Who are the most influential African-American architects in the world right now? Our correspondent Abbie Martin Greenbaum has done the research, and now she’s sharing the biographies and notable buildings designed by some of the top black architects working in America today – names we all need to know and celebrate.
the most influential African-American architects
Less than 2% of the approximately 113,000 architects currently licensed in the United States are African American. But thanks to the Black Lives Matter movement, their visibility is on the rise.
Notable buildings designed by top black architects: the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver. Courtesy Photo.
This Black History Month, we are excited to honor the work and lives of black luminaries in an effort to increase awareness of the breadth of their talent and influence. In our previous installment on black architects, we featured the sometimes unsung and under-appreciated trailblazers who made their mark on the American skyline. Often in spite of discriminatory laws that prevented them from even entering the very buildings they designed.
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In this piece, we are featuring 15 contemporary top black architects you need to know. While by no means exhaustive, consider it an intro into the brilliant people behind the buildings you probably know in the cities you love.
top black architects working in America today
1. Allison Grace Williams
“If you start feeling like people don’t understand you because you’re different,” Allison Grace Williams says, “you’re going to spend a lot of your creative juices and brain cells on that, instead of excelling and enjoying what you’re doing.”
It’s advice worth taking from this award-winning, social and civic-minded architect. Her distinguished buildings have been described as bold, luminous and modern.
Notable buildings designed by top black architects: The August Wilson Center in Pittsburgh. Courtesy Photo.
Her international portfolio includes The August Wilson Center in Pittsburgh. The Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise in Singapore. The Calexico United States Port of Entry in California. And the Princess Nora Abdulrahman University Health Sciences and Research Campus in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
After rising through the ranks at prestigious architecture firms like Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Perkins and Will, and AECOM, Williams founded her own design practice, AGWms-studio in 2017.
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2. Curtis Moody
Curtis Moody is the founder of the Columbus, Ohio-based firm Moody Nolan, , where he still serves as Chairman of the Board. It’s the largest African-American owned architecture firm in the U.S. Moody notes with wry humor that he wants to be defined as “Just an architect. But a really good one.”
In an interview, Moody shares that his desire to design buildings goes back to grade school, when he entered a model house competition at the Ohio State Fair and won second place. As a former basketball player at Ohio State University in the 1970’s, Moody first established his reputation by channeling his passion for athletics into designing sports and recreation facilities.
Notable buildings designed by top black architects: the Nashville Music City Convention Center. Image @Nick Merrick/Hedrich Blessing. Courtesy of Moody Nolan.
Moody studied Urban School Planning & Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. And his portfolio of “Responsive Architecture” now includes luxury hotels, performing arts centers, libraries, universities, and hospitals. Moody is also a winner of the prestigious Whitney M. Young, Jr. award as an outstanding African-American architect in the United States.
3. Peter Cook
Architecture is in Peter Cook’s genes. His great-grand-uncle is the famous architect Julian Abele, who designed Philadelphia’s Free Library, Harvard’s Widener Library, and over 30 buildings on Duke’s campus.
Cook earned his architecture degree from Columbia University in the late ’80’s. His work, primarily in the Washington D.C area, encompasses museums, memorials, embassies, libraries, cultural and learning centers, and mixed-used corporate and neighborhood master planning.
Notable buildings designed by top black architects: The Shaw (Watha T. Daniel) Library, opened August 2010, was designed by Peter Cook. Courtesy Photo.
His enduring philosophy is “that architecture ultimately comes down to the people who occupy the space” and that it is “artwork performed in a social setting.” Cook’s most high-profile example to date are his contributions to The National Museum of African American History and Culture, made as part of a collaboration with other black architects. In June of 2021, Cook was appointed by President Biden to a four-year term on the Commission of Fine Arts.
4. Kimberly Dowdell
It was not until October of 2020 that the United States reached the milestone of 500 licensed Black female architects. And Detroit native Kimberly Dowdell was the 295th to obtain her license.She decided to become an architect when she was 11 years old,curiously asking why no one had paid attention to the iconic but dilapidated Hudson’s department store that anchored the downtown shopping district.
Recipient of the 2020 AIA Young Architects Award, she was the second youngest person to serve as the president of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), which she did from 2019 to 2020. In 2021, she joined the board of directors of the Architects Foundation, which is the philanthropic partner of the American Institute of Architects. She is also a board member of Ingenuity Chicago, an organization that works to increase access to arts education.
Notable buildings designed by top black architects: Hamad International Airport Passenger Terminal Complex, the first project by Kimberly Dowdell at HOK, 2008. Courtesy Photo.
And as part of a task force of the CEO’s of the 60 largest architecture firms in North America, she developed the Diversity 2030 Challenge. It’s an effort to more than double the number of black licensed architects (from 2,300 to 5,000) in the next ten years. Dowdell also finds time to be a Principal Architect in the Chicago studio of HOK, a global design, architecture, engineering and planning firm. Prior to this position, the Cornell and Harvard-educated architect was focused on a major $12 million project to revitalize the Fitzgerald neighborhood in her native Detroit.
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5. Marshall Purnell
Marshall Purnell’s accomplished career includes being the first African American president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). With his late partner, Paul S. Devrouax, he co-founded the firm Devrouax & Purnell Architects and Planners in 1978. The firm had scrappy and humble beginnings, working on row houses and renovating historic buildings.
Notable buildings designed by influential African-American architects: the corporate headquarters building for FreddieMac. Courtesy Photo.
Their work went on to include several prominent athletic stadiums, including the $850 million Washington Convention Center. The $700 million Washington Nationals Baseball Park. And the Washington NBA and NHL venue, the Capital One Arena (formerly known as the Verizon Center). The firm was also responsible for PEPCO Energy’s corporate headquarters. FreddieMac corporate headquarters. And The National Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. Last month, he spoke with Architectural Digest about the memorial’s design process.
6. William Stanley III and Ivenue Love-Stanley
Husband and wife team William Stanley III and Ivenue Love-Stanley first met in 1972 at Georgia Tech. That’s where Stanley was the first African-American to complete a degree from Georgia Tech’s College of Architecture. Five years later, the younger Love would become the first African-American woman to graduate from Georgia Tech’s College of Architecture. Their initial collaboration was marriage. And then, an Atlanta-based architectural firm: Stanley Love-Stanley PC. Together, they make a successful team, with Stanley as the principal designer and Love-Stanley managing the production side.
Important works by influential African-American architects: The swimming pool for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Courtesy Photo.
Their firm’s work has included many award-winning landmark projects that have helped to shape Atlanta. Including the New Horizon Sanctuary at Ebenezer Baptist Church, a 34,000-square-foot-structure that includes a 1,600-seat sanctuary, educational building, peace plaza, bell tower, and prayer garden. For their alma mater, they designed the Olympic Aquatic Center in Atlanta on the campus of Georgia Tech. The site of the 1996 Olympic competitions for swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, and water polo is still in active use today.
7. David Adjaye
A star in the world of architecture, Sir David Adjaye hardly needs an introduction. The celebrated architect was exposed at an early age to different cultures and architectural styles. Born in Tanzania, as a young boy, Adjaye and his Ghanaian parents traveled and lived throughout Africa and the Middle East. He often cites these experiences as influences on his approach to design. Another important influence was his youngest brother, who needed the use of a wheelchair. Causing Adjaye to contemplate what he calls the “social responsibility” of architecture.
Important works by influential African-American architects: the National Museum of African American History features collaborations with several top black architects.
Adjaye won his most prestigious commission to date in 2009. He was chosen from a field of respected architects to design the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. Prior to that, his work included large-scale public buildings. The Idea Stores, library and community center hybrids in two London neighborhoods. The Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo. The Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver. And the Moscow School of Management. Adjaye was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2017 for his contributions to architecture.
And just this week, he became the first-ever recipient of the Charlotte Perriand Award, which was created by The Createurs Design Awards to recognize excellence in the design industry.
8. Michael Marshall
President and CEO of his eponymous architecture firm, Michael Marshall has said “I think African American architects and other minorities can bring some of the nuances that might not be covered when looking at the development of the city.” He came of age in Washington, DC during the 1968 riots that followed the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Marshall has been involved in projects that have brought some of those devastated areas back to life. In 2021, he was elevated to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects, which is the institute’s highest honor.
Notable buildings designed by top black architects: the University of the District of Columbia New Student Center. Courtesy Photo.
Some of his notable projects include the Howard Theater. Chuck Brown Memorial. Audi Field. Entertainment Sports Arena. The DC Water tower. And the University of the District of Columbia’s student center.
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9. Toni Griffin
Griffin, one of the leading black women in architecture and urban planning, specializes in spatial and racial justice. Her disruptive approach centers around designing “just cities”. It is a concept she’s been developing since she was a Loeb fellow at Harvard in 1997 and where she is now a professor at the Graduate School of Design. She has served as Project Director for the Detroit Work Project, and released Detroit Future City, a comprehensive citywide framework plan for urban transformation.
Important works by influential African-American architects: the mixed-use East Harlem Center for Living and Learning, by Perkins Eastman and SCAPE. Photos Courtesy Center for Architecture/Just City Lab.
Other cities to benefit from her expertise? St. Louis, Memphis, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Newark, where she was responsible for creating a centralized division of planning and urban design. And launching the city’s complete overhaul of its comprehensive master plan and zoning ordinance.
She is also the founder of Just City Lab, which does work to investigate the way architecture and design can contribute to issues of injustice.
10. Mark L. Gardner
Principal of Jaklitsch/Gardner Architects, Gardner was mentored by William Stanley and Ivenue Love-Stanley. His firm’s projects range from Marc Jacobs showrooms and stores to the Tanzania Beekeepers Asali & Nyuki Sanctuary in Dodoma. He has also led the design efforts for centers for culture and education, like the Monument to Foot Soldiers in Birmingham.
Important works by influential African-American architects: the Tanzania Beekeepers Asali & Nyuki Sanctuary in Dodoma. Courtesy Photo.
Gardner has served as the Director of the Graduate Architecture Program at Parsons School of Design. He says that “Diversity does not just happen…when you get those jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.”
11. Katherine Williams
Katherine Williams’ architectural aspirations began at a young age, when a Girl Scout career event in her home of Chesterfield, Virginia first introduced her to the idea. The profession seemed a perfect fit for her artistic and mathematic abilities, and over time her interest grew.
She became a Rose Architectural Fellow, and since then has served as a Project Manager at the San Francisco Housing Development Corporation, an editor of the NOMA (National Organization of Minority Architects) magazine, and a chair of the American Institute for Architects Housing Knowledge Community. She is also the creator of the Black Women in Architecture Network.
Katherine has worked as a developer as well as an architect, and her projects have included affordable homes, community gardens, art installations, and office buildings for nonprofits. She says that “buildings are important,” but “building community is more important.”
Important works including buildings by influential African-American architects: Katherine Williams. Courtesy Photo.
12. Christian Benimana
Christian Benimana is a Senior Principal and Managing Director with the well-known MASS Design Group, whose Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture was named as one of the twelve most anticipated buildings of 2022 by Architectural Digest.
Benimana himself is based in Kigali, Rwanda, where he is also the founding director of the African Design Centre. This apprenticeship program aspires to empower leaders in their ability to design a more equitable world. Benjamin hopes to develop the next generation of African designers.
He is a champion of Afrofuturism, and has written many articles and book chapters on the topic. He is also well-known for his 2017 Ted Talk
Important works including buildings by influential African-American architects: Christian Benimana. Courtesy Photo.
13.Mario Gooden
Mario Gooden co-founded the Charleston firm Huff + Gooden Architects with Ray Huff in 1997. Since then, his firm has gone on to design many critically acclaimed projects, including the Visual and Performing Arts Library for the Brooklyn Public Library, and the 2011 renovation and expansion of the California African American Museum.
Gooden is also a professor at Columbia, and the author of the book Dark Space: Architecture, Representation, Black Identity. In 2021, his work with the Black Reconstruction Collective was featured in the exhibit Reconstructions: Architecture and Blackness in America at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
Important works including buildings by influential African-American architects: Mario Gooden. Courtesy Photo.
14. Pascale Sablan
Pascale Sablan has served as a senior associate at S9 Architecture in New York. In one of her first projects with the firm, she drafted the symbols that are now engraved on the walls of The African Burial Ground National Monument, which shares the history of the African slaves buried beneath New York’s city hall. She is now a senior associate with Adjaye Associates.
In 2021, she was the recipient of the Whitney M. Young Jr. Award, which seeks to honor an architect who embodies social responsibility in their work. This Sablan does in many ways, including as the founder of Beyond the Built Environment, an organization that advocates for an equitable environment by highlighting diversity in the architecture field.
Sablan has also served on AIA (American Institute of Architects) New York’s Board of Directors, and as the historian and northeast regional Vice President for NOMA.
Important works including buildings by influential African-American architects: Pascale Sablan. Courtesy Photo.
15. Samantha Josaphat
Samantha Josaphat is the founder of Studio 397 Architecture – named after the fact that she was the 397th Black woman to receive her architecture license.
The firm’s work is versatile, and includes the high-profile corporate interiors of Hudson Yards and the Flatbush Caton Market, as well as a range of residential projects.
In 2018, Josaphat received the 9th annual Women in Architecture award from AIANY.
Important works including buildings by influential African-American architects: Samantha Josaphat. Courtesy Photo.
Notable work from top black architects
There you have it: 10 distinguished black architects whose significant contributions to architectural achievements are facts we should all know. Next up, we will be featuring the gorgeous work of leading black interior designers. Get ready for some serious eye candy.
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Abbie Martin Greenbaum grew up in New York City and currently lives in Brooklyn, where she drinks a lot of coffee and matches roommates together for a living. At Oberlin College, she studied English and Cinema, which are still two of her favorite things, along with dessert and musical theater. She believes in magic.
