Architect and educator Peter Exley, FAIA was inaugurated as the American Institute of Architects' 97th president yesterday.
Exley is the co-founder and director of Chicago-based architecture, design, and consulting firm, Architecture Is Fun, Inc., which won the AIA Chicago Firm of the Year award in 2017.
A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (Master of Architecture) and Newcastle University (Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies), Exley has been an adjunct professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) for more than two decades.
Within the institute, Exley has served as the at-large-director on the AIA Board; chair of the AIA’s Public Outreach Committee; 2013 president of AIA Chicago; Illinois regional representative to the Strategic Council; and liaison to the AIA’s Young Architects Forum.
"While I’m not naïve to the challenges our profession, industry, and society have been dealt in the face of the pandemic, I would like my tenure in 2021 to facilitate hope," Exley said in a statement. "Architects have a critical role to play in helping our society create a healthy and prosperous world that promotes racial justice and moves the needle on climate action. I am optimistic about the difference architects can make with our colleagues in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry to address the issues of our time."
Learn more about Exley's path to AIA President in this August 2020 video interview with Engineering ArchiTECHure below.
39 Comments
"I checked our employee manual, we have a section on diversity, box checked." - Fun Architect at an AIA Conference.
#pass
was this an actual statement he made?
Yes, I was in the room, and after he made the statement I spoke to Rosa Sheng about this comment.
I'm sure you're not this simple IRL, but in case you are, allow me. The question he was asked, wasn't whether, or not he had a "chapter in his employee manual" it was about what he intended to do, as an At-large member of the board, about diversity in the profession. His response was demeaning, dismissive, condescending and racist. He did not meet the moment. His flippant comment is disqualifying.
Rosa is awesome. Needs to be said.
That is a pretty disappointing comment!
Was that the only thing he said about it? Peter is a pretty awkward dude and though inappropriate, I could see him saying this sarcastically as a joke (again, inapprops) then moving on to actually discussing the issue in a serious way.
Nope, that was the extent of his comment. If he said that this year, man. I fault myself a bit, I should've stepped up and said, wait a minute, what do you mean by that comment? I dropped the ball. Sometimes things are said, and you're taken aback by it, but yeah, I messed up.
You probably shouldn't internalize someone else's stupid comment like that! I'm sure there were lots of other people who could have spoken up present.
Yeah, and we all "get" it, but that he didn't go on to discuss the issue in a substantiative way is... depressing.
Normally I would be stunned by the idiocy, but given it comes from someone not to well versed in the actual practice of Architecture, I'm not. The fact that their website only displays the names of the principal members of the firm, is not new, and is not indicative of others that may be subject to an "employee manual".
Which room would that be, you fucking dope? It's fairly clear that not only are you out of your element, and completely lacking in skills as an architect, but you're fairly diminished in your own ability to see your failure in reading past page one of an employee manual. Get back to pounding your head into walls of your own construction. Hack.
Sad.
.
i love the head-shots of these cartoon characters they find to run places like the aia, ncarb, etc.
Why is this hidden?
Good choice as he's quite the mentor in his hometown and almost universally respected.
For being the "fun" architect that has no problem minimizing diversity efforts in the profession.
I would like to know more - was there a specific incident or comment made?
speaking as a local, who has worked with him, I would say that the "respect" is not universal. maybe "liked" by other white guys....
plus he teaches at the School of the Art Institute -- where the MArch program is a joke
I agree with him that architecture is fun. I'm not sure how his election will make the AIA relevant to the average American or will improve the built and by extension natural environment, but I wish him well. Cheers!
The only “Diversity effort” worth anything is making architecture Itself more diverse in the built environment so that it’s not some anomaly that one visits to take Instagram selfies in front of. It needs to be something for the masses and infused into the everyday. Until then, 90% of the country will not have the exposure to “good design” that sparks an early age interest. There is a reason (other than mediocre pay) why diversity is not as lacking in other professions, like medicine, law, etc.
And of course we'll read some overly simplistic discourse as to why medicine and law have more diversity.
I can confirm that many minority parents in my network who want their kids to build wealth feel that way.
Why is this hidden?
nice try
Oh goodie. Another old straight cis white dude! Can’t wait to see how this one shakes things up
architecture currently appears to be the most self-hating, woke profession. the mob is eager to present heresy out of context as evidence of incorrect thoughts -- when they sound more like a critique of shallow diversity box checking.
You obviously have firsthand and exhaustive knowledge of every profession. That's why this statement smacks of absolute truth and not of wishful, simple-minded ranting.
Because we should judge people based on gender and skin color! Exemption: people originating from continents other than Europe, and people with ovaries.
I stand by my comments. He said what he said, I've discussed this on the podcast.
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