Activism through Landscape Design

Teveil Walker, second year MA Landscape Architecture student, explains how and why he designed a series of public workshops to help challenge the racism and misogyny experienced by black women in green spaces.

Reaching Out. Image by Thomas J. Price
5 weeks of workshops will transform a Birmingham park into an exhibition space. Image: Thomas J. Price
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"Misogynoir, coined by Moya Baily in 2008, describes the anti-black, racist misogyny that Black Womxn experience.

With my project for Equity and Participation in Place Change I really wanted to take the creative freedom I was given and make space for the stories and experiences of Black Womxn to be heard where they are not typically found, but where decisions can have a significant impact on their everyday experiences in the public realm.

Misogynoir: Activism through Landscape Design aims to:

  • Create a programme that provides Black Womxn with opportunities to engage with and shape the built environment
  • Amplify Black female voices and experiences and combat the negative stereotypes of black women in green spaces
  • Explore the ways that temporary landscape design can address the complex issues at the intersection of racism and feminism

Misogynoir: Activism Through Landscape Design

I chose to focus on activism as I hadn’t heard much about landscape practitioners designing protests and wanted to see how I could approach it if given the opportunity. I chose to focus on Black Womxn because I have too many friends from this community who have an experience of facing the impacts of misogynoir on a daily basis.

I designed a five-week workshop series, followed by an outdoor exhibition in a busy central park in Birmingham.

Each week is led by a different local or regional artist and would result in the production of a structure - e.g. a statue, mural or flower garden - that would transform the park into an outdoor exhibition space.


The Equity and Participation in Place Change module, led by Dr Clare Rishbeth, has inspired my approach to this project. It has opened my eyes to what we, as Landscape Architects, can do and already have done to address social and landscape injustice through landscape design.

Teveil Walker

MA Landscape Architecture


Workshop Series

Week 1: The Black Womxn
A sculpture making workshop with local artists and community. The aim is to create a structure that changes the discourse around black womxn and shares a more complete story of the community.

Week 2: The Oppressed Womxn
Mapping the lived experiences of black women in Birmingham city centre, through community activities and workshopping how these spaces can be made more accessible.

Week 3: The Missing Womxn
A space dedicated to the Black Womxn who are missing because of a collective experience of violence, negligence and pain. This session will explore how participants wish to memorialise their grief.

Week 4: Women + Access
Amplifying the voices of Black Womxn in the public realm by creating spaces for free speech and experience sharing - taking inspiration from Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park.

Week 5: Womxn in Nature
Connecting women with local and regional groups of nature explorers, gardeners and allotment users. A ‘community camera’ will create an opportunity to share outdoor experiences with each other.

Image: Black Girls Hike
Workshop 5 will connect women with nature explorers, collaborating with groups and organisations. Image: Black Girls Hiking

The Equity and Participation in Place Change module, led by Dr Clare Rishbeth, has inspired my approach to this project. It has opened my eyes to what we, as Landscape Architects, can do and already have done to address social and landscape injustice through landscape design.

The shared experience of many marginalised communities is often designed into spaces unintentionally, due to a lack of information, research, resources, and/or care.

Learning about these complex issues on this course has made me a much more conscious designer and given me resources to help design for diversity."

Profile: Teveil Walker