Grace Farms Hosts Fifth Annual Design for Freedom Summit
On one of the first warm days of spring in late March, humanitarian and cultural nonprofit the Grace Farms Foundation held its fifth annual Design for Freedom (DFF) Summit. Initiated in 2020 by Grace Farms, the DFF initiative aims to eliminate modern slavery from the building materials supply chain by sharing resources and garnering commitment to their core principles from architects and the construction industry.
Held at the foundation’s namesake, SANAA-designed campus in New Canaan, Connecticut, this year’s summit featured talks on foreign policy responses to human trafficking, the construction of AI data centers, and innovative approaches to utilizing recycled materials and waste. Notable speakers included Nina Cooke John, founding principal of New York–based Studio Cooke John; Mae-ling Lokko, founder of Willow Technologies; and Cindy Dyer, the former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.
Following an afternoon of breakout sessions and a violin performance by Ana Isabella España, DFF’s 2026 slate of pilot projects was revealed. Designed by leading architects, these projects are developed to generate new research opportunities and strategic partnerships to advance responsible sourcing.
The National Juneteenth Museum. Image by BIG, courtesy Grace Farms
Located in Fort Worth, Texas, the National Juneteenth Museum—by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), Alligood Song Architecture, and architect-of-record KAI Enterprises—will host exhibitions and programming on the significance and history of Juneteenth and Black liberation. The 72,00-square-foot building with a folded-plate roof is slated for completion in 2028.
Set to be completed later this year, the expansion of Bloomberg’s offices will add 17,000 square feet to the financial and media company’s headquarters at 120 Park Avenue in Manhattan. Fogarty Finger will serve as architect, and Socotec will act as sustainability advisor.
The National accessArts Centre. Image by DIALOG, courtesy Grace Farms
The National accessArts Centre in Calgary is Canada’s oldest and largest disability-arts foundation. Designed by DIALOG, the new zero-carbon pavilion, the Multidisciplinary Disability Community Arts Hub, is planned for completion in 2027. The 16,800-square-foot structure is designed for creative incubation and rehearsal with public-facing spaces that will bridge the campus with the surrounding neighborhood.
The Médano by Viñoly. Image by Rafael Viñoly Architects, courtesy Grace Farms
The Médano by Viñoly, located just outside Montevideo, Uruguay, is a Rafael Viñoly Architects–designed residential complex—the first of this typology since the launch of the DFF pilot project program in 2022. The sinuous structure, which will house approximately 120 terraced units, emulates the character of the surrounding topography. The 483,000-square-foot project employs renewable energy systems and passive design strategies.
Past pilot projects include the Bigfork Library in Bigfork, Montana, by Cushing Terrell (2024); the Harriet Tubman Monument in Newark, New Jersey, by Studio Cooke John (2023); and the New Canaan Library by Centerbrook Architects (2023).
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