Neba Sere is a spatial practitioner advocating for diversity and inclusion in the architecture profession.
She is an associate professor at The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, where her research focuses on decolonisation and decarbonisation and learns from indigenous and vernacular construction techniques. Neba is also the director of Black Females in Architecture, who exhibited at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale, and she co-leads the decosm collective, which recently collaborated with Arup on the report 'Racial Equity and the City', examining the experiences of People of Colour in London. Her previous roles include Senior Project Officer with the Greater London Authority's Regeneration Team and leading youth projects at Build Up Foundation, where she is now a Trustee.
As a Design Researcher in Residence, Neba will look at the parallels between anthropocentrism and colonisation, where European settlers exploited people and natural resources alike. Her research considers how plant species were colonised through genocide, extraction, ‘enslavement’, selective breeding and more recently genetic manipulation. Throughout the residency, Neba will trace the routes of colonised ecologies, creating an archive of lost historical and contemporary plant knowledge. These materials will serve as the basis for public conversations exploring the artificialisation of nature by centring plant voices.
