In honor of Black History Month we are recognizing Black architects and designers and their work.

Richard Franklin discovered architecture while searching for a merit badge book as a Boy Scout. “[I] saw a pamphlet for an Architecture Merit Badge with a picture of a man who dressed like Lester Young. It was Frank Lloyd Wright. I was 14. That was 1955.”

Mr. Franklin has more than 40 years of experience in the practice of architecture, planning and urban design, construction and construction delivery methods including design build, project management, construction administration and business management. Prior to FAAP and SRW, Richard was Associate Partner at Davis Brody Bond, LLP and was Vice President of STV’s Aviation/Transportation Architecture (ATA) Division. Prior to STV he served as Managing Principal for Davis Brody Bond, LLP after leaving his positions as the Assistant Chief Architect for the Architecture Unit of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ).

One of Richard’s proudest professional accomplishments is working with Davis Brody Bond, serving as Executive Project Manager – Construction Administration, on the WTC 9/11 Memorial & Museum in NYC.

Excerpts and photos from @beyondthebuilt interview.

#BlackHistoryMonth #BHM #Architecture #Design #ConstructionAdministration #ArchitecturalPlanning #UrbanDesign #ProjectManagement ...

In honor of Black History month we are recognizing Black architects and designers and their work.

Dina A. Griffin, FAIA, NOMA, IIDA, became president of Interactive Design Architects (IDEA) in 1999. The firm has partnered with internationally renowned firms including Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, HOK and Renzo Piano Building Workshop. In 2016, IDEA was awarded The African American Cultural Center project at Dina’s alma mater, the University of Illinois. That same year, IDEA was selected to join the team of Tod Williams|Billie Tsien Architects to design the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.

Dina became interested in architecture in high school when she learned architectural drafting as part of an industrial education class. She chose architecture as her major in college. "I started off at Western Illinois University where a professor of engineering basically told me that I had no chance of transferring to the University of Illinois, no chance to major in architecture and no chance to become an architect. Of course, that fueled me. In this environment, I was the only person of color and the only woman. I proved him wrong."

Read more about Dina Griffin at @nomanational

project image: The African American Cultural Center (AACC) at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign campus

#BlackHistoryMonth #BHM #Architecture #InteriorDesign #Design #IDEA ...

In honor of Black History Month we are recognizing Black architects and designers and their work.

@aphrochic began in 2007 – the brainchild of husband-and-wife team Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason. The brand started as a blog before quickly expanding into creative fields such as interior design, product design, fashion, and content creation. The couple has recently launched AphroChic Magazine, bringing all of their talents together in a single platform.

Jeanine and Bryan are experts in creating experiences and telling stories through social media and video, and connecting brands to a wide audience, particularly the African American community.

AphroChic has worked with a number of Fortune 500 companies including LOWE’s, The Home Depot, and IKEA. The brand has also been featured in print and online in numerous publications including, The New York Times, Architectural Digest, Elle Decor and New York Magazine, which celebrated AphroChic as one of the top interior design firms in New York City.

Photo credit Patrick Cline


#aphrochic #AphroChicMag #BlackHistoryMonth #BHM #Architecture #Design #interiordesign #interiordecor #interiordesign #designlife #interiors #shareblackstories ...

In honor of Black History month we are recognizing Black architects and designers and their work.

Moses McKissack III and his brother Calvin became the first and second African-American registered architects in the state of Tennessee, and the southeast, in 1922. They founded the first U.S. Black-owned architecture firm, McKissack & McKissack. It is the oldest African American-owned architecture and engineering firm in the country.

In 1990, as an outgrowth of the Nashville firm, Deryl McKissack, PE started her own company @McKissackMcKissack Washington, DC. She is the fifth generation of her family to carry on the building tradition.

The firm continues to be renowned for its architecture, interior design, programming, and construction management work. Notable projects include the new Museum of African-American History and Culture, MGM National Harbor Casino, Navy Pier Centennial Projects in Chicago and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, DC.

Read more about the company’s history by watching their Highlight – “Our Story”.

#BlackHistoryMonth #Architecture #Design #McKissack ...