Critical research for alternatives

Collaborator Constellations

Meet the institutions, collectives, and communities co-creating critical spatial research with Collective CRAFT.

A detailed close-up of a textured research wall in a contemporary studio, where overlapping artifacts are pinned and taped: hand-drawn sections on tracing paper, printed satellite imagery with colored threads connecting distant points, photocopied academic excerpts, and sticky notes with bold, handwritten keywords like “hierarchies”, “commons”, and “counter-maps”. Neutral painted plaster surrounds the dense cluster of material. Gentle side lighting from a nearby window creates soft shadows that give depth to the layers of paper. The atmosphere feels intense yet organized, capturing the energy of critical, interdisciplinary spatial research. Photographed at a slight angle with shallow depth of field, in warm, realistic tones that highlight tactility and process.
A large, meticulously detailed architectural model of an imagined collaborative research hub, built from a mix of translucent acrylic, raw plywood, and recycled cardboard, occupies the center of a clean studio table. Surrounding it are layered tracing-paper site plans, color-coded mapping diagrams, and small topographic foam blocks suggesting shifting terrains. Soft daylight pours through an unseen high window, creating crisp shadows that emphasize overlapping forms and materials. The atmosphere feels analytical yet hopeful, suggesting new spatial futures. Photographed at eye level with slight depth-of-field blur in the background, in a clean, modern, photographic realism style that highlights textures and precise edges, ideal for a homepage hero image about critical spatial research and collective alternatives.

How Our Network Connects

Our network links universities, grassroots organizations, cultural spaces, and activist collectives, forming clusters of practice that share tools, data, and stories to reimagine how space is produced, governed, and experienced.

Explore network

Collaborative Team

A series of interconnected, translucent acrylic panels are suspended in a neutral gallery-like space, each etched with different layers of a city: infrastructure, public space, ecological systems, and informal networks. The panels overlap to form a complex, semi-transparent spatial collage that shifts in intensity depending on the viewer’s angle. Cool, even studio lighting from both sides creates subtle reflections and delicate edge highlights, while the background fades into soft blur. The mood is contemplative and investigative, suggesting multidimensional ways of seeing space. Photographed straight-on with a slight wide-angle lens, in a clean, minimalist, photographic realism style that emphasizes clarity, layering, and critical analysis.

Aarav Sharma

CEO

Architect-researcher bridging design justice, ethnography, and spatial histories across community-led fieldwork.

An overhead view of a long, matte-black research table covered in carefully arranged spatial research artifacts: annotated site maps with bold red and blue markings, folded urban morphology diagrams, small 3D-printed white massing models, and color swatches clipped to the paper edges. A open notebook filled with dense, handwritten spatial diagrams sits at the center, flanked by technical drawing tools and a digital tablet displaying a layered GIS map. Soft, diffused overcast light from above creates minimal shadows, reinforcing a calm, analytical mood. The composition is symmetrical from a bird’s eye perspective with crisp, photographic realism, conveying rigorous yet experimental spatial inquiry across disciplines.

Mateo García

CTO

Urban planner connecting municipal policy, grassroots organizing, and experimental mapping for equitable city-making.

A detailed close-up of a textured research wall in a contemporary studio, where overlapping artifacts are pinned and taped: hand-drawn sections on tracing paper, printed satellite imagery with colored threads connecting distant points, photocopied academic excerpts, and sticky notes with bold, handwritten keywords like “hierarchies”, “commons”, and “counter-maps”. Neutral painted plaster surrounds the dense cluster of material. Gentle side lighting from a nearby window creates soft shadows that give depth to the layers of paper. The atmosphere feels intense yet organized, capturing the energy of critical, interdisciplinary spatial research. Photographed at a slight angle with shallow depth of field, in warm, realistic tones that highlight tactility and process.

Zuri Ndlovu

Engineer

Artist-scholar exploring public space through installations, performance, and archives of everyday territorial practices.

A large, meticulously detailed architectural model of an imagined collaborative research hub, built from a mix of translucent acrylic, raw plywood, and recycled cardboard, occupies the center of a clean studio table. Surrounding it are layered tracing-paper site plans, color-coded mapping diagrams, and small topographic foam blocks suggesting shifting terrains. Soft daylight pours through an unseen high window, creating crisp shadows that emphasize overlapping forms and materials. The atmosphere feels analytical yet hopeful, suggesting new spatial futures. Photographed at eye level with slight depth-of-field blur in the background, in a clean, modern, photographic realism style that highlights textures and precise edges, ideal for a homepage hero image about critical spatial research and collective alternatives.

Leila Haddad

Designer

Geographer facilitating cross-border collaborations, weaving decolonial methods into climate, migration, and infrastructure research.

Network Gatherings

2025-09-18

Urban Commons

Toronto Canada

Lab details

2025-09-23

Harborfront Hub

Milwaukee Region

Session info

2025-09-28

Hillside Amphitheater

Burgettstown Valley

Event overview

2025-09-20

Harbour Studio

Toronto Territory

Register gathering

2025-09-24

Prairie Studio

Tinley Park Illinois

Confirm seat

2025-09-30

Riverfront Center

Hartford Campus

Claim ticket

2025-09-21

Civic Forum

Toronto Waterfront

Reserve spot

2025-09-27

Cocoa Theater

Hershey District

Attend workshop

2025-10-01

Coastal Pavilion

Bangor Waterfront

Join convening