CBH Talk | The Meaning of Everyday Places

Sometimes the places we take most for granted are the heart and soul of our communities. For two decades Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani has studied the vital role of our neighborhoods’ unassuming places – diners, donut shops, laundromats, churches – that anchor communities in invisible and wondrous ways and connect us to a sense of belonging. 

In her new book The Cities We Need: Essential Stories of Everyday Places, Bendiner-Viani uses the phrase “placework” to describe the way these innocuous local places foster our shared humanity and create community. She delves into two neighborhoods – Prospect Heights, Brooklyn and Oakland, CA – which serve as stand-ins for neighborhoods across the country. She walks with the people who live there, hears their stories, and documents these ‘tours’ in evocative photos of place.

Join for an evening of conversation and sharing with Bendiner-Viani and Kemi Ilesanmi, founding director of The Laundromat Project, who brings her own depth of knowledge about what it looks like to build meaningful space. Audience members will have a chance to volunteer to read selected stories out loud, and all will be welcomed to share the places in their neighborhoods that bring meaning to them.