April 20, 2011No comments
So.
I have been working feverishly on an exhibit that I will be showcasing at the Black History Showcase this weekend at the Philadelphia Convention Center…
I will be promoting + selling my book 200 Something – as well as showing a small exhibit on African Americans in Architecture…
Lots of work to still do – BUT if you are free this weekend – Stop by and say hello! :)
April 5, 2011No comments
Howdy.
I just came home from the Brownfields Conference – held here in Philadelphia this year. For the past few months I have been working with an incredible group of people organizing a design charrette component for the convention.
Here is a little blurb I wrote about it for the website:
The experience will consist of a (1) Day design charrette featuring EPA identified Brownfield sites within the Philadelphia region. Each one of the sites presents various environmental and contextual challenges. Proposals developed within this charrette will have the opportunity to be presented as a catalyst for re-development.
A highlight of this year’s design charrette provides the opportunity to engage local colleges and universities within this process. Students from the area’s top design schools have had the opportunity to investigate and propose their own strategies to the various local sites and will present their design proposals for discussion and further exploration.
So I am sitting there watching the student presentations and I notice a young man that looks very familiar to me… He was actually a former student I had the pleasure of mentoring about 3 years ago in the ACE Mentoring Program.
I could not believe my eyes and then I think my heart sank.
(I am getting chills still thinking about it)
We spoke after the presentations and to my surprise, he has been dedicating his studies to architecture and upon completing his course at the Community College of Philadelphia, he will be enrolling in Drexel University in the fall. He recalled sitting in my (very small) conference room years ago – talking about the ins and outs of the architecture profession and from that day – it sparked an interest that has led him upon an incredible journey.
I know that he is hard working.
I know that he is passionate.
I know that he WILL become an architect one day and I couldn’t be more proud.
(Guys – I can’t even begin to explain this feeling….)
THANK YOU M.R. – You made my day :)
Oh – and By the Way… Refreshments were provided by:
March 29, 2011No comments
(..that’s a reference to my Filter fans…)
Soooo – I have been getting questions about the title of my book.
Basically – the name 200 Something hints to the fact that I was about the 233rd (or something) African-American FEMALE to become a registered architect – EVER in this great nation of ours…
…Perhaps we need to work on that, huh?
Here is a video of an INCREDIBLY EYE-OPENING lecture by Theodore Landsmark, President and CEO, Boston Architectural College – March 16, 2007
“If there is any kind of profession that’s gotten away with a kind of benign neglect of diversifying itself over the course of last 30 years, it’s architecture,” says Ted Landsmark. With one chart after another, he plots the dismal record of design schools, firms and professional associations in modifying their singularly white profiles.
Of the 100 thousand licensed architects in the U.S. today, 1,571 are African American and 186 of these are African American women. In 2003, a mere 40 Masters students graduated. And more than 1/3rd of these graduates obtained their degrees from an historically black college or university. The rest of the schools offering architecture educations have graduated a few score of African Americans, compared to thousands of white students. “If we were to triple the number of African Americans who graduated from programs over the next decade,” says Landsmark, “we would still only be up to 10%.”
March 25, 2011Comments Off
You know what Pottery Barn?!@
[quote_left] $399.00? [/quote_left]
I am going to make this…
EJ – I will need your help to ensure that I do not blow myself up.
