Architecture intersects nearly every facet of life. Many times, an architect’s drawing board is where the places we live, eat, meet and worship first take shape. When we want to build commemorative projects like the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, we call an architect. When universities seek the right balance between form and function in new academic halls, an architect is called. Though the architectural needs of society are highly diverse, the pool of available architects is anything but.
2004 statistics from the American Institute of Architects — the profession’s leading membership association — indicate that just 7 percent of its licensed or registered members are underrepresented minorities. Only 12 percent are women. As Blacks and Hispanics each make up about 13 percent of the overall population and women comprise roughly half of the population, this gaping disparity has prompted widespread calls for change.
Though fields such as law and medicine have become increasingly inclusive, architecture remains “a profession dominated by White males, whereas many other professions have overcome that. Architecture seems to be slow in overcoming that,” says University of Maryland architecture professor Gary A. Bowden. “Part of that, I think, goes back to the fact that architecture traditionally has been such as patronage kind of relationship between a rich architect and his rich clientele.” That historical relationship, he says, creates and maintains a closed circle of architects from privileged social classes, and “minorities tend to be left out.”
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Diversity in the Architecture Profession |
| 83%: White male |
| 12%: Women |
| 3%: Asian |
| 2%: Hispanic |
| 1%: American Indian |
| 1%: Black Source: American Institute of Architects, 2004 |
