I love looking at houses. One of my favorite activities is riding through neighborhoods looking at the colors, the exterior design and the flow of houses. I love design and floor plans. I remember when one of my coworkers was having her house built and she came to work with a book full of floor plans. I fell in love 😍. I started buying floor plan books like crazy and circling the features I liked in the houses, the features I wanted included in my home one day. My wants and needs have changed over the years. I now have the floor plan of my dream home drawn out on paper. A very crude drawing pictured above, but I mean well 😆. I am also designing my tiny house floor plan. I have watched countless videos on YouTube and the series Tiny House Nation on Netflix.
I probably would have gone into architecture if I liked mathematics. It happens to be my least favorite subject. I’ll stick to my crude designs and have someone more capable make it a reality. There is a small percentage of black women, who either liked mathematics or didn’t let it stand in their way, that decided to take their love for architecture and design seriously. I would like to bring light to a fraction of these women in this post.
Beverly Loraine Greene is the first black woman architect to be licensed in the United States. She was licensed back in 1942. Of course, back then Beverly was not welcomed into the industry. She struggled to find work in architecture. She persevered and was hired to assist with the creation of housing projects, hospitals, theaters and universities. Beverly collaborated on UNESCO United Nations Headquarters in Paris, France. Her funeral was held at Unity Funeral Home, a building she helped to design. How amazing is that! You can read more of Beverly Loraine Greene’s amazing story here,
Another groundbreaking black female architect is Norma Merrick Sklarek. Norma was the first black woman to be licensed in two states, California and New York. She was the first black woman to become a member of the American Institute of Architects. Also, Norma was the first black woman to co-own a woman lead architectural firm. Damn, Norma was the shit! Unfortunately, Norma left the firm due the women’s inability to secure big projects. I guess people didn’t realize Norma was the shit. Norma went on to join Jerde Partnership and helped to design the Mall of America. Norma had many more accomplishments in her career, which you can read about here,
I was inspired to write this post from an article I came across on my Google feed of 10 black woman architects and designers. Featured in the article was a young black woman by the name of Tiara Hughes. Tiara, unable to find black women mentors in the architectural field, decided to create a company that filled her need. The First500 is a global platform that connects and highlights black women architects and their contributions through the years.
Then, there is Neffi Walker, owner of The Black Home store. She mentors high school students, allowing them to follow her on projects to learn what the business involves. The article features 8 other black woman making a name for themselves in architecture and design. You can read about them all and their advice for women of color looking to join them as architects and designers here,
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/black-women-architects-and-designers
I must say, I’m feeling a little inspired after reading these articles. I may try to make my crude drawing look a little better. Nothing on the scale of an architect, but more visually appealing and detailed. I hope you enjoyed this post because I enjoyed sharing this information with you. If you know of anyone who will benefit from this post or any others, please share it with them. Stay well and whole. Much Love 🧡 💚