significant mediums that blur the lines between art and design, is on view at the design studio TRNK’s Tribeca showroom through February 28, and programming tied to art fairs in March, April, and May is in the works. 

Creating Good Black Art, Collins says, is how he can have the most impact. (He credits much of his feelings of responsibility toward others to watching a MasterClass episode in 2020, in which the award-winning producer, actress, and writer Issa Rae shared her views on the obligations we all share to help those around us if we have the tools to do so.) We recently asked Collins to share key pieces from his collection that led him to launch the platform. For the artworks pictured, Collins explains the significance of each object, and in doing so, reveals a source of the knowledge that informs his efforts today.

Akilah Watts, “Picnic in Paradise” (2021)
Akilah Watts, “Picnic in Paradise” (2021)
“I love that Akilah Watts represents the Caribbean in a fresh and modern way on her own terms,” Collins says. “I was immediately struck by her technique and detail. There are so many amazing artists that are coming from that region, like April Bey and Jeffrey Meris, who are redefining Caribbean art.”
Stéphane Gaboué, “Casting Call I” (2021)
Stéphane Gaboué, “Casting Call I” (2021)
“This work conveys contradictions. Stéphane Gaboué’s work is always hot and cold. It’s feminine, but masculine,” Collins says. “A Black man in Tims, a leopard print, and big gold jewelry is quite unusual. In my life, I grapple with the fact that there are two sides to everything. Instead of choosing one side, I wonder, How do we exist in multitudes?”
Atanda Quadri Adebayo, “Classic Man II” (2021)
Atanda Quadri Adebayo, “Classic Man II” (2021)
“When I first connected to this body of work, I was immediately struck by the stature of the figures,” Collins says. “When I saw this piece, I was going through a period of self-doubt and having challenges regarding my worth. Now I have it in front of my bed, and every morning I look at it and remember who I am.”
Bakari Akinyele, “Do that lil dance you be doing” (2021)
Bakari Akinyele, “Do that lil dance you be doing” (2021)
“When I met Bakari, we had such an amazing conversation about humanity,” Collins says. “He has a calmness, a spiritual way of speaking. His work transcends different cultures because he takes ideas from so many places to tell his story. He’s taken a lot of techniques from Indonesia and South Korea with his use of indigo.”
Muofhe Manavhela, “James 4:12” (2017)
Muofhe Manavhela, “James 4:12” (2017)
“The story behind the work is about two young men in the artists’ school in South Africa who were essentially expelled for kissing,” Collins says. “I was immediately attracted to this piece—I love the use of material. I’d never seen an embroidered canvas with such a dramatic drape before. It’s about four feet long.”
PJ Harper, “Statue of Paddy” (2019)
PJ Harper, “Statue of Paddy” (2019)
“When I first saw this work, I knew the artist had formal knowledge of the human body,” Collins says. “But I also thought it was a prototype: There’s a rawness to it that looks unfinished. For me, this piece  exemplifies understanding the creative process, and respecting the process by being patient as things grow.”
Zéh Palito, “Suffering and Smiling” (2019)
Zéh Palito, “Suffering and Smiling” (2019)
“Derrick Adams introduced me to Zéh Palito. I love this work because it’s a great way to show his view of the world,” Collins says. “It’s colorful and it’s optimistic. He’s always looking at the bright side of things. It was the first piece that I ever brought that was unstretched.”
Frank Xarate, “Oceanic Transit I” (2021)
Frank Xarate, “Oceanic Transit I” (2021)
“This piece tells the story of our ancestors coming from Africa. Frank is based in Buenos Aires and is originally from a part of Colombia where there are no opportunities for artists,” Collins says. “What’s fascinating about Frank is his connection to his ancestry and his spirituality. Most of his works come to him in the form of a dream.”
Mario Joyce, “I Swam Across the Atlantic” (2020)
Mario Joyce, “I Swam Across the Atlantic” (2020)
“Very rarely do I see a piece or a body of work without knowing the artist and understanding who the artist is,” Collins says. “With both Mario and I growing up in rural white spaces as queer Black men, I understood it. It has such a connection to nature and tells the story of our transit.”