life.style: Black Celebration - 19, 20 & 21 of 28

life.style: Black Celebration - 19, 20 & 21 of 28

"If I allow the fact that I am a Negro to checkmate my will to do, now, I will inevitably form the habit of being defeated."

Paul Revere Williams

First African American member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and  first African American to be voted an AIA Fellow

I am writing this celebratory post today with Max in mind. With his strong appreciation for architecture and design, I felt it appropriate to look deeper into the role of African Americans in commercial and public design/development. Though severely underrepresented, there are a number of very talented and accomplished black architects who have made amazing contributions to the design world.


Paul Revere Williams designed more than 2,000 private homes (many for Hollywood celebrities), as well as many public buildings to include:

Theme Building, Los Angeles Airport, Los Angeles, California

La Concha Motel, now restored in the Las Vegas Neon Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada

Julian Francis Abele

First African American architect to attain professional acclaim

As the first African American graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Architecture, Julian Francis Abele had a long career at a prominent Philadelphia firm where he designed grandiose homes for the wealthy elite, as well as many public buildings:

Cameron Indoor Stadium at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

Free Library of Philadelphia, Central Library Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Norma Merrick Sklarek

First African American woman to be licensed as an architect in the United States, first African American woman to be voted an AIA Fellow, and  first African American woman architect to form her own architectural firm

Norma Merrick Sklarek (another outstanding soror), under the largest woman-owned and mostly woman-staffed architectural firm, designed  award winning works and prominent buildings to include:

Embassy of the United States, Tokyo, Japan    

Fox Plaza, San Francisco, California