Lori Brown is a feminist architect, professor, and author who has devoted her career to investigating the relationship between legislation, space, and architecture in the realm of women’s rights. Her 2013 book about the spatial impact of abortion legislation, Contested Spaces: Abortion Clinics, Women’s Shelters and Hospitals, questions why architects aren’t more politically engaged in such spaces. Brown is also a co-founder of ArchiteXX, an independent organization devoted to uplifting women architects, and is currently working on a book about birthing centers along the U.S./Mexico border. She has been teaching at Syracuse University's architecture school since 2001 and is a registered architect in the state of New York.

2021 was a landmark year for abortion law, as Texas and Mississippi enacted some of the strictest legislation surrounding the procedure since the passing of Roe v. Wade in 1973. Now, other conservative states are following suit. RECORD spoke to Brown about her work with abortion clinics, the role of architects in contested spaces, and the impact of new legislation on the daily lives of women in the American South.