April De Simone
(she/her)
Principal, Designing for Democracy

April De Simone is a transdisciplinary design practitioner with over 20 years of experience. Her work navigates the intersectionality of architecture, planning, and systems thinking to develop contextualized frameworks advancing more equitable, humane, and just representations of spatial authorship.

In her work at Trahan Architects, she investigates the implicit and invisible relationship between architecture and human condition, connecting a deeper understanding of how inequity, supremacy (in its various forms), and dehumanization become spatialized and proliferated. April has worked on numerous projects demonstrating the equitable, humane, and just capacities of architecture and design mediums, including a supervised visitation site at the Bronx Borough Courthouse and the social enterprise venture, Urban Starzz. In 2015, she co-founded designing the WE (dtW), where she co-created the nationally recognized Undesign the Redline (UTR) platform investigating the implicit and invisible relationship between architecture and human condition.

April is an invited lecturer, speaker, and facilitator at numerous institutions. She sits on progressive boards, including that of the American Sustainable Business Council, and works closely on a local and national level with diverse stakeholders within the design sector, like the Urban Design Forum, on issues of race, equity, and new economies. A Dean Merit Scholar recipient, she received her Master of Science in Design and Urban Ecologies from Parsons School of Design. Currently, she is pursuing her Master’s in Architecture.

Panelist: How Does Democracy Show Up in Your Life?