Archinect - News

National Endowment for the Humanities awards $190,000 grant to the ASLA for educator workshop

2024-09-04T15:28:00-04:00

The National Endowment for the Humanities has announced that it has awarded a $190,000 competitive grant to the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Fund.

The grant comes in the form of the Landmarks of American History and Culture award, which aims to support a series of workshops for 72 K-12 educators to study environmental humanities and place-making through the lens of landscape architecture in Washington, D.C. Expert instructors will guide lesson plans on green building, climate resiliency, design sustainability, and diversity-equity-inclusion-justice. The workshop will also include guided site visits to culturally significant landscapes in the Washington D.C. region.

“The more people we invite into the profession of landscape architecture the stronger our communities will become,” said ASLA CEO, Torey Carter-Conneen. “Landscape architecture is a unique blend of art and science. Workshops like this are how we provide a path for students who likely have no idea this ...

Architecture profession is expanding and becoming more diverse, says NCARB

2024-07-08T17:19:00-04:00

A shift toward a more diverse and prepared architecture profession has been documented in the latest NCARB by the Numbers report from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards.

The council’s annual survey revealed the total number of licensed practitioners to have grown by 1% to 121,368 in the past year. Another 37,708 are on their way to obtaining licensure. In 2023, there were 3,734 new architects reported to have earned a license, reversing last year’s decline by a total of 6% nationally.

It now takes candidates an average of 13.3 years to earn a license — slightly longer than the average pre-pandemic frame. This comes after NCARB instated several “pragmatic” changes to the ARE exam.

Related Feature on Archinect: Let's Talk About Architectural Licensure

In terms of a demographic sample, the survey found architecture to have shown broad-ranging improvements in a number of key representational categories, indicating a greater overall diversity along race and gender...

AIA Houston President Melvalean McLemore on architecture's lack of Black women representation

2024-06-03T17:08:00-04:00

When Melvalean McLemore earned her license to practice architecture in 2016, she was only the 16th Black woman in Texas to do so. McLemore became the first Black woman president of the American Institute of Architects Houston chapter late last year [...]. While being first is exciting, McLemore said it was a bittersweet feeling. “It’s a little bit sad to hear that someone is the first of anything in 2023, 2024,” McLemore said.

Bisnow recently interviewed Melvalean McLemore, AIA Houston President, Moody Nolan Texas studio design leader, and a 2024 AIA Young Architects Award recipient; discussing her path to architecture and the lack of Black women in architecture.

"There are still less than three dozen Black female architects in Texas, and Texas is a huge state," McLemore told the outlet. "We produce a lot of architects, so you have to really think about how rare it is."

Kimberly Dowdell hits back at anti-DEI push in business circles and academia

2024-03-25T14:21:00-04:00

The new AIA President and Principal in HOK’s Chicago office, Kimberly Dowdell, talked with Crain’s recently, stating diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts must be sustained in the face of the latest anti-DEI pushback parroted by Elon Musk and other business leaders that contributed to the resignation of Harvard University President Claudine Gay and other rollbacks on Wall Street and in corporate America.

"It's really disturbing how quickly the pendulum is shifting back toward a less inclusive and diverse society," she says, referring to different policymakers who are beginning to codify their resistance in conservative states like Florida and Texas.

Revisit our 2019 Archinect Sessions interview with Kimberly Dowdell, then President of the National Organization of Minority Architects

Of her company’s ethos she says, "[It’s] about diversity and its multiple forms in terms of its people but also the work and the kinds of work that we do," something that has underpinned its success...

It takes over 13 years to become an architect, according to new NCARB data

2023-07-18T11:41:00-04:00

NCARB has released its twelfth annual data report, NCARB by the Numbers, highlighting key trends in architectural education and licensure.

The report, derived from NCARB’s database of over 128,000 licensure candidates and architects, shows a 9% rise in the number of architecture license candidates in 2022, exceeding 35,000. The average time from starting college to licensure was 13.3 years, with women achieving licensure about 11 months faster than men. New architects are also increasing diversity in the profession, with one in three new architects being a person of color and two out of five being women.

NCARB By The Numbers 2023 summary chart. Image credit: NCARB

The report indicates that in 2022, there were nearly 120,000 licensed architects in the U.S. Licensed architects held about 145,000 reciprocal licenses, a 6% increase from the previous year, which NCARB explains as a demand for professional mobility due to COVID-19.

Despite the 9% increase in licensure candidates, there wa...

AIA issues statements on Supreme Court’s affirmative action and student loans rulings

2023-07-06T13:42:00-04:00

Last month’s disappointing Supreme Court decisions in the cases regarding student loan forgiveness and affirmative action have prompted a response from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in unison with other leading industry groups, including the AIAS, ACSA, and NOMA.

The former comes just months after the AIA published a study indicating that (as many already knew) student loans disproportionately burden both women and borrowers from traditionally underrepresented groups, respectively.

“The AIA believes diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging enriches not only architects and design professionals but also the entire world through the built environment they design,” part of the AIA statement on student loans reads. “Protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the public is vital to the role that architects play in shaping our collective future. The AIA is committed to supporting a diverse profession that reflects the communities being served. Thus, equitable access to ...

Trans and non-binary architects discuss their challenges within the industry

2023-06-16T15:55:00-04:00

So, yes, architecture has a diversity problem, but the tide is beginning to change. Thanks to out-and-proud architects like [Julia] Oderda, emerging trans designers now have possibility models to look to when navigating situations like coming out or transitioning on the job. Some firms are also taking steps to make their workplace more welcoming to trans people, often in collaboration with trans people who already work there.

Architect Julia Oderda, who came out as a transgender woman professionally in 2018, also provided some insights into her struggle in an interview with the NCARB recently, saying, “A lot of what I did to help pave the way for me — and hopefully for others behind me — but also just to address my own anxieties about the process was a lot of overpreparation.”

The narrative that the existence of trans and non-binary people in an office setting is always contentious ought to be challenged, but their lack of visibility and support from colleagues is troubling, spurring the VCBO Architecture principal towards even more action. “That's one of the reasons I've been as open and vocal as I have been,” she says. “I think we need more people who can be found online to help the next generation.”

Architect, organizer, and facilitator A.L. Hu, who teaches at the Columbia GSAPP as an adjunct assistant professor and is the design initiatives manager at Ascendant Neighborhood Development, shared their...

AIA New York awards $7,500 in student loan support to six aspiring BIPOC architects

2023-05-18T10:00:00-04:00

AIA New York has awarded $7,500 to help six aspiring BIPOC architects pay off their student loans. The money is to be drawn from the organization's 2030 Fund, which seeks to “help build a more diverse and representative profession.”

The 2030 Fund was developed by AIANY in collaboration with the New York Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects. The fund is also used to support NOMA’s 2030 Challenge, which aims to double the number of licensed Black architects by the end of the decade.

The six future architects to receive the latest funding are Wilfrido Adames (Pratt Institute), Hamees Gabr (City College of New York and Harvard Graduate School of Design), Chae Park (Cornell University and the Art Institute of Chicago), Reuben Posada (Texas A&M University and Cornell University), Jahaan Scipio (Syracuse University and Yale University), and Stephen Sewar (University of South Florida).

Pensole Lewis College and PepsiCo launch partnership for design diversity with innovative student lounge project

2023-04-05T08:56:00-04:00

PepsiCo and Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design, the first and only Historically Black College or University (HBCU) dedicated to design, are marking the first step in their three-year partnership to develop Black designers and increase representation in the design industry with a program tasking students to create a new student lounge on campus.

Previously on Archinect: A formerly closed HBCU in Detroit is reopening as a design school thanks to an industry leader

Together, PepsiCo and Pensole Lewis aim to address the diversity gap in the design industry by providing students with access to mentorship, apprenticeships, and job opportunities.

Designers from the PepsiCo Design & Innovation team and MillerKnoll mentored Pensole Lewis students through the design process. The winning concept will be brought to life this summer. In addition, NBA star Russell Westbrook, who shares the partnership’s mission, will work to further amplify the effort and unveil the completed lounge whe...

Tim Disney's $1 million donation boosts SCI-Arc's DEI scholarship program

2023-03-21T17:51:00-04:00

SCI-Arc recently announced a new $1 million scholarship fund dedicated to the school’s efforts to advance Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion interests in the architectural field.

Former trustee Tim Disney established the fund in order to augment the school’s growing Equity + Inclusion Scholarship and Mentorship program, which pairs students from underrepresented backgrounds with mentors while providing fully-funded tuition.

The current E+1 cohort is 16 students. Disney said, “I am very grateful to be able to support this work, and very proud that SCI-Arc has made equity and inclusion scholarships a top priority.”

Other DEI initiatives adjacent to the program will also be pursued along a five-year strategic plan as part of the gift. The school has continually expanded its Structural Actions to Promote Access, Inclusion, and Equity in Architecture over the past two and a half years, hiring new faculty and bolstering the liberal arts curricula and Kappe Library collection in addition ...

2023 Venice Architecture Biennale to highlight diversity’s role in guiding 'The Laboratory of the Future'

2023-02-22T15:24:00-05:00

The 18th Venice Architecture Biennale officially announced its 89-strong slate of participants for this year’s exhibition titled “The Laboratory of the Future,” curated by the Scottish-Ghanaian architect and academic Lesley Lokko.

Opening May 20th, the Biennale will run through November 26th and feature an even 50-50 gender parity and the representation of more than half of this year’s participating artists identifying with the African diaspora. The diversity highlighted by the selection underscores the broader theme focused on the social effects of climate change and decolonization while attending to Lokko’s curatorial aim to “put forward ambitious and creative ideas that help us imagine a more equitable and optimistic future in common.”

Theaster Gates, Adjaye Associates, Hood Design Studio, atelier masōmī, and Pritzker-winner Francis Kéré were among those selected to participate in the exhibition. The exhibition is divided into six parts and includes participation from notable s...

Unpacking 2022's highs and lows of social justice, equity, and representation in professional practice and architectural academia

2022-12-25T08:00:00-05:00

As the architecture industry reviews another year filled with a range of ups and downs, it's an important time to reflect on what progress has been made when it comes to important topics such as social justice, activism, equity, and diversity initiatives within architecture. While we've already highlighted this year's controversies, it's important to ask: Has the architecture industry made advances toward social justice, diversity, and inclusion in 2022?

Effective change takes time. Continuing with our 2022 year in review, let's look back at the challenges, obstacles, and successes that the industry faced surrounding inclusive design, diverse leadership, social justice, and representation.

Architecture organizations aiming to make change

Image courtesy of the AIA.

AIA issues a supplementary guide addressing issues in architectural education

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) worked together with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) to establish a set ...

AIA President-elect Emily Grandstaff-Rice joins Perkins&Will's staff in Boston

2022-12-05T09:00:00-05:00

Perkins&Will has announced the recent addition of AIA President-elect Emily Grandstaff-Rice to their Boston studio in order to help further its EDI, decarbonization, and research pursuits across the industry.

The organization’s soon-to-be 99th President comes to the position with a breadth of K-12 and higher-education experience around Massachusetts, including recent projects for the UMass Lowell and Boston Children’s Museum.

Grandstaff-Rice pointed to the firm’s “unparalleled” focus on climate action and social equity causes as the principal factors that led her decision, adding: “I envision this next stage of my career as one in which I collaborate with interdisciplinary teams in support of creating safer, healthier, and more responsive architecture.”

“Emily’s experience in the education market will beautifully complement our Boston studio’s K-12 and higher-ed practic...

AIA issues a supplementary guide addressing issues in architectural education

2022-11-07T12:15:00-05:00

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) together along with the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) has published a new supplement to its Guides for Equitable Practice in order to reflect a renewed focus of university education and institutions.

The supplement, titled Equity in Architectural Education, is intended to provide teachers and administrators with scenarios, actions, and prompts that “inspire discussions about creating welcoming environments to attract and retain those currently underrepresented in academia and in the profession.”

It is also useful to the majority of practitioners whose firms employ student interns and recent graduates, prospective high school students, and others interested in entering the field as its output importantly “defines the concept of culture in architectural education” and subsequent impacts in the working world.

RIBA announces Robbie Turner as its new diversity & inclusion chief

2022-11-04T13:30:00-04:00

Another gap in the leadership of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has been filled following the announcement of Robbie Turner as the organization’s new director for diversity and inclusion.

Thompson comes to the position after working for more than 30 years in various roles in the country’s pharmaceutical industry and will begin his term next week, ending an 8-month void for the relatively new RIBA office that was first created in 2021.

His only predecessor Marsha Ramroop left the post in March after only a year that saw her office’s budget significantly impacted by cost-saving efforts the organization had to initiate after posting multimillion pound deficits for the second (and now third) consecutive year.

“Robbie Turner is new to me and my circle in the EDI space, but we've been able to start to get to know each other since I was informed of his appointment,” Ramroop, who is reportedly working on a book about EDI initiatives and architecture for her former employe...

Gensler and Amazon among $4.7 million donors to California College of the Arts supporting diversity and innovation

2022-10-28T11:22:00-04:00

Gensler and Amazon are among the donors who have gifted $4.7 million to the California College of the Arts (CCA). The funds will be used to support diversity, equity, and innovation in the arts and design field.

CCA received a $1 million gift from the Gensler family and an additional $1 million gift from Gensler as a practice; donations which will establish the M. Arthur Gensler Jr. Center for Design Excellence. According to the college, the newly-established center will “support and enrich learning, teaching, and research in CCA’s Architecture Division” with a focus on supporting students from diverse backgrounds through “tuition scholarships, mentoring, and career development support.”

The donation will extend over ten years, with the first cohort of Gensler Center scholarship recipients set to receive awards this year.

The remaining $2.7 million in donations to the CCA was received from Amazon ...

Almost one-third of architecture employees have faced or witnessed discrimination, says NCARB/NOMA survey

2022-10-18T10:59:00-04:00

An NCARB/NOMA investigation has found that people of color, especially African Americans, are more likely to report issues with their architecture firm’s culture. The Firm Culture & Career Development Report is the latest analysis articulating the results of the joint NCARB/NOMA Baseline on Belonging survey investigating biases and impediments in the profession. The survey received over 5000 complete responses following its release in early 2020.

Archinect Feature: Architecture Gave Me a Black Eye: A Note to Architectural Educators

The latest report, which focused almost exclusively on candidates currently on the path to licensure, found that 24% of African American respondents had considered leaving the profession due to their firm’s culture, 14% more than their white peers. Compared to white respondents, African American respondents were also 12% less likely to say they felt as though they belonged at their firm, and 10% less likely to feel valued.

In particular, African American w...

San Francisco's new Presidio Tunnel Tops project could serve as a case study for women in project management and construction roles

2022-09-07T18:53:00-04:00

By any count, Presidio Tunnel Tops had an unusual number of women in construction and project leadership. They say there are good reasons for that.

Led by Kerry Huang of James Corner Field Operations, the recently-opened new addition to San Francisco’s public parks portfolio was in the works for the better part of 30 years before being completed in July.

As Landscape Architecture Magazine highlights, the number of women employed in leadership positions was uncommon and created an atmosphere that could serve as a case study for an industry that is (to its considerable detriment) sadly still beset by systemic occupational challenges and a prevailing misogynistic work culture.

“We’ve all worked so harmoniously together,” Rania Rayes, a senior project manager for the Presidio Tunnel Trust, said of the benefits of working on such a diverse site. “Having many women on the team may make that possible. We’re very patient, we have some great communication skills…. I just think that these are attributes that a lot of women have, and they want to be team players.”

International WELL Building Institute CEO Rachel Hodgdon on the rise of building health ratings

2022-08-29T14:16:00-04:00

The adoption of WELL Certification during the past eight years has been nothing short of incredible—the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) has just crossed the 4 billion mark for square footage enrolled to pursue WELL Certification, which means more than 36,000 spaces in more than 120 countries, serving more than 17 million people every day.

Rachel Hodgdon, President & CEO of the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) and former U.S. Green Building Council Knowledge SVP and Center for Green Schools Director, shared with Multi-Housing News that the institute is currently in development of a single-family residential certification and will soon debut its new WELL Equity Rating, which Hodgdon says is “designed to empower organizations to create places where everyone can feel welcome, seen, and heard.”

Previously on Archinect: New WELL Performance Rating aims to recognize smart, healthy buildings

She also commented on the rise in green building certifications across all building types that has been recorded since the pandemic, providing statistics that support the organizational tide change that the updated rating systems are meant to engender.

“Not only has the WELL Health-Safety Rating been hugely popular, with 2.8 billion square feet enrolled since its launch just two years ago, but we are also finding that most of...

A dearth of BIPOC Boston-area construction workers reveals the industry's ugly 'caste system'

2022-08-03T15:26:00-04:00

The Boston population has grown increasingly diverse over the past few decades, with people of color accounting for more than half of the city's current residents and Black people making up 24% of all residents. But the city's construction workforce has not kept pace, according to Boston city data. The data also shows a kind of caste system in construction. The higher up you go in a building under construction, the less likely you are to find workers of color.

The Hub’s long history with racism is felt in practically every other area of the built environment in the city, including its underserved mass transit system and arcane zoning policy’s harsh afterburn. Workers on various large construction projects such as the new Winthrop Center are seeing the effects even as the industry faces labor shortages.

According to WBGH, Boston’s citywide construction workforce is 63% white, with instances of high-demand skilled roles registering at 88% and 89% white. Perhaps predictably, the data set showed some more dangerous job functions (such as asbestos removal) being staffed by upwards of 75% BIPOC laborers.

This is particularly worrisome as the city has been pushing equity mandates that require 40% BIPOC employment on all sites totaling more than 50,000 square feet. Women aren't fairing much better in the local workforce either: A fall survey of Boston's 150 biggest projects found none that met the same requirement, which calls for only 12% empl...

Where the RIBA presidential candidates stand on key issues

2022-07-19T12:13:00-04:00

On July 26th, voting closes for the election of the next RIBA president. When the winner commences their two-year term as president on September 1st, 2023, they will be confronted with a list of burning issues across the UK’s architectural profession; and will be expected to publicly lead a response.

Some issues are specific to the UK context: a turbulent national political landscape, the soaring cost of indemnity insurance, and the implementation of new or upcoming UK laws on planning, construction, and emissions, to name a few. Other issues are specific to RIBA itself: an institution which has seemingly lurched from crisis to crisis in recent times, be it on accusations of inadequate diversity, election rule changes, or just this week, questions over a “buried” internal report on bullying.

These UK-specific issues aside, many of the challenges facing the UK professi...

RIBA's new diversity chair says it's not adequately funding a 'priority' EDI initiative

2022-07-12T16:19:00-04:00

The ability of perhaps one of the world’s most influential architectural organizations, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), to address issues of diversity and inclusion within the industry has once again come under scrutiny after news that one of its supposedly priority projects has yet to receive additional funding to proceed.

The Architects’ Journal is reporting that RIBA’s Finding and Accessing Architecture group chair, Femi Oresanya, expressed his concerns over an overall lack of funding for a project that a RIBA executive had apparently told him was of top priority during a Council meeting held on June 28th.

According to the Journal, the project was supposed to entail a matching program that provided students with work experience opportunities as overseen by the group and Oresanya. President Simon Allford and chair Jack Pringle reiterated the known financial straits of the organization before the former proposed providing additional funding for the project via a s...

Grimshaw announces new foundation aimed at inclusivity, youth engagement

2022-07-12T06:00:00-04:00

The new charitable arm of Grimshaw Architects has been announced by its founder at an event held last week at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

The newly-formed Grimshaw Foundation is aimed at promoting inclusivity and will serve a broader purpose to “engage and encourage young people to discover the value of creativity and the inspiration of art.”

Its genesis is the product of more than a year’s worth of coordination between Grimshaw founder Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, the firm’s leadership, and an advisory committee that includes Bartlett honorary professor Neil Pinder.

Grimshaw Foundation board of trustees. Image courtesy Grimshaw Foundation

Speaking in a press release last week, the 82-year-old Grimshaw outlined his goals for the new entity, saying “what the Foundation will do is enable young people, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds, to experience the art of making and the making of art and introduce more opportunities and different career paths — opening up th...

Architectural profession is recovering from COVID, and becoming more diverse, says NCARB

2022-06-23T12:55:00-04:00

The path to licensure within the U.S. is becoming more diverse from gender, race, and ethnic standpoints, according to NCARB’s annual NCARB by the Numbers report. The report also notes that the profession is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, with the number of candidates on the licensure path also increasing.

2021 saw a 23% increase in the number of candidates completing the path to licensure compared to 2020, when the pandemic saw a significant decline in participation in the licensure path. There was also a 39% increase in exams taken, and a 26% increase in exams completed.

The number of new architects increased by 23% from 2020, but is still 24% lower than pre-pandemic averages, suggesting the impact of the pandemic has still not waned.

The report also found that the average candidate takes 13 years to complete the path to licensure from starting college to receiving a ...

Hip Hop Architect Michael Ford on building a foundation for future generations of BIPOC designers

2022-05-10T14:22:00-04:00

“Getting new voices and pulling new people into architecture is important, but also having a portfolio of good work is important as well,” Ford said. “I think my ultimate legacy, though, for me will be measured by the number of people I inspire to become architects. And not just become architects but to not check their culture at the door. When you can bring your total self into the design world, that’s where you can make a true contribution.”

The “Hip Hop Architect” took Madison.com on a site visit to the local Quarra Stone Co., where granite tiles are being made for a forthcoming installation at the National Guardian Life company’s headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin.

For the project, Ford plans to erect a 25-foot-tall lobby installation with the company’s DEI statement engraved across 360 individual tiles using his own self-developed hieroglyphic alphabet. (“It’s architecture that prompts people to do something,” he explained.)

Rendering of the lobby installation Ford designed for National Guardian Life Insurance. Image courtesy BrandNu Design.

“I don’t think it's pushing the limit,” the 39-year-old continued, speaking of the corporate commission and another metaverse project for the non-profit Infamous Mothers. “For me, it’s representing what can happen when you bring more diverse minds to architecture and diverse experiences, backgrounds and culture because architecture has lost its mystique of what it once was. For m...

AIA releases new Guides for Equitable Practice supplement, outlining ways to advance equity and justice through architectural practice

2022-05-09T17:49:00-04:00

The American Institute of Architects (AIA), in collaboration with the University of Washington and the University of Minnesota, has published a supplement to their Guides for Equitable Practice, a framework for understanding and building equity in the architecture profession. Titled “Justice in the Built Environment,” this latest edition serves as a guide for architecture and design professionals looking to do more to advance justice through their design work.

"This new resource is designed to empower architects to use their problem-solving skills to create welcoming spaces for all,” said AIA Executive Vice President/Chief Executive Officer Lakisha Ann Woods. “It also provides perspectives and insights on how architects, in all types of workplaces, can help advance equity in their place of employment, projects, and in society.”

The new supplement also offers guidance on actions that individual practitioners and firms can take to advance equity. The document notes that there are at ...

African American women significantly less supported in architecture schools, says NCARB and NOMA report

2022-04-19T12:55:00-04:00

A new report by NCARB and NOMA has found that women, particularly Black or African American women, face heavier challenges in architectural education than their male counterparts. As a result, more than half of Black or African American women surveyed state that they have considered a different career path.

The report is the latest output of the “Baseline on Belonging” study conducted by NCARB and NOMA, which seeks to identify areas where underrepresented groups are disproportionately impacted throughout their early architectural career, including education and licensing. Previous reports within the study have focused on the Architectural Experience Program (AXP) and the Architect Registration Examination (ARE), which found that white and male candidates were more likely to pass the ARE.

Excerpt from the Baseline on Belonging: Education Report by NOMA and NCARB

The latest report, whose findings are derived from 5,300 survey respondents, found that women feel less supported by pro...

University of Virginia's School of Architecture names C.L. Bohannon as its first Associate Dean for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

2022-03-25T16:57:00-04:00

The University of Virginia’s School of Architecture has announced the appointment of C.L. Bohannon, PhD, ALSA, as its first Associate Dean for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (AD JEDI), effective July 25, 2022. He joins the faculty as Associate Professor in the Landscape Architecture Department.

Bohannon is currently an Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture and the Associate Director in the School of Architecture + Design at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He is also the Director of the Community Engagement Lab and Faculty Principal at the Leadership and Social Change Residential College at Virginia Tech.

Bohannon’s research focuses on the relationship between community engagement and design education. His pedagogy, through the lens of landscape architecture, examines the asymmetrical power relationships and systems that produce social and environmental inequities in marginalized communities, or as he describes it, “uneven geographies,” t...

RIBA's diversity & inclusion chief is stepping down after only a year

2022-03-22T17:39:00-04:00

Change has come to the UK’s leading architectural association as The Architects’ Journal is reporting that RIBA’s current Director of Inclusion & Diversity Marsha Ramroop is departing from the organization after just 13 months on the job.

The institution is going through an administrative restructuring after reporting an £8 million ($10.8 million) budget deficit late last year. Ramroop’s budget had reportedly been significantly impacted by the cost-saving efforts, which so far includes a round of layoffs and the sale of its 78 Portland Place office.

The former BBC journalist’s year-plus tenure has seen the development of initiatives like RIBA communities, its new Inclusion Charter, the institution of official guidance for employees on a host of sensitive issues like pronoun usage, and the creation of a live radio channel that broadcast EDI-related content as part of RIBA’s second annual fe...

ASLA launches new program to boost representation of women of color in landscape architecture

2022-03-11T12:48:00-05:00

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Fund has launched a new program to support women of color obtain landscape architecture licensure and increase racial and gender diversity within the field.

In its inaugural year, the Women of Color Licensure Advancement Program will provide 10 women of color with a two-year, personalized experience that includes up to $3,500 to cover the cost of sections of the Landscape Architectural Registration Exam (LARE), along with exam preparation courses, resources, and mentorship from a licensed landscape architect.

According to data from the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Board (CLARB), only seven percent of landscape architects are non-white and only 30 percent are women. It is clear that obtaining licensure can have huge ramifications. The ASLA notes that a report by The Alliance for Responsible Professional Licensing found that among highly complex, technical fields, such as landscape architecture, a license narrows...