Written by Jaden Parker

Last week, we got to see a glimpse into the triumphs of past African American architects. They paved the way for the African American architects of the future, especially the ones we are going to learn about today. Architecture can be a brilliant fulfilling avenue of life, as these architects are surely aware. 

Michael Marshall

According to an interview done in the Washington Business Journal—which I definitely encourage you to look at here—Michael Marshall was 11 years old when the riots broke out in 1968 following Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination. He recalls witnessing the destruction of his city. This, along with seeing blueprints from his childhood friend’s father, pushed him to set his mind on architecture. He attended what was known back then as the Wasington Technical Institute (present-day University of the District of Columbia) in the mid 1970s. After two years there, he went to the Catholic University of America School of Architecture and got his Bachelor of Science degree. From there, he moved onwards and upwards to Yale, becoming the only African American in the School of Architecture’s master’s program at the time.

He started his own firm in 1989, based in Washington D.C. He says that getting to be on the design team for the Student Center at UDC was his life “truly coming full circle.” He is the Design Director and Principal of his firm Michael Marshall Design (MMD) and was admitted into the AIA College of Fellows in 2021. A lot of his projects are dedicated to celebrating African American history and culture, like the Frederick Douglass Park in Maryland, the Michelle Obama Southeast Center of Bread for the City in D.C., and the Chuck Brown Memorial also located in D.C. You can find out more about him at the previous link to his story or the about section here on his firm’s website.

Tiffany D. Brown

Tiffany D. Brown, the current executive director of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) has been honored with various awards like being named as one of Architizer’s “100 Women to Watch in Architecture” and receiving the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards’ President’s Medal for Distinguished Service. She got three degrees (Bachelor of Science in Architecture, Masters in Architecture, and an MBA) from Lawrence Technological University. 

Nevertheless, one of her most brilliant creations is being founder and CEO of 400 FORWARD. 400 FORWARD was launched in 2017 and is a recipient of a $50,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. On their website, it says that 400 FORWARD’s mission is “to uplift girls by giving them the tools they need to address social issues created by the unjust built environments of our inner-city communities. 400 FORWARD was named in light of the 400th living African American woman becoming a licensed architect in 2017—out of the more than 115,000 total licensed in the U.S. This initiative aims to seek out and support the next 400 licensed women architects with an underlying focus on African American girls through exposure, mentorship, and financial assistance.” If you’re interested in supporting Brown and her 400 FORWARD cause, you can donate at this link.

Curtis Moody

The founder of Moody Nolan, Curtis Moody is an award-winning designer and has been for well over 4 decades. He was given the Whitney M. Young Jr. award in 1992, and his architectural firm has won the most awards out of any other minority firm in the United States—over 380! The company has locations in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Dallas, Washington D.C., Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Houston, Columbus, Nashville, New York City, and Philadelphia, making it the largest African American-owned architecture firm in the nation. “We’re committed to dismantling systemic racism within our firm and in the world,” their website reads, “We employ 350 diverse individuals, comprised of 43% minorities and 46% women.”

Moody Nolan—originally called Moody and Associates—was opened in 1982. In 2020, Curtis Moody’s son Jonathan became the new CEO of the firm, and a year later Moody Nolan received the AIA Architecture Award, the first African Amercan-owned firm to get this award. That same year, Jonathan Moody received the Young Architect Award from the AIA. Curtis Moody has also been awarded from his alma mater, Ohio State University, which he graduated from with a Bachelor of Science in architecture in 1973. The firm has worked on numerous projects including the International African American Museum in Charleston, the Martin Luther King Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, the IM Building at Penn State, and the exhibit and gift shop at the National Museum of African American Music. 

Wandile Mthiyane

Wandile Mthiyane was born in Durban, South Africa, where he slowly grew the hope to one day better his home town. He accomplished this goal by founding the Ubuntu Design Group, an architectural team that works with communities to build sustainable housing. “Ubuntu” means “humanity to others,” and the company’s three design principles are to “listen to build, building to enable, and enabling Ubuntu.” With a vision to “create a world where everyone has access to a dignified design regardless of their socio-economic or cultural status,” it is clear how Mthiyane is both an Obama and Resolution Fellow. “If apartheid architecture could segregate and oppress,” Mthiyane says, “Ubuntu-led design can bring people together and enable opportunities for all.” They have helped numerous families, with a lot of stories being featured on their website. I encourage you to read more of these stories for yourself, as they are very enlightening.

Pascale Sablan

In an interview with NPR, Pascale Sablan recalls a time a professor at Pratt Institute School of Architecture had her and another female student stand up in a classroom of her peers. The professor said, “These two will never become architects because they’re Black and because they’re women.” While these degrading words might have been a setback for some, Sablan took the criticism and graduated not only with her bachelor’s degree from Pratt but her masters in architectural design from Columbia University. She became the 315th African American woman to be a registered architect in the United States.

As of 2023, she is the president of NOMA and is a co-leader at the Adjaye Associates New York studio. She, too, has received the Whitney M. Young Jr. Award from the AIA and as of 2021 is the youngest African American in the AIA’s College of Fellows. The Adjaye Associates have designed many incredible structures all over the world, including the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo, Norway, the Hugh Masekela Memorial Pavilion in Johannesburg, South Africa, and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. 

Mark I. Gardner

Last but not least, Mark Gardner is a principal at Jaklitsch/Gardner Architects (J/GA), which has been awarded the AIA National Honor Award. He is also an Assistant Professor of Architectural Practice and Society at the School of the Constructed Environments in Parsons the New School. One of the many accomplishments that first drew me to him is that he serves on the Advisory Board of MathMinds. MathMinds, 21st Century Schools Partnership, is an after school program for high school student of color who want to be exposed to college coursework in tech, computer science, and engineering. Gardner has his Bachelor of Science from Georgia Institute of Technology and his masters in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. Besides these incredible feats, Gardner also is the Advocacy Chair for the New York chapter of NOMA. Through J/GA, Gardner and his firm partner have designed the Tanzania Beekeepers Asali & Nyuki Sanctuary in Dodoma, the Philadelphia Contemporary Museum, and the Daegu Gosan Public Library in South Korea.