Archinect - News

Kimberly Dowdell elected as AIA's 2024 president, the first Black woman in the position

2022-06-17T17:40:00-04:00

Architect, real estate developer, educator, and former NOMA national president Kimberly Dowdell has been elected as AIA’s 2023 First VP/2024 President-elect. She will be the 100th President of AIA and the first Black woman to sit in the role. Dowdell is joined by Britt Lindberg who was elected as the 2023-2024 AIA Secretary, and Illya Azaroff as the 2023-2025 At-large Director.

Dowdell has been an AIA member since 2007. She received her Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University in 2006, which was followed by a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University in 2015. A Detroit native, Dowdell’s career has been driven by her mission to revitalize cities using design.

Previously on Archinect: Architect Kimberly Dowdell uses her hometown of Detroit as a catalyst for teaching equitable urban design practices

She currently works as the marketing principal in HOK’s Chicago office. Dowdell’s work with AIA includes participating on the Equity and the Future of Architecture Com...

NOMA's Foundation Fellowship nurtures the next generation of architects and designers through mentorship and professional development at 19 architecture firms

2021-07-08T14:15:00-04:00

Mentorship opportunities for young architects and design professionals have been an ongoing mission for The National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA). Now in its third iteration, NOMA announces 24 architecture students who will be part of the 2021 summer cohort for the NOMA Foundation Fellowship (NFF).

This two-month research fellowship will take place in person and virtually at 19 leading U.S.-based architecture firms. NOMA shares: "The NFF 2021 cohort will engage in design research and benefit from firm mentorship." In addition, NOMA has worked hard in building partnerships with various architecture firms that have collaborated with the NFF to provide professional experience to underrepresented students. This fellowship allows students to connect with the profession by establishing a pipeline for eventual employment once the fellowship ends.

In February 2021, NOMA announced its list of Winter Fellows consisting of ten students who were placed at ten design firms. Includ...

NOMA leadership echos the need to 'fight all systems of bias, oppression, and prejudice' following the guilty verdict in the Chauvin trial

2021-04-26T17:37:00-04:00

On Wednesday, April 20th, the guilty verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd brought a ripple effect of response and emotion across the nation. While this verdict is a step, it is not a "static pivot," explained by NOMA's current President Jason Pugh and former NOMA President Kimberly Dowdell. As the Black Lives Matter movement continues to spark awareness and action, architecture schools, firms, and organizations across the nation responded with support to stand with the Black community and to demand racial justice within the industry.

After hearing the trial results, it led me to reflect on the statements and plans from the architecture community shared in 2020. Since last year, what tangible results have occurred since architects, firms, and institutions addressed the need to dismantle systemic racism and white supremacy? While steps towards anti-racism are a daily affair, how deep can these statements and reform plans go before we see a change?

Prev...

Ten architecture students from five HBCU's have recently been appointed to NOMA's 2021 Foundation Fellowship cohort

2021-02-13T11:45:00-05:00

Ten architecture students from five Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) are selected to be a part of NOMA's 2021 Foundation Fellowship (NFF). In 2020 NOMA announced the fellowship's inaugural cohort that consisted of 30 students from over 20 architecture schools across the United States.

The fellowship's mission was to provide professional experiences to underrepresented students through mentorship and direct collaboration with architecture firms. With the number of licensed Black architects slowly but steadily increasing, the fellowship allows students to stay engaged within the profession and provide a direct pipeline towards future employment opportunities.

Jason Pugh, newly appointed 2021-2022 NOMA President, shared his response to the recently announced student fellows and the schools participating. Pugh, proud HBCU alum who graduated from Howard University, shared in a statement, "HBCUs continue to provide opportunities to expand an educated Black middle clas...

NOMA celebrates Jason Pugh, Pascale Sablan, and Tiffany Brown as they embrace leadership and 50 years of empowering and educating minority architects

2021-01-19T18:45:00-05:00

NOMA's commitment to supporting and mentoring architects continues as new leadership transitions for 2021. Jason Pugh will begin his new position in the organization as he follows former President Kimberly Dowdell's work and energy. Pugh will be supported by Pascale Sablan, who was voted President-Elect for the 2023-2024 term. Like the presidents and leaders before them, each newly appointed president has helped shape NOMA into the organization it has become today.

Pugh shares, "One of the main goals for the next two years is to build upon the great work and progress NOMA has accomplished during the last impactful administration, led by NOMA past-President Kimberly Dowdell." In response to her appointment, Sablan wrote to the community sharing her matched enthusiasm in her new role. "I'm extremely proud to share that during the NOMA 48th National Conference, I was voted to be President-Elect to support Jason E. Pugh during his presidency. In this role, I will have the honor of gett...

NOMA's 2020 Virtual Conference highlights winners of the Phil Freelon Professional Design Awards

2020-10-27T23:25:00-04:00

During this year's NOMA Conference, an unforgettable virtual experience was created to honor the organization's progress and celebrate its members. Despite the conference shifting to a virtual format, this didn't slow down conference registration. The event welcomed over 1,600 participants.

In addition to honoring the organization's leaders and incoming president, Jason Pugh, firms and students were recognized for their designs. "NOMA's awards ceremony is an annual highlight for NOMA members, when we step back, reflect and take stock of accomplishments, from those beginning their architecture journey as students, to those completing licensure, and so many who are changing their communities through built work," shared NOMA President Kimberly Dowdell during the conference.

"With this being my last ceremony as president, the awards meant even more, acknowledging leadership, allied partners, and the NOMA family that has made the success of this unprecedented year possible. NOMA has ach...

2020 NOMA Conference opens virtually to the largest conference audience yet, gathering socially motivated architects, designers, and allied professionals

2020-10-15T14:51:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA)

In a year challenged with COVID-19, a recession, and social awakening, NOMA experienced record membership, partnership and sponsorship support.

The 48th Annual National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) Conference opened on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, with an online audience of more than 1,500 registrants, making it the largest NOMA conference gathering ever. The virtual conference surpasses the record-breaking attendance of over 1,200 at last year’s NOMA Brooklyn conference. In an unprecedented year due to COVID-19, a resulting recession and social unrest, the conference will bring together architects, designers, academics, urban planners, community developers, artists, and students to champion and discuss how to shift the issues of our current structures to more equitable systems through architecture during the online conference, Oct. 14-17, 2020.

“When faced with the difficult question ...

Winners of the 2020 NOMA, NAACP, and SEED Awards highlight design justice and equity within architecture and land development

2020-10-06T13:47:00-04:00

Since 2011, the SEED Awards highlight public interest design projects that address critical community issues at a social, economic, and environmental scale. This year's award winners represent projects that reflect justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion within the realms of design, architecture, and land development in collaboration with NOMA and NAACP.

Winners were selected thanks to a star-studded jury consisting of design leaders in the industry such as Carl Anthony, Kimberly Dowdell, Maya Henderson, and Tiffany Mayhew, among others. This year, seven winning projects were chosen.

View the winners below and selected project images.

2020 Project Winners

Memorial to Enslaved Laborers - Design Team: Design Team: Höweler + Yoon Architecture, Meejin Yoon, Eric Höweler, Namjoo Kim, Caroline Shannon, Anna Kaertner, Alex Yueyan Li, Caleb Hawkins, Boris Angelov, Julia Robert, Dr. Mabel O. Wilson, Studio &, Marlisa Wise, Dr. Frank Dukes, Gregg Bleam Landscape Architect, Eto Otitigbe, a...

Join NOMA as they present their 2020 Virtual Conference - Spatial Shifts: Reclaiming our Cities

2020-09-29T15:57:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA)

Together on October 14-18, 2020, we will explore ways in which can break down barriers to creating meaningful projects, share ways to remix the role of the designer, and unpack new approaches to the design processes of our built environment. Each one of us will find our ikusasa, Yoruba for future or progress, to forge our path towards progression.

Now we’re just days away and the agenda has been published at https://conference2020.noma.net/ making today the PERFECT time for you to join the hundreds that have already registered! Early registration ends October 2nd!

Courtesy of NOMA

Cities are changing. Populations and economies in Oakland, Dakar, and beyond. Globally, our cities are changing from population to economies near and far. We, as designers, community members, leaders, and environmental stewards, need to be prepared to champion and shift the issues of our current structures to more equitab...

Inaugural NOMA Foundation Fellowship cohort selected for employment and mentorship opportunities

2020-07-17T19:33:00-04:00

The National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) has announced the inaugural 30-student cohort of the NOMA Foundation Fellowship (NFF), an initiative that seeks to increase diversity within professional practice as well as provide firm mentorship and design research experience for young emerging professionals.

With the recent events of COVID-19 and a growing civil rights movement sweeping the nation, the importance of actionable measures that increase representation within firms and foster better opportunities for Black and minority students is paramount. With these initiatives in place, NOMA has announced the placement of 30 students to engage in a two-month virtual summer research fellowship.

According to NOMA, "Amidst COVID-19 and record unemployment, NFF provides professional experience to underrepresented students with the goal of keeping them engaged in the profession and providing a pipeline to eventual employment. In all recessions, including the current one, minorit...

SoCal NOMA launches Diversity Equity and Inclusivity Challenge

2020-07-15T11:22:00-04:00

In a joint statement from the American Institute of Architects Los Angeles Chapter (AIALA) and the Southern California Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (SoCal NOMA), a new tool to expand inclusion has been announced: the SoCal NOMA Diversity Equity and Inclusivity Challenge. In describing the new initiative, the statement reads:

The SoCal NOMA DEI Challenge is a ten-point plan that delivers a pathway to diversity for Los Angeles firms through touchpoints including: mentorship, recruitment and promotion, and pro bono services to underserved communities. The results of its clear implementable actions will be tracked, in the same way as the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 2030 Challenge, to determine areas where improvement continues to be needed and to identify successes in reaching these critical goals.

The 10 "actions" that firms can undertake as a part of this challenge each have a scoring threshold with a maximum of 100 potential points to be achi...

NOMA, HASTINGS, and U of Tennessee announce plans for new diversity scholarship

2020-06-26T18:42:00-04:00

The National Organization for Minority Architects (NOMA), Hastings Architecture, and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville have announced a new scholarship initiative aimed at bolstering the pipeline of students from diverse backgrounds entering architectural education.

The new Keystone Scholarship will "cover all academic costs" for an incoming student from Tennessee in the college’s School of Architecture or School of Interior Architecture each year of their education, while also providing financial support and guaranteeing a summer internship opportunity for the selected student. A statement announcing the launch of fundraising for the scholarship explains that "the full scholarship should enable the student to graduate with no academic debt."

Valarie Franklin, President of the Nashville Chapter of NOMA, explains: “One of NOMA’s missions is to encourage students into the profession and to continue in an active role in their education through licensure. This scholarship will not...

AIA, NOMA, and other organizations issue statements of solidarity with Black community

2020-06-01T15:02:00-04:00

Over the weekend as courthouses, monuments, business districts, and public spaces around the country became backdrops to fierce protests seeking justice for the killings of Minneapolis resident George Floyd and other Black Americans at the hands of police, a collection of architecture, design, and built environment groups issued memos commenting on the volatile situation.

American Institute of Architects

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) published a statement from AIA 2020 President Jane Frederick calling for "universal respect and human dignity" in the face of racial injustice.

Frederick wrote:

"As Americans, we are mindful of this nation’s dark history of racial inequality. We are appalled by any actions that further threaten the universal respect and human dignity that everyone deserves. As architects, we remain committed to advancing civil rights protections, fair housing policies, and accessibility in the built world to help achieve the more perfect union we all see...

NOMA International Conference celebrates diverse architectural leadership and excellence

2019-11-07T13:16:00-05:00

In October, the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) hosted their 47th Annual NOMA Conference in Brooklyn. With more than 1,200 registered attendees, this year's event was the largest for the organization.

To conclude the conference, the organization celebrated a banquet dedicated to architecture leadership and excellence awards. With NOMA President Kimberly Dowdell, AIA, NOMA, NCARB, LEED AP presiding over the evening, the special event highlighted some of NOMA's long-time members, such as NOMA’s last surviving founder, Jeh Johnson, an architect who has made tremendous contributions to the organization and the industry.

NOMA founder Mr. Jeh Johnson with NYCOBA NOMA President Samantha Josaph at the 2019 NOMA Honors Banquet and Phil Freelon Professional Design Awards . Image courtesy of nycoba NOMA

A highlight of the evening was recognizing the work of beloved architect, industry leader and long-time NOMA member Phil Freelon, who recently passed away, with the inaugura...

Madame President Goes ALL-In; A Conversation with NOMA President Kimberly Dowdell

2019-09-26T18:35:00-04:00

For Archinect Sessions episode #145, we are joined by Kimberly Dowdell, a principal at HOK in Chicago and the current President of the National Organization of Minority Architects. Our conversation covers Kimberly’s impressive path to success in architecture and the leadership role she’s taking in NOMA. We’ll also discuss the upcoming NOMA conference taking place in Brooklyn in a few weeks from October 14th-20th.

Listen to episode 145 of Archinect Sessions, “Madame President Goes ALL-In”.

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Shownotes:

19th Annual Dunlop GSD Lecture: Kimberly Dowdell

Hamad International Airport Passenger Terminal Complex, the first project by Kimberly Dowdell at HOK, 2008...