“We can contribute to building more just cities by addressing inequities”
Brenda is a street-level activist, designer, and doctoral researcher at Aalto University’s School of Arts, Design, and Architecture. For the past decade, she has explored alternative and collective tactics for re-appropriating contested urban spaces, particularly streets, alongside women and children in poor, working-class neighbourhoods in Mexico City.
“It is when designers explicitly address and contest today’s growing inequities that design can contribute to building more just cities.”
She has also worked as a public servant in Mexico City’s government and collaborated with the Iztapalapa Municipality to promote transformative and participatory design processes. These initiatives foster creative explorations, socio-economic inclusion, and civic imagination in public spaces. Her doctoral research focuses on spatial justice, feminist design approaches, and the social reproduction and care work essential for sustaining everyday urban life spaces.
“Open space for discussion, self-criticism, and building solidarity communities committed to paying attention to what is actually happening outside design’s privileged bubble.”
– About WDCD
WHAT DESIGN CAN DO MÉXICO GNP 2024
Brenda Vértiz will take the main stage in the first block:
PLAY AS AN ACT OF COLLECTIVE REBELLION.
She will also participate in one of our breakout sessions, with more details coming soon.
Join Brenda Vértiz and hundreds of creatives on September 27th. Tickets are now available!