The State of the Architectural Profession and Race: The Profession Will Not Change until the Education System Changes
The architectural education system and profession in North America are based on white culture and fail to provide a supportive environment for Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) students and professionals. This perpetuates a long history of struggles for BIPOC students and professionals to thrive in a white man's world. As stated by late Ernest Boyer and Lee Mitgang quoted by Kathryn H. Anthony and Craig L. Wilkins: "After the dawn of the civil rights era, architecture remains among the less successful professions in diversifying its ranks—trailing, for example, such formerly male‑dominated fields as business, computer science, accounting, law, pharmacology and medicine."1
In his essay "Race and Diversity," Wilkins explains the lack of opportunity for African Americans in the architectural education system in the United States as being "based upon a kind of universality of cultural expression representing mainly that of the predominant white American culture."2 He explains a long history of inequity in architectural education that has yet to be solved today. In fact, despite being written ten years later, Wilkins’ essay reiterates many of the same issues highlighted by Anthony in her 2002 article “Designing for Diversity”. This demonstrates the slow pace of change when it comes to eliminating racism from the architectural education system and profession. Anthony spends less time reviewing the history of inequality and instead uses real-life examples to take a closer look at the lack of diversity in American architecture schools.3 While Wilkins ends his essay hopelessly, stating that African American architecture faculty will continue to "make a way out of no way."4
Anthony provides some concrete methods to address the issue. According to Anthony, the architectural profession will not change until architecture education changes. She argues that strategies need to be adopted in school and practice to promote lasting change, focusing on both condemning "incidents of discrimination, harassment and unfair treatment” and implementing strategies to support underrepresented educators and students. Anthony calls for hiring a diverse faculty to promote and reward underrepresented students and faculty with support systems, networking opportunities and showcases of the work of BIPOC faculty.5
Wilkins praises Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) for training African American architects who went on to effectively disprove the widely held notion that African Americans did not have the intellectual capacity to become professionals.6 He also praises many notable practitioner-educators who set the standard for future black educators. However, it would have been beneficial to dig deeper by giving specific examples of how HBCUs or practitioner-educators have paved the way for today's African American architects.7 Anthony provides statistics and shares experiences of the individual, a perspective that would have given greater depth to Wilkin's arguments. However, Anthony arguably focuses too much on the struggles she faces as a white woman rather than those of the minority groups who are even less privileged than she is.
Current Events
The cyclical nature of the problem is evident in both texts, and it is apparent that the issues still resonate today. While there has been some improvement, many of the issues described in Anthony’s essay (written in 2002) remain to be fully addressed. Research into Black, Asian and minority ethnic architects reveals that racism in the profession is getting worse and not better, as published in The Architect’s Journal when 43 percent of Black respondents said racism was "widely prevalent" compared with 30 percent in 2018.8
Wilkins notes how the civil disturbances in the 1950s and 1960s brought to light issues that faced African Americans resulting in a nationwide effort to address systemic inequalities under President Lyndon B. Johnson. Top architecture schools in America recognized the problem and began to admit more African American students.9 This was an improvement; however, African Americans are still underrepresented in architecture schools and practice 60 years later.
The death of George Floyd and subsequent outpouring of grief, anger, and determination to bring real change could prove to be another pivotal moment in race relations in our society and within the architectural profession. According to the New York Times, the movement may have been the largest in United States history.10 However, we already see a deceleration in momentum. There are fewer front-page headlines and fewer conversations with friends, family, and acquaintances. Are we already going back to our pre-George Floyd ways? How can we break this never-ending cycle of inequity in the architectural profession? The movement has inspired architecture students and professionals to look at the systemic racism that still exists today. For example, in universities across Canada including the University of British Columbia, the University of Toronto, Ryerson and Dalhousie, open letters written by students addressed schools of architecture demanding change. Additionally, we can now find articles in architectural magazines and groups at architecture schools such as the Race | Space reading group at McGill or the Racial Equity and Environmental Justice Task Force at the University of Waterloo, which address the lack of diversity in architecture.11 Only time will tell if this momentum will endure.
There is a lack of information on race and diversity in the architectural profession within the United States. There is an even more significant lack of information coming from Canada, signaling that Canada also has a long way to go. In the September 2020 issue of Canadian Architect, nehiyaw architect Wanda Della Costa describes her struggles as a Canadian Indigenous architect. She expresses her frustration with "colonial processes," stating that “indigenous ideas do not have a place in the current system."12 Wilkins also expresses concerns with the entire American architecture school system being dominated by white culture.13
Next Steps
To make lasting improvements within the architectural profession, systemic changes need to be made. Wilkins reflects: "The small number of African Americans on architecture faculties today is indicative not of the pool of talent available but rather of the market and those who control it."14 Timothy Onyenobi, a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Architects for Change Advisory Group, argues architecture schools need to change their entrance policies, learning from professions that are more successful in selecting a diverse range of students.15 Anthony's ideas of diversity plans and her call for a restructuring of architecture schools seem promising. However, we are not seeing any significant change by the time Wilkins wrote "Race and Diversity," and we are still hearing from countless BIPOC individuals who feel underrepresented and bullied in the architectural world. The climate is shifting following the events of this year, and it is critical that this momentum is sustained to finally break the cycle of inequality in the architectural profession.
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1 Kathryn H Anthony, “Designing for Diversity: Implications for Architectural Education in the Twenty-First Century,” Journal of Architectural Education 55, no. 4 (2002): 257-67. https://doi.org/10.1162/104648802753657969
2 Craig L Wilkins, “Race and Diversity,” in Architecture School: Three Centuries of Educating Architects in North America, (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2012), 374-79.
3 Anthony, “Designing for Diversity,” 257-67.
4 Wilkins, “Race and Diversity,” 378.
5 Anthony, “Designing for Diversity,” 262.
6 Wilkins, “Race and Diversity,” 376.
7 Ibid, 374-79.
8 Richard Waite, “Architecture Is Systemically Racist. So What Is the Profession Going to Do about It?” The Architects' Journal, August 14, 2020, https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/architecture-is-systemically-racist-so-what-isthe-profession-going-to-do-about-it
9 Wilkins, “Race and Diversity,” 377.
10 Larry Buchanan, Quoctrung Bui, and Jugal K. Patel, “Black Lives Matter May Be the Largest Movement in U.S. History,” New York Times, July 3, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/03/us/george-floyd-protests-crowd-size.html.
11 “Racial Equity and Environmental Justice Task Force,” Racial Equity and Environmental Justice Task Force | Waterloo Architecture, accessed September 28, 2020, https://www.waconnect.ca/groups/racial-equity-and-environmental-justice-task-force.
12 Omeasoo Wahpasiw, “Learning from Indigenous Consultants,” Canadian Architect, September 1, 2020, https://www.canadianarchitect.com/september-2020/, 37.
13 Wilkins, "Race and Diversity," 374.
14 Ibid, 378.
15 Waite, “Architecture Is Systemically Racist. So What Is the Profession Going to Do about It?”
