Black & African American Women Architects of Today

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Black women make up .5% of current licensed architects in the United States - that’s just 500 licensed architects, a new record set in October 2020. As a highly under-represented demographic in our industry, we miss out on opportunities to see architecture and design from this perspective, and we want to remedy that. In honor of Black History Month, we are sharing with you stories a few of the Black & African American women making their mark on the built environment today.

Sharon E. Sutton Giving the Welcome Speech at the University of Washington Convocation in 2015 | Image Source: UW - College of Built Environments

Sharon E. Sutton Giving the Welcome Speech at the University of Washington Convocation in 2015 | Image Source: UW - College of Built Environments

A hometown hero, Sharon Egretta Sutton, FAIA is someone we can all be inspired by. Growing up through the civil rights movement, she wanted to pursue her dream of becoming a classical musician. She followed her heart, and after attending a college preparatory high school in Cincinnati, she moved to New York City to pursue a career playing the French horn. Despite being told repeatedly that someone like her— a young Black woman and first generation musician— couldn’t become a classical musician, Sharon did it anyway, continuing to work in the music industry until she discovered architecture as a career at the age of 25, turning her interior design hobby (she renovated a Brownstone she was renting) into a profession.

Sutton initially began her built environment studies at Parsons School of Design Department of Interior Design and later transferred to Columbia University where she received her Masters of Architecture. She went on to become the 12th Black woman registered architect in the United States.

In the following decade, Sutton received three more advanced degrees: a Masters in Psychology from Hunter College in 1981, then a Masters in Philosophy and a PhD in Psychology from the City University of New York in 1982. She pursued psychology because she believed understanding people was the key to understanding how to design spaces for them.

“At Columbia, we would say ‘Oh, we need to design for the people,’ and then I went to my first job and oh, I didn’t know how to design for the people. So I got a PhD in psychology and that took me another step toward a social justice agenda.”

Her interdisciplinary studies ultimately led her to become an educator for over 45 years, giving back what she calls “a tremendous gift” in an interview with Parlour (a recommended read to learn more extensively about this fascinating woman’s life). Sutton held several assistant professor roles at Pratt Institute, Columbia University, University of Cincinnati, and University of Michigan, where she later became the first Black woman with a full professorship in our nation’s history. She has also taught at The Ohio State University, University of Colorado, Parsons School of Design, and most notably for those of us in Seattle, at the University of Washington from 1998-2016, and is now Professor Emerita. With a curriculum vitae that’s an impressive 43 pages long, there is always something more to learn about - and from - Sharon E. Sutton.

Kathryn T. Prigmore | Image Source: byGeorge Blog

Kathryn T. Prigmore | Image Source: byGeorge Blog

Prigmore won HDR’s pathfinder Award of Excellence for Leadership in her role as Project Manager for the Pentagon Project | Image Source: DHR - Virginia Department of Historic Resources

Prigmore won HDR’s pathfinder Award of Excellence for Leadership in her role as Project Manager for the Pentagon Project | Image Source: DHR - Virginia Department of Historic Resources

Kathryn T. Prigmore, FAIA, NOMAC, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C, CDT, is well known for being an educator, teaching for 13 years and serving as Assistant Dean for eight at Howard University’s School of Architecture, as well as providing design, technical oversight, and project management for a wide range of award-winning projects. Early on in her career, Kathryn worked on projects like The Carlyle Group Headquarters in Washington DC, and since her time as an educator at Howard, she has jumped back into practicing architecture, specializing in designing technical buildings for the Federal Government. Prigmore has worked on many projects tied to sensitive and classified defense and federal missions, including the Pentagon, for which she won a leadership award as Project Manager, as well as other Homeland Security buildings.

Kathryn is also known for being the 14th Black woman licensed architect in the US, a title that surprised her when she saw herself in an issue of Ebony in 1985. In a byGeorge blog feature, she says:

“I didn’t go to a historically Black college — so I wasn’t aware of the lack of diversity in the profession. I just went to school to be an architect.”

In 2005 there were only 175 African American women architects, but Prigmore was determined to change that. Kathryn co-founded the organization, Riding the Vortex: African-American Women Architects in Practice. Vortex is a mentorship program that provides inspiration and speaking opportunities, and has played a large part in the growth of licensed Black women architects, reaching 500 last fall.

Katherine Williams | Image Source: AIA Virginia - Featured Members

Katherine Williams | Image Source: AIA Virginia - Featured Members

San Francisco Housing Development Corporation - Katherine Williams was the Assistant Project Manager on the project | Image Source: Katherine Williams

San Francisco Housing Development Corporation - Katherine Williams was the Assistant Project Manager on the project | Image Source: Katherine Williams

Katherine Williams, NOMA, AIA, LEED AP, has made it her mission to increase the number of Black women architects through the revival of the organization, Black Women in Architecture Network (BWA-Network), resource for Black women architects, those who aspire to be architects, and women in other design, planning, and allied professions to meet, collaborate, and support one another. Katherine is a licensed architect in Northern Virginia, emphasizing on the importance of community. She knew at a young age that she was meant to be an architect, despite the skepticism of others. She graduated from Howard University and worked in firms in Virginia before moving to the West Coast to become a Rose Architectural Fellow and took a role as a Project Manager for the San Francisco Housing Development Corporation.

“I did not meet a black woman working in the architecture profession until I went to college.”

What makes Williams unique is that she is also a developer, owner of the real estate firm called Fifth Generation Holdings. Inheriting land passed down five generations in Chesterfield, Virginia, she is developing affordable homes for local families on a six-acre suburban lot. The inspiration and drive for this stemmed from Williams’ lived experience: she wanted to build something that her mother needed when she was growing up. Through this development process, Williams began working with a community group in Baltimore where she has applied her architecture expertise to support the nonprofit’s process. Katherine suggests that other architects volunteer with community groups to engage with the individuals and families in the communities they are designing for.