I am not sure what the point of this thread is...

...but Adjaye did just do a beautiful building with Denver's Museum of Contemporary Art. It also happens to be black

At night, it is beautiful.

So, we're looking for the Richard Meier from a parallel universe?

... you're going to need some pretty good statistics to demonstrate that black people make black buildings any more often than any-other-coloured people.

meier's a racist

maya lin only seems to make black granite sculptures and she's not african american...

I agree, meier is racist.

Well, I doubt that anyone would really question if a Jewish person designed the Jewish Museum. Why is it an issue? Can anyone verify that the architect was selected because they were black?

Anyway, political correctness aside, it is possible that black architects may have a different understanding of MLK's history which could lead to a project that could be unique. The product will be more important than the race of the architect.

Or are we talking about the building being black? If that's the case, why not? I'm sure that one could argue that either side of the fence is politically incorrect.

is this similar to green architects making green buildings?

Careful calling Meier a racist. A lurker may report you to X's assistant.

I am unaware of Meier being a racist. Why are people saying that?

all my buildings are painted shades of green, so I should be a martian.

If you are not a martian, then should you be making all of your buildings shades of green?

Meier buildings=white=racist?
Quite a jump............

i dont think there should be or ever was a correlation between one's skin color and the color of a building they design... that's just weird.

that was the point of my above response re: meier being a racist.

i also don't believe in being "politically correct"

also, what is a black building?
would renovating the apollo be considered such? i think that's just a very limited way of looking at things.

only jews should design synagogues!
only mormons should design temples! (wait, isn't that right?)

Ok. Only Jewish people should design synagogues (that's a religious thing). I understand that. But, what about a museum or a memorial?

Anyway, if architects can only design buildings for people or projects that share their same skin tone, black architects woudl not have much work. I know because I am multi-racial and a good portion of that is black. It's such a narrow point of view that it's not even interesting.

even that distinction isn't useful.

i've always thought that one of my strengths in the church/synagogue/mosque work that i've done is that 1) because i was very interested in it when younger, i'm very educated in religion, liturgy, etc and 2) i don't connect with any particular type of religion these days. i can approach it from a position of dispassionate knowledge.

so, because i don't participate in any organized religion, i shouldn't be eligible for any of this type of project? ridiculous.

get your hands off my church you secular humanist!!!

That's not to say that I agree with that, but I can imagine that Rabbi would want a Jewish person to design the building for them.

I agree that an outside opinion or perception can be very useful and can expand the possibilities of architecture. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like it happens very often.

one of maya lin's black granite sculptures (see treekiller's comment above) is for the civil rights memorial. doesn't seem like anyone complained about her participation.

ditto the langston hughes library.

i feel that anyone should be able to design a building based on their ability, not the color of their skin. however, I feel that many times the institutions that are building these buildings feel that they need an architect that relates to the population that the building is trying to represent

in Cincinnati, the Freedom Center / Underground Railroad building was designed by an African American architect because it was the 'correct' thing to do. unfortunately the architect wasnt that good, and neither is the building

there goes that theory...

But it would be interesting to see more black architects and see if there is any difference in aesthetics, spatial organization and usage of materials. More often than not, projects with the prominent name of MLK would give an opportunity for a black architect to make a statement (because the lack of representation). But, it is necessary to say that a project should not be awarded to a firm simply because of race. I would hope that the architect was selected becuase their design was the best and/or represented what the clients would like to see.

i come down on both sides of this. of course i think anyone should be able to give their best shot at any project.

but, to mdler's original question, if a project is about celebrating the achievements of black people, it makes perfect sense that the project itself should be a showcase of those achievements. if the project is about giving opportunities to groups that don't always get opportunities, even better.

there isn't a general rule that can always hold true here. it should be up to the initiators of the project. if a client chooses to make this distinction an impt element of the project's history, i don't think we should resent it. just like i don't resent not getting to do v.a. projects that are reserved for disabled veterans. it fits the mission of the client.

well i for one am really disappointed that rem or zaha or frank or morphosis didnt get the job. what a slap in the face of the profession.

It's probably better that they didn't. Big ego architects too often overshadow the project. I would say that it would be a more interesting building (architecturally) if they designed it, but they probably would be less sensitive to importance of MLK. Of course that is speculation, but that's my opinion (of course). Every big name project does not have to be awarded to the biggest names in the profession.

should i check minority/other/un-decided on my next job application

Nope

i have a really good tan right now...but managed to keep some of my ass very white by wearing tiny speedo. i'm literally two-toned and i find this very liberating from a design perspective.

It opens you up to a world of projects that were not available to you before.....................ridiculous!

i have a friend who is a catholic Argentinian architect. He designed a really nice Jewish Temple in Cincinnati

Sure there are exceptions. But, how often does that happen?

going back to the original post...i don't know of it is the politically correct thing to do, but it is most certainly the POLITICAL thing to do.

here here jump

I find arguments about the correlation between ones skin colour, religion, sexuality, or gender and talent to be a foolish and dangerous one that hicks, racists, xenophobics, etc can run with and create podiums for hate and banter.

love that's all that matters, and alcohol

sex with people is good too

a-techno

I am not trying to equate ones skin color, etc to their talent...quite the contrary

I am just posing the question due to an article on NPR this morning about the new MLK memorial being designed by an African American architect. The actual 30' high statue was being sculpted by a Chinese sculptor and this has apparently causes an uproar because of China's stance on human rights vs those of Dr. King.

Does anyone think that the lack of high profile buildings designed by black architects exaggerates the importance of the topic? Who knows of any black architects other than Adjaye?

kahn designed a few mosques in his day... I think his skin color was gray (concrete)

Why respond to a posting about race if you don't want to address race? I know it was just a joke, but it is part of a serious conversation. There are not many black architects and I am pretty sure that this project would be discussed regardless of the architect's race. If the architect was white, the project would be discussed in the black community and it would probably not reach NPR. But, it would be generating discussions across the country by various races. Also, it gives an opportunity to talk about race and how much it has/has not progressed.

21ronin-

gerry billes of n.o. has always done well and has been back in the limelight lately as part of the makeitright project stuff.

and then there's ray huff who's simply too good to be a starchitect - has too much integrity to do the things they do.

michael pride-wells has been director of the arch school at cincinnati for several years and before that was here at kentucky.

mabel wilson was also in the news there for a while, especially with the project that was shown all over: was that the situated house or before that?

these are just the ones that pop to mind immediately.

i don't think we're in a place anymore where adjaye's hot because he's black. he's hot because he's a hipster and his buildings are tough/edgy/sexy.

But the fact that he's black has made him any less hip. It's definitely given him an edge.

Anyway, I haven't heard of any of the other people that you mentioned, but I will check them out.

that was supposed to be "hasn't". It hasn't made him any less hip.

21ronin, are you a professional or a student?

this building - Temple, btw



was designed by this guy, perhaps you know him...

But, he was basically a cult leader as well. I would expect him to have some type of church under his belt.

Why do you want to know if I am a student or professional?

he was a cult leader? you come off as naive and simplistic.

Ok. You are entitled to your opinion. I'm both

per, you have a new challenger to your throne.

I guess I am just an idealistic person that is not too focused on architectural history unless it sparks a specific interest of mine. I focus more on design and the art of it. So, if you think that makes me ignorant, naive or whatever else you want to judge me by, that's fine. If you were in a conversation that I started on research killing creativity, I asked that for a reason. I think that architects are too focused on the mainstream, popular images of architecture, tourist architecture and architectural history. When I write about something in this thread, it is coming from opinions based on experiences and are things that I believe. Some people (like you) like to throw historic buildings and references to prove that you are up on what's new. So, please go ahead an judge me.

Also, your condescending question about whether I am a professor or a student didn't deserve a serious answer.

Also, from learning about FLW, I learned about his personal life as well. He ran little communes where he was known to have more than one wife. Ok? That's about one large, chain link fence away from being a cult. Have you ever heard of that?

Now that may not have been the grammar, but come on..........one chain link fence away from a cult?........that's funny.

No, no I agree FLW had his own cult, for all intents and purposes.

That doesn't mean we love him any less though!

As for Black architects designing black buildings, well frankly I think the job should go to the best architect for the job. A white person maybe able to achieve a design that meets or exceeds the client's/public's expectations. I think SW has a point about exhalting a race by letting a "black" man/woman design a "black" memorial but I'm not sure I completely agree. Besides, I don't know how you'd make that visible to the public unless you wrote A BLACK MAN DESIGNED THIS right across the side of the memorial.

Besides wasn't King's message supposed to be universal anyway?

If this guy was picked only for his skin color, doesn't that negate King's message of universal brotherhood and his vision of a world where people were not judged by the complexion of their skin, but by the content of their character?