Designing for Diversity: Gender, Race, and Ethnicity in the Architectural Profession [Hardcover]

Kathryn H. Anthony (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 11, 2001

Providing hard data for trends that many perceive only vaguely and some deny altogether, "Designing for Diversity" reveals a profession rife with gender and racial discrimination and examines the aspects of architectural practice that hinder or support the full participation of women and persons of color. Drawing on interviews and surveys of hundreds of architects, Kathryn H. Anthony outlines some of the forms of discrimination that recur most frequently in architecture: being offered added responsibility without a commensurate rise in position, salary, or credit; not being allowed to engage in client contact, field experience, or construction supervision; and being confined to certain kinds of positions, typically interior design for women, government work for African Americans, and computer-aided design for Asian American architects. Anthony discusses the profession's attitude toward flexible schedules, part-time contracts, and the demands of family and identifies strategies that have helped under-represented individuals advance in the profession, especially establishing a strong relationship with a mentor. She also observes a strong tendency for under-represented architects to leave mainstream practice, either establishing their own firms, going into government or corporate work, or abandoning the field altogether. Given the traditional mismatch between diverse consumers and predominantly white male producers of the built environment, plus the shifting population balance toward communities of color, Anthony contends that the architectural profession staves off true diversity at its own peril. "Designing for Diversity" argues convincingly that improving the climate for non-traditional architects will do much to strengthen architecture as a profession. Practicing architects, managers of firms, and educators will learn how to create conditions more welcoming to a diversity of users as well as designers of the built environment.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Ground-breaking... Deserves a place on the bookshelves, bedsides and desks of all educators, managers, [and] design principals... Anthony is an unrepentant idealist, calling for nothing short of a 'transformation' of the culture of architecture; what she offers her readers are the tools by which ... to begin the process." -- Alice T. Friedman, The Women's Review of Books "Anthony offers a comprehensive, hard-hitting study of problems that women and minorities face as architects in the US. She surveyed and interviewed some 400 architects and outlines various problems and discrimination against women and minorities, including lower salaries and more responsibility without a rise in position; being kept from contact with clients, field experiences, or construction supervision; and being confined to certain aspects of architecture." -- Choice "This book is more than a ... wake-up call. In a mundane, nuts-and-bolts sense, it provides a solid bibliography for further research on the contributions made by women and people of color to twentieth-century architecture... The author's work articulates the human cost of professional discrimination." -- Ludmilla Pavlova, Multicultural Review ADVANCE PRAISE "Kathryn Anthony is one of architecture's leading voices of conscience. Authoritative and authentic, disturbing yet hopeful, Designing for Diversity brilliantly exposes and analyzes the profession's perennial struggles with diversity. There is no more important reading for anyone interested in the future of architecture education and practice." -- Lee D. Mitgang, coauthor of Building Community: A New Future for Architecture Education and Practice "Kathryn Anthony gives an insider's view of some not-readily-visible aspects of the architectural profession. She reports on groups we may not have noticed, work we have not seen, voices we rarely hear, and experiences not all of us have had... Some harsh appraisals depict conditions we wish did not exist in our profession, but they suggest how architecture can be made more responsive than it now is to a broadening world. If the future of architecture includes diverse people joined in a shared endeavor, their diversity will increase the scope of our work and add further layers of meaning, involvement, artistry--and fun--to our lives." -- Denise Scott Brown, senior partner, Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates "Anthony makes a pioneering contribution to the field by effectively arguing beyond the moral high ground that discrimination in the architectural classroom and workplace is abusive, illegal, and intolerable. She convincingly shows how the lack of diversity injures the entire profession and provides strategies for change. Once read, there should be no excuses left for maintaining the status quo." -- Leslie Kanes Weisman, author of Discrimination by Design: A Feminist Critique of the Man-Made Environment

From the Inside Flap

"Kathryn Anthony is one of architecture's leading voices of conscience. Authoritative and authentic, disturbing yet hopeful, Designing for Diversity brilliantly exposes and analyzes the profession's perennial struggles with diversity. There is no more important reading for anyone interested in the future of architecture education and practice." -- Lee D. Mitgang, coauthor of Building Community: A New Future for Architecture Education and Practice

"Kathryn Anthony gives an insider's view of some not-readily-visible aspects of the architectural profession. She reports on groups we may not have noticed, work we have not seen, voices we rarely hear, and experiences not all of us have had. . . . . Some harsh appraisals depict conditions we wish did not exist in our profession, but they suggest how architecture can be made more responsive than it now is to a broadening world. If the future of architecture includes diverse people joined in a shared endeavor, their diversity will increase the scope of our work and add further layers of meaning, involvement, artistry--and fun--to our lives." -- Denise Scott Brown, senior partner, Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates

"Anthony makes a pioneering contribution to the field by effectively arguing beyond the moral high ground that discrimination in the architectural classroom and workplace is abusive, illegal, and intolerable. She convincingly shows how the lack of diversity injures the entire profession and provides strategies for change. Once read, there should be no excuses left for maintaining the status quo." -- Leslie Kanes Weisman, author of Discrimination by Design: A Feminist Critique of the Man-Made Environment

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press (June 11, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252026411
• ISBN-13: 978-0252026416
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,340,263 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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