A look at visionary architect Georgia Louise Harris Brown, the first female African-American architecture graduate

2018-02-07T20:50:00-05:00

Pioneering African-American architect Georgia Louise Harris Brown had a knack for seeking out the most fertile architecture scenes in the world during her long career. She practiced in Chicago during Mies van der Rohe’s prime and, from there, moved to Brazil, where a singular modernist language was being created for Brasilia, the most ambitious planned capital of the 20th century.

Georgia Louise Harris Brown has been featured as part of Redshift's Respect series, focusing on architect visionaries. Brown was the first African-American women to graduate with an architecture degree, and the second professionally licensed African-American female architect in the nation. Beverly Loraine Greene was the first, and a role model to Brown.

She studied under Mies at his Illinois Institute of Technology and was heavily influenced by his modernist style. Her first job in Chicago was with Kenneth Roderick O'Neal, an African-American architect and structural engineer who also studied with Mies.

Working with Frank J. Kornacker Associates by 1949, Brown worked on several key projects such as 860–880 Lake Shore Drive. This high-rise was influential in its minimalist grid of steel and glass and constructed with Brown's structural calculations.

Eventually moving to Brazil, Brown became professionally licensed in 1970 leading many firms for over the next twenty years. Read mor...

We need a Jamie Oliver of architecture to save us from uninspiring design

2013-12-23T13:40:00-05:00

It is the fault of the public’s “indifference to good design”, rather than “corporate greed” of building companies, argues Mr de Botton, founder of Living Architecture and honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba). “They merely want to make money and they have zero confidence (rightly) that we would follow them in the venture of delivering quality at the necessary price.”

Archinect - News

A look at visionary architect Georgia Louise Harris Brown, the first female African-American architecture graduate

We need a Jamie Oliver of architecture to save us from uninspiring design