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 seek. The fact is that architects and AIA, in our more than 160-year history, have not always felt compelled to share our perspectives. But the times we live in, the horrific nature of the events we witness, and the role we see for every member of our society demands that we speak out."

American Institute of Architects Board of Directors

On Thursday, June 4, the AIA National Board of Directors issued the following statement:

To our members,

America’s list of racially motivated murders demand action. Eric Garner. Sandra Bland. Michael Brown. Shantel Davis. Atatiana Jefferson. Laquan McDonald. Tony McDade. Pamela Turner. Korryn Gaines. Trayvon Martin. Tamir Rice. Walter Scott. Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd. All murdered, because they happened to be black in the United States of America. There are others, and, sadly, we know there will be more. No words can adequately express the depth of anger, frustration, and national shame for their loss or the more than 1,250 black lives ended by police since January 1, 2015, according to The Washington Post’s database that tracks police shootings.  

Each of these lives should be a clarion call to action. They should spur all of us to do more, and that starts by speaking up, clearly, directly, and consistently.

To be clear, the American Institute of Architects supports the protests to stop systemic, state-sanctioned violence against people of color. Period. We support and are committed to efforts to ensure that our profession is part of the solution that finally dismantles systemic racial injustice and violence -- the legacy of one of the United States’ original sins, slavery.

The fact is mere words are insufficient salve to bind the wounds created by centuries of brutality and injustice. No single statement can adequately address the United States of America’s 400-year legacy of enslavement and violent marginalization of black, indigenous, and other people of color. It is also a fact that what you say is what you do. In that regard, AIA’s words and actions have failed to live up to our highest ideals and values. AIA understands the disappointment of our past inaction and inadequate attention to the issue of systemic racial injustice. We were wrong not to address and work to correct the built world’s role in perpetuating systemic racial injustice, including the use of slave and forced labor, designing housing that marginalized communities of color, helping to design communities that excluded people of color, and participating in municipal projects that destroyed or weakened thriving African American, Hispanic, and Native American communities.

More than half a century has passed since Dr. Whitney M. Young, Jr. observed that “Decent people have to learn to speak up, and you shouldn’t have to be the victim to feel for other people.” We can’t change the past, but we can, and do, promise to harness the passion of our members and the broader design community to help lead efforts to dismantle the system of racial injustice that continues to end far too many lives and dim far too many futures.

AIA’s promise from this day forward is to hold close the anger, anguish, but above all, compassion we’ve heard from our members demanding that AIA speak out more clearly and urgently on racially motivated acts of violence and police brutality.

That important works starts with each of us. It is our responsibility to work together to break down the barriers that start in architecture school and continue into the firm and workplace that exclude far too many.

To that end, in the coming days and weeks, the focus of our actions will be to acknowledge, listen, and learn. We will review our own programs to directly confront and address systemic racial injustice. We will work more closely with partner organizations that can assist in making meaningful, lasting change for society and our profession. We will listen to our members and seek ways to remove barriers within the profession and the AIA. For the longer term, we will ensure that the profession more closely reflects the diversity of society. In short, we are committed to lead  in the fight to dismantle this country’s centuries-old system of racial injustice and violence, so that future generations know the United States as a place where there is justice and equality for all.

We ask our community to join us and hold us accountable in the coming months and years to ensure that our deeds match our words. Our goal is to finally live up to Mr. Young’s words “to speak up” and to learn so that the talent and the expertise of the architect and the built world only work to advance justice, equity and opportunity.

Eric Garner. Sandra Bland. Michael Brown. Shantel Davis. Atatiana Jefferson. Laquan McDonald. Tony McDade. Pamela Turner. Korryn Gaines. Trayvon Martin. Tamir Rice. Walter Scott. Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd, the more than 1,250 souls lost to police brutality, and the thousands throughout our history who were killed and injured because of racial animus, deserve nothing less than our best efforts.

The 2020 AIA Board of Directors

L. Jane Frederick, FAIA 2020 President

Peter J. Exley, FAIA 2020 First Vice President/2021 President

Jason C. Winters, AIA

Evelyn M. Lee, AIA

Emily A. Grandstaff-Rice, FAIA

Daniel S. Hart, FAIA, PE

Timothy C. Hawk, FAIA

Mark Levine, FAIA

Britt Lindberg, AIA, LEED AP

Jessica A. Sheridan, AIA

Becky Magdaleno, CAE

Yiselle M. Santos Rivera, Assoc. AIA

Sarah M. Curry, Assoc. AIA, AIAS

George B. “Barney” Forsythe, PhD, BG, US Army (retired)

Vivian E. Loftness, FAIA

Robert A. Ivy, FAIA AIA EVP/Chief Executive Officer

National Organization of Minority Architects

Kimberly Dowdell, 2019-2020 NOMA National President, issued a detailed statement on behalf of the the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) contextualizing both the demonstrations and the nature of NOMA's advocacy and support roles.

In part, Dowdell wrote: 

The air in our nation is thick with a profound sense of grief and despair. Our collective air is so very thick that it’s literally hard to breathe. We struggle to grasp for air as we all navigate a global pandemic coupled with the deadly and pervasive virus called racism that has plagued America for over four centuries.

As the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), we are calling on our members and our broader professional community to condemn racism and take an active role in eliminating the racial biases that account for a myriad of social, economic, and health disparities, and most importantly, result in the loss of human lives – Black lives. As architects, we are professionally responsible for protecting the health, safety and welfare of the public. The tragic execution of Black Americans at the hands of people infected by racism has plagued our nation for generations.

Dowdell's statement, remarking on the fact that property destruction was taking place in relation to the demonstrations, also referenced the 1921 Tulsa Massacre event that led to the death of 300 Black residents as well as the destruction of that city's "Black Wall Street" commercial enclave at the hands of white rioters.

"As architects, how can we protect the health, safety and welfare of the public if our country is not properly including Black Americans as full members of our society?" Dowdell wrote, adding, "Black Americans and other people of color have been subjected to injustice and inequality for far too long."

Remarking on NOMA's history and role in the architecture profession, Dowdell explained that NOMA was formed "for the purpose of minimizing the effect of racism on our profession." Dowdell, adding that "Today, NOMA must call for more. As an organization, we must BE more," also outlined a new mission statement for the group that was being unveiled in light of the protests after months of development. The group's new mission statement reads: 

NOMA’s mission, rooted in a rich legacy of activism, is to empower our local chapters and membership to foster justice and equity in communities of color through outreach, community advocacy, professional development and design excellence.

The full statement follows: 

The air in our nation is thick with a profound sense of grief and despair. Our collective air is so very thick that it’s literally hard to breathe. We struggle to grasp for air as we all navigate a global pandemic coupled with the deadly and pervasive virus called racism that has plagued America for over four centuries.

As the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), we are calling on our members and our broader professional community to condemn racism and take an active role in eliminating the racial biases that account for a myriad of social, economic, and health disparities, and most importantly, result in the loss of human lives – Black lives. As architects, we are professionally responsible for protecting the health, safety and welfare of the public. The tragic execution of Black Americans at the hands of people infected by racism has plagued our nation for generations.

On this day 99 years ago, the racially motivated burning of Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma claimed the lives of over 300 Black residents who were thriving independently in their own community. Just this week, our nation is grappling with the senseless murder of George Floyd, and all of the countless names of Black men and women who have recently lost their lives as a result of hatred, sparked by the color of their skin.

As architects, how can we protect the health, safety and welfare of the public if our country is not properly including Black Americans as full members of our society? Black Americans and other people of color have been subjected to injustice and inequality for far too long. NOMA was founded in Detroit by twelve Black architects in 1971 on the heels of one of the most racially challenging eras in American history. Born out of the Civil Rights Movement, NOMA was formed for the purpose of minimizing the effect of racism on our profession. Today, NOMA must call for more. As an organization, we must BE more.

Over NOMA’s five decades of existence, we have borne witness to the seemingly endless tragedies perpetrated against Black Americans and people representing other communities of color. After careful consideration, NOMA has determined that this moment is ripe for us to take a far stronger stance. We have been advocating for justice throughout our history and now is the time to clearly articulate what matters to us the most.

Mission

Our existing mission is to champion diversity within the design professions by promoting the excellence, community engagement, and professional development of our members. While these issues remain important to us, we acknowledge that those words feel hollow in times such as this. Unfortunately, these trying times of racial unrest occur too frequently. While the recalibration of our mission has been in the works for quite some time, our national board has voted to enact NOMA’s new mission statement, effective immediately:

NOMA’s mission, rooted in a rich legacy of activism, is to empower our local chapters and membership to foster justice and equity in communities of color through outreach, community advocacy, professional development and design excellence.

To be clear, there is power in words and we did not simply rush to react to the current state of affairs. We have been in the process of adopting a new strategic plan for the past several months. In the near future, we will engage our local chapters to establish a revised set of aims and objectives to support our updated mission. NOMA’s mission had not changed in over a decade, and we are doing so today in order to better equip our members to be the change that we seek to design for our society. We are taking a stand, and we hope that you will stand with us.

With just over half a year left of my two year term as NOMA’s president, I am asking everyone to dig deep and help us battle the circumstances that not only result in racially motivated violence against people of color, but also prevent people of color from entering into and thriving in the profession of architecture. As a professional organization, our primary focus should be on supporting and serving our members. Right now, our members are hurting. This is traumatic. NOMA is here to address this pain in the best ways we know how. Before we can confidently advocate for greater economic opportunities for architects of color, we need to ensure that those very people are first able to breathe.

It so happens that my NOMA presidential platform for 2019-2020 is ALL in for NOMA. ALL is an acronym to promote diverse Access, Leadership and Legacy in the context of the profession of architecture. The other reason for using the word ALL is to signal that this is an effort that we need ALL people to join in. Broadly speaking, we should ALL be struggling to make sense of how our fellow humans are being mistreated. I encourage our White members and allies to take the lead in dismantling racism whenever you see it emerge.

B.R.A.V.E.

We must all leverage our positions of privilege to help our most vulnerable citizens, neighbors and colleagues strive for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I urge you to consider what’s happening right now as an American problem that we must all face together. Can we collectively be ALL in for NOMA? More importantly, can we all be BRAVE, as in committing ourselves to the list of items below for which BRAVE is an acronym?

If we can promote these basic ideas in our firms, our organizations and in our communities, our nation will be better for it. Perhaps then, we can all breathe a little bit easier. Only then, can we target our energy and creativity towards designing a better world for all.

In Solidarity,
Kim

Kimberly Dowdell
2019-2020 NOMA National President

AIA Minnesota

Past AIA Minnesota Presidents, President-Elects, Immediate Past Presidents, and EVP/Executive Director of AIA Minnesota, AIA Minneapolis, AIA St. Paul and AIA Northern Minnesota issued a powerful statementin support of the protests:

We grieve and protest the murder of George Floyd.

We see the soul-deep exhaustion and pain of the Black members of our architecture community and of our broader communities.

And we realize the weight of this hurt is not just because the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer was so inhumane, so merciless – it is because of the ever-evolving and unrelenting racism in daily life; the layers of disrespect, discrimination, and degradation built up over years, decades, generations, and centuries. As a predominantly White profession and organization, and as individuals, we recognize that through our own actions and inactions, through our own lack of care and courage, we have contributed to this exhaustion and pain.

We own our responsibility for doing too little in the past and needing to do so much more in the future to address the systemic inequities that pervade all aspects of life and work in Minnesota, including the practice of architecture.

People matter more than buildings. This must always be so.

We are also saddened by the destruction happening in the cities we love. We know, better than most, that buildings are extensions of people. Buildings are designed – by architects – to serve particular human needs. Buildings are designed – by architects – to protect the health, safety and welfare of those who enter them and those whose neighborhoods they become woven into.

Nearly 300 businesses have been damaged so far, some of them destroyed completely. We know Lake Street. We know University Avenue. They are the connective tissue of the Twin Cities – vital and vibrant in the way “Main Street” is for smaller towns. We know that the areas of West Broadway, Penn Avenue and other affected sites in our neighborhoods include the restaurants, bars, barber shops, convenience stores, grocery stores, nonprofits, health clinics, libraries and cultural centers that are as much a part of our home as our own front steps.

We are angered by the mounting evidence that many of the violent actions and indiscriminate destruction of the past week appear to have been led by White instigators, some from outside our state, whose intentions are to leverage the righteous fury of Minnesotans for the purposes of fueling broader chaos and extremist causes.

Our brokenness is on display to the world. Peaceful and sustained appeals to our shared humanity and our moral compass following the deaths of Philando Castile, Jamar Clark and so many others did not change us enough. If the video showing five excruciating minutes of George Floyd dying and the destruction of the built environment we feel such responsibility for does not change us, what will?

“Architects believe they can change the world.” When this is said, it is often with cynicism. Yet, there is another way to say it: “Architects believe we can change the world.” What comes next in the wake of all that has happened depends upon us shedding our cynicism and lifting up what we already know: that the best of the built environment, the best of any product, system, or community, has always been the result of deep collaboration; and that the more diverse, equitable and inclusive the collaboration, the more creative and lasting the solutions. Instead of architects assuming we know what is right and jumping in to assert our experience, expertise and good intentions, we need to step back, listen and be ready to learn, unlearn, and adapt.

Rebuilding what’s been lost is impossible – and it’s the wrong goal. The buildings, systems, and relationships that existed before came about through design and construction. Before rebuilding, the architecture community must join with others in rethinking, reimagining, and redesigning what’s next. Together, we can change our communities and ourselves for the better. But this will only be true if we reckon with our shared history, if we keep our hearts from hardening, and if we move forward with resolve and humility.

AIA | Los Angeles

The AIA Los Angeles local chapter published the following statement:

We are appalled by and condemn the unjustifiable killing of George Floyd and offer condolences to his family, friends, and community. We condemn all acts of racial violence and injustice, including the recent killings of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many others who have been senselessly torn from our communities. We acknowledge that this violence and injustice has targeted Black Americans more often, and more viciously, than other communities, with roots that go back centuries, to the founding of our country.

We support and offer solidarity to those who are raising their voices against the unjustifiable killing of Black Americans. As architects who believe in the power of public space and free assembly, we decry the growing militarization of the public realm in our cities. We cannot ignore that there are legacies of and present-day inequities in our own profession and related fields, including land-use and lending discrimination and the underrepresentation of Black architects in firms of all sizes. Finally, we concede that statements are easier than action and commit to doing the work of confronting barriers to racial justice and striving to dismantle them.

National Trust for Historic Preservation

The National Trust for Historic Preservation President Paul Edmondson issued two statements over the weekend. The first commented specifically on the death of George Floyd and the resulting protests while also highlighting the National Trust's recent efforts to recenter historical sites pertaining to the histories of African Americans in the United States in the Trust's advocacy and preservation work. 

Edmonson wrote:

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has made a commitment as an institution to ensure that our own work reflects the equal value of every single American in our history and in our culture. A major reflection of that commitment is the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, created by the National Trust in response to the tragic events in Charlottesville in August of 2017.

We believe that historic preservation can play a critical role in acknowledging and healing the divisions in our nation, by telling the full story of our often-difficult history, by elevating and preserving the enormous and important contributions African Americans have made to our nation, and by carrying that powerful legacy forward through places of truth and reconciliation. We also believe that recognizing the dedication of communities of color to the American experiment through the places we work to save—from Rosenwald schools to the home of Madame C.J. Walker—will help to inspire innovation, investment, and faith in our democracy.

A second statement provided commentary on the fact that a former slave quarters building located on the grounds of the Decatur House on Washington, D.C.'s Lafayette Park was tagged with the phrase “Why do we have to keep telling you black lives matter?” during Saturday's protest events. 

In a joint statement crafted with White House Historical Association President Stewart McLaurin, the pair wrote:

“The juxtaposition of history, place, and current events is poignant and powerful, and a new and meaningful chapter of the history of Decatur House was written last night.

“The preservation and interpretation of buildings like this play a critical role in acknowledging and healing the divisions in our nation. This place, where people were held in bondage within view of the White House, has particular meaning in this time.

“The National Trust for Historic Preservation and the White House Historical Association honor this by telling the full story of our history, by elevating and preserving the enormous and important contributions African Americans have made to our nation, and by carrying that powerful legacy forward.

DOCOMOMO US

The DOCOMOMO US organization published a letterin support as well:

At this time of profound sorrow and frustration over the murder of George Floyd, Docomomo US honors the call put forth by the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), "to condemn racism and take an active role in eliminating the racial biases that account for a myriad of social, economic, and health disparities, and most importantly, result in the loss of human lives."

We recognize that we are all part of the structure of American racism, and we re-affirm our ongoing, never-ending commitment to identify, oppose, and eliminate racial inequality and injustice wherever it occurs, including within our own organization. We will encourage our chapters to do the same.

As a very first, humble step, Docomomo US will focus on updating and highlighting our online register to better feature and recognize the important work and contributions of African American and minority modernist architects and designers to our culture, our cities, and our architectural heritage. This is a struggle that we all must take part in; we encourage you to participate in this effort by submitting a minority architect or designer for our website.

American Society of Landscape Architects

American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) President Wendy Miller commented on behalf of that group's members. 

Miller wrote: As landscape architects, we work to ensure that all persons have the right to equitable access to environmental and community benefits in the places they live, work, and learn. Now is the time for us to work to help ensure that these communities have fair and equitable treatment in all aspects of life.

American Planning Association

Giving a bird's eye view of the situation, the Board of Directors of the American Planning Association, wrote: 

The impact of Mr. Floyd's death and other recent grave injustices like it must be viewed in light of the historical trauma inflicted on African American communities, including discrimination wrought by the planning profession itself, which led to structural disadvantages in housing, transportation, education and employment that last to this day.

APA recognizes this reality and is working to center equity in all planning processes in keeping with our mission of creating great communities for all. From our landmark Planning for Equity Policy Guide, to the ethical principles that undergird the professional practice of planning articulated in the AICP Code of Ethics, to the new online public engagement toolkit to ensure that all voices are heard, we're working to help planners and others recognize and eradicate the bad policy decisions of the past.

Editor's Note: Archinect is following the latest developments with regards to the protests' relationship to architecture and the built environment and will update this article as new information becomes available.