Changing the Face of Architecture

do you remember your first day of school

think back to how you felt emotionally

at that time of your life

maybe you were excited or nervous if

you’ve had the opportunity to attend

college

do you remember what it felt like to

experience that freedom and

independence perhaps you were scared

about not finding the dining halls in

between your 15-minute break between

classes

or getting lost on campus what about

school

academically did you have any fears what

if i’m just not cut out for engineering

or i thought english is what i wanted to

do but

maybe i’m leaning more towards art now

perhaps you’ve had some of these fears

it’s conceivable that anyone entering a

new environment not just first year

college students

would share some of these concerns or

possibly you thought

you would not fit in and i’m not

referring to a superficial sense of

belonging

that may result from being labeled as

cool or popular

no i’m talking about what if no one in

my major looks like me

will i be all by myself those last two

or few of the worries i had going into

my

architectural education for those of you

who are unaware

architecture is an old landscape if you

do it there’s a good chance you’re white

there’s a good chance that you’re a man

and if you’re successful

there’s a good chance that you’re old

right so going into my chosen field of

study

i already knew this but pursuing a

career in architecture is what i deeply

desired

in high school i decided to study

architecture after my dad pointed out

that i loved math

and had an affinity for creation i even

went to an architecture camp

before i applied to college i knew what

the demographics were

coming into the field of architecture

although i wasn’t blind to these

realities

i still had these fears i wondered

will i be treated unfairly overlooked

or have a professor or colleague be

unkind to me

what might i be up against as a black

woman for me

these fears were valid and sadly i

actually experienced these exact

problems i am approaching the

culmination of my bachelor of

architecture degree

and it was not a walk in the park i’ve

had struggles

just a few years ago at the height of my

struggles i was mistreated

bullied and regarded as other unlike my

white colleagues

i was told that somehow my ambition

would cause me to flunk out of college

while my non-black colleagues were

praised for their drive

instead of being guided with care i was

written off as lazy

i’ve been humiliated by someone in a

position intended to aid me

and support my growth as a student by a

professor

sadly these stories of inadequate

support alienation and bullying

are not rare occurrences for black

people indigenous people and people of

color

in architectural education and even in

the profession

and as horrific as it is my story still

pills in comparison to other accounts of

bullying that black architecture

students regularly face

the first time i met a black architect i

was 16 years old

he was a kind older black man who guided

me and gave me several resources

i was one of the lucky ones to meet a

black architect so young

now you may be thinking to yourself i’ve

never met an astrophysicist

and i’m 32. but think about it when is

the last time you’ve been in a building

today who do you think was on the team

of people who built that building

history suggests that it was most likely

a team of non-black people

and if there was black people on the

team there was only one

when was the first time you had a

teacher who looked like you preschool

kindergarten first grade or maybe you

never had a teacher who looked like you

when was the first time you had a lawyer

who looked like you

a doctor think about all of these ages

in which you’re exposed to the racial

norms in the u.s

if you’re white these ages are probably

in your early childhood

if you’re black there’s a chance that

you still have not had these experiences

yet

the first time i met a black woman

architect i was 20 years old

and i had to seek out that opportunity

it was not a given for me to meet one

serendipitously

it was the annual conference for the

national organization of minority

architects

it was my first time traveling alone to

new york city

i went to the opening event on a

wednesday night i was in a room with

hundreds of people

and almost all of them were black these

people all worked in the built

environment

black architects planners designers

construction managers

i could not believe my own eyes i

couldn’t even focus on the lecture

beautifully created work because i was

experiencing a culture shock

i was meeting black women who were

architects

left and right i was finally seeing the

examples that i did not receive when i

was deciding on my future career

what if i had not made up my mind that i

wanted to study architecture

even after i had all those horrible

experiences in my education if i would

have given up

i would not have met these black women

if it were not for my family

i would have switched majors if i did

not have that critical support

i would not be here the process of

becoming a licensed architect

is already arduous even without the

additional struggles

with which blackness is linked to even

be able to become a licensed architect

you have to complete either an

accredited five-year professional

bachelor’s degree

or a four-year bachelor’s degree with a

two

or three year master’s degree you must

choose

one of these schooling options before

sitting for the six

licensure exams and completing the

necessary three 3740 hours of experience

at an architecture office

once you finish all of these steps you

can officially regard yourself as a

licensed architect

who can practice architecture

independently this process

varies in length but continues to be

around eight years

including education and training and

architectural license

is not necessary to work in the field of

design but the license itself presents

itself as the highest qualification a

practitioner can receive

this process takes prolonged dedication

vast financial resources

and most importantly time

now i would like to give you some

context i will get to the numbers in a

second but

i believe that visuals are one of the

best ways to learn something new

i have this demonstration according to

2020 data

from the national council of

architectural registration boards

or ncarb this represents how many

licensed architects there are in the u.s

according to the directory of

african-american architects this

represents how many black men

are licensed architects in the u.s and

this

represents how many black women are

licensed architects from the u.s

sadly this is not a joke there are over

116 000 licensed architects in the us

right now

of that number 2 378 of them are black

and of that number

as of today only 502 of them

are women there have only been 502

licensed black women architects to ever

live

two percent of all architects are black

and only

point four percent of all architects are

black women

that is less than half of one percent

so where do we go from here with all

this information why does any of this

matter

i believe that we are a unique time in

history as a released architecture

there is no one person in this world who

has not been

impacted by architecture positively or

negatively there are several initiatives

popping up

by wonderful individuals mainly to

increase the representation of black

people

specifically black women in the field of

architecture

project pipeline is a camp for minority

middle and high school students

they’re doing the critically crucial

work of exposing the career path

of architecture to young black and brown

children

tiffany brown and her 400 forward

organization

tiara hughes and her first 500

organization

these black women are working to

drastically increase the number

of black women architects what can you

do to positively support the increase of

black architects being rightly

represented

advocate for black students to go to

design camps by sponsoring them

financially support organizations that

are doing this heavy work

and this is a big one to people who work

in the built environment

within that old man’s game you have to

passionately restructure your

hiring and also your work to create

meaningful change

the consequences of the black students

relentless pursuit

of an architectural education trickle

down and a major way to affect

every arena of architecture an increased

population of black licensed architects

bursts a greater network

of black professional mentors for young

black architecture students

while also creating a model for young

black children who are unaware that

architecture is for them

this model would easily begin to shift

the paradigms of young black children

then we can’t just stop with increased

representation

we need equitable support representation

is critical

but more importantly massive structural

change

must happen in order for the profession

of the built environment to effectively

combat racism

socially the very existence of black

architects is an act of destruction

to the racist subjugation of black

people in this nation

which systematically treats black bodies

in an inhumane manner

the federal bureau of prisons identifies

38.6

of all inmates as black but according to

2019 u.s census

estimates black people comprise only

13.4 percent of the population

the national low income housing

coalition identifies about 45 percent

of all public housing residents as black

while black people comprise only 13.4

of the population numbers do not lie

they tell a story the story of systemic

racism in this country

is not new this is the continuation of a

well-implemented design

in order for change to be sustainable

the current systems and processes

will have to alter or be dismantled

from education to licensure these

dilapidated systems are not

equitable due to implicit biases

racism and the makeup of our society it

is notably more difficult for black

people to complete

an architectural education and license

their process

but the change i see to create new

worlds can be a reality

gaining new black architects is a

necessity for transformation

but it is crucial for black architects

to be in positions of power

in order to make actual tangible change

in the way our society operates

even in the literal buildings we make

and reside in

architecture is one field of numerous

arenas where the black voice has been

extinguished

and needs to be recentered there must be

practices

and systems solely dedicated to black

empowerment

and liberation in order to bring the

black voice

back to the spotlight where it has

always belonged

our world has suffered greatly because

an aggressive

centering of eurocentric ideals this

metamorphosis

and change towards liberating the black

voice must be extensive and frightening

the way we practice architecture urban

planning design

these disciplines will all have to

evolve for this problem to truly begin

to be remedied

changing the face of architecture is

extremely important but changing the way

we do architecture

is fundamental though i have

personally experienced many challenges

in my schooling as a black woman

i have learned that the power of

perseverance is especially relevant

even in this hard reality of white power

and glorification

within the field of architecture

academic and professional success for

black architecture students means more

than having

a successful career and doing the job

well

black architects have always had what it

takes to be successful

and i stand here as an example of an

amplified black voice from the intended

point four percent

will you join me in amplifying more

thank you