Perkins&Will and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) today released best practices for creating and implementing comprehensive diversity programs for U.S. firms. In a white paper entitled “Creating a Culture of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Your Architectural Practice,” authors Gabrielle Bullock, FAIA and Bill Schmalz, FAIA maintain that architecture firms must rigorously uphold J.E.D.I. principles to remain relevant to clients, attractive to talent, and competitive in an increasingly diverse world.
“Our industry and society are facing an unprecedented convergence of crises. Economic, health, environmental, social, and racial justice challenges have presented us not just with an opportunity, but also a responsibility, to address them,” says Bullock, who has served as director of global diversity at Perkins&Will since 2013. “We can elevate the industry by challenging the status quo and reimagining the future by looking through the J.E.D.I. lens.”
The authors outline seven easy-to-understand steps, such as articulating a vision, identifying a leader, establishing a network of partners, and developing tools to effect positive change at both the educational and professional levels. If followed, the steps promise to help firms of any size make measurable progress toward social and cultural competency.
“The profession is long overdue in addressing these topics,” says Schmalz, a member of the Perkins&Will LGBTQ+ affinity group in Los Angeles. “We are hoping this paper gives firms a process and the tools they can use to achieve success in creating a culture of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.”
In addition to outlining best practices, the white paper calls for the urgent establishment of J.E.D.I. programs within every U.S. firm. The reasons, the authors argue, are clear: First, demographics in the U.S. are changing—and rapidly: Today’s professional workforce is made up of more people of color, more women, and more openly LGBTQ+ people than ever before. Second, clients seeking architectural services are increasingly diverse and, consequently, more likely to hire teams who look like and identify with them; a firm’s failure to reflect the diversity of its clients is a failure to meet its clients’ needs. And third, architects have an imperative, as social visionaries, to use the power of design for the greater human good.
“Human society is complex, multicolored, and multicultural. Architecture firms must reflect this truism, authentically, in everything they do,” says Bullock. “Not only does their future success depend on it; the future health and well-being of entire generations depend on it, too.”
Click here to read and download the white paper.
Related Stories
Architects | Nov 11, 2016
Six finalists selected for London’s Illuminated River competition
The competition is searching for the best design for lighting the bridges of central London.
Healthcare Facilities | Nov 10, 2016
Prescription for success: Managing technology in the design of healthcare facilities
While the benefits of intelligently deployed technology are abundantly clear to both designers and healthcare end-users, it’s no simple task to manage the integration of technology into a building program.
Industry Research | Nov 4, 2016
New survey exposes achievement gap between men and women designers
Female architects still feel disadvantaged when it comes to career advancement.
Architects | Nov 2, 2016
NCARB launches ARE 5.0
The newest version of the exam required for an architecture license, ARE 5.0, launched on Nov. 1.
Architects | Oct 24, 2016
Winners of the 2016 AAP American Architecture Prize announced
The AAP recognizes the most outstanding architecture worldwide across three disciplines: architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture.
Architects | Oct 21, 2016
A process of analysis and synthesis gives architects and designers the information they need to create
Sometimes people look only for the simple answer and don’t understand that there is a calculated process to get there, writes HDR’s Lynn Mignola.
Architects | Oct 21, 2016
The AIA Innovation Award Recipients have been selected
The program honors projects that highlight collaboration between design and construction teams to create better process efficiencies and overall costs savings.
Architects | Oct 21, 2016
NASA Orbit Pavilion to debut at The Huntington Library at the end of October
The pavilion uses sound to represent the movement of the International Space Station and 19 earth satellites.
Higher Education | Oct 20, 2016
Designing innovative campuses for tomorrow's students
Planning for places that foster effective innovation is still an emerging process, but the constant pressure on universities to do so continues from two of their key institutional constituencies—students and employers, writes Perkins+Will's Ken Higa and Josh Vel.
Data Centers | Oct 14, 2016
Where data centers meet design
As technology continues to evolve, we have to simultaneously adapt and help our clients think beyond the short term, writes Gensler's Martin Gollwitzer.