The AAJ Fall Conference 2026: Designing for Justice Positive and Community Connection, will be held in Minneapolis, October 7-9, 2026.This conference will explore the pivotal role architects play within the justice system, emphasizing the societal impact and community connection of their designs in justice facilities. We want to build a more equitable and just system, empowering disenfranchised, poor, and underserved communities and allowing them to thrive and flourish.
We will explore our role in building a justice system focused on improved results outcomes (improved health and well-being, reduced incarceration rates, lower recidivism, lower overall crime) across the communities we serve.
The conference will focus on how architects achieve this through Humane Design Principles: exploring innovative strategies to integrate compassion and humanity into the architectural and environmental design of justice facilities, ensuring they promote well-being for all inhabitants; designing justice facilities that cater to the diverse needs of all users, including staff, visitors, and the incarcerated and their families, promotes inclusivity, accessibility and comfort; and encouraging designs that not only serve their primary function within the justice system but also engage with and contribute positively to their local communities.
Registration Now Open