Architects from the Diaspora - exhibit to celebrate American architects of African descent

"Are there any black architects in London?"

"We didn't know there were any black architects in America!"

If we haven't made these statements ourselves, we've heard them uttered. Curator Carolyn Armenta Davis began planning her response to these statements even before they hit her ears.

The first exhibition to focus on the achievements of architects of African descent opened this year--first stop, the Chicago Athenaeum. "Design Diaspora: Black Architects and International Architecture, 1970-1990," curated by Davis, examines 100 projects designed by 50 architects of African descent from 11 countries in Africa, the Americas and Europe. It is one of seven traveling exhibitions made possible by grants from the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Touring Exhibition Program Fund.

"Design Diaspora" uses a variety of media--models, photographs, plans, drawings and renderings--to look at a broad range of designs from around the world--a transportation station in Boston; housing projects in Brazil, Japan and Philadelphia; a medical facility in Suriname; commercial headquarters in Senegal and Toronto; a community center in Wichita. "The designs range from the complicated and cutting edge to a simple urban cottage or a housing restoration," Davis explains. "The extent of the work is clearly a good byproduct of the civil rights movement. We are indeed building and designing our communities as well as contributing to the larger community." Davis also readily affirms the exhibition's importance: "Architecture as a profession has always been rather elitist, and since there aren't many black architects, this exhibition can only be measured by the quality of the works."

The exhibition runs through August 20 at the Athenaeum and will travel to eight additional locations over the next four years.

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