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The American Institute of Architects (AIA) have announced that past AIA Diversity Committee Chair and Boston Architectural College President Theodore Landsmark, Assoc. AIA, has been named the 2006 recipient of the Whitney M. Young Jr. Award, given to an individual or architecturally oriented organization exemplifying the profession’s responsibility toward current social issues.

The award honors civil rights leader Whitney M. Young Jr., proponent of social change and head of the Urban League from 1961 until his death in 1971. At the 1968 AIA Annual Convention, Young challenged architects to more actively increase participation in the profession by minorities and women. Landsmark becomes the 35th recipient of the Whitney M. Young Jr. Award, which was established by the AIA in 1972. He will receive the 2006 Whitney M. Young Jr. Award at the AIA 2006 Annual Convention in Los Angeles.

“Whitney Young inspired me as a student civil rights activist to understand that social justice emerges within powerful organizations from a combination of quiet persuasion, building partnerships, and external pressure. He stressed that knowing how organizational cultures work is essential to increasing educational and economic opportunities,” said Landsmark when notified that he had been selected to receive the award. “As a community activist and educator I believe we still have much to do to open our schools and professions to people who've traditionally been excluded and who today constitute the majority of the clients we need to serve. I am deeply honored to be recognized for carrying on Whitney Young's forceful and effective principles for achieving equal opportunities for all.”

Landsmark, who is also President of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), is a strong advocate of diversity within the architecture profession. He was thrust into Boston’s racial turmoil in 1976 when he was trying to walk across City Hall Plaza and was speared by a man wielding an American flag during a demonstration. The attack was captured by a photographer and the image broadcast nationally. Landsmark refuses to let that image define him. “My life has been a lot more interesting than the 20 second moment captured in that picture,” he told the Boston Globe last year.

He has been president of the Boston Architectural College (BAC) since 1997. Founded in 1889, it is the largest architecture school in New England.  The BAC recently received a gift in excess of a million dollars to establish The Robert Houseman and The Richard Kirkham Fund For Diverse High School Students Entering the Design Professions. This fund will be used to support an initiative within Boston Architectural College’s Center Summer Academy that is designed to address the deficiencies and disparities in demographic diversity within the design professions. For Landsmark, this addresses his concern that very few students from underrepresented groups have gone on to become practicing architects because of lack of mentorship. The funds will help “recruit, educate, and encourage young people who might not otherwise have considered careers in architecture or interior design,” Landsmark says. “Our hope is that this kind of gift will encourage similar programs across the country.”

A lack of mentorship is something Landsmark knows about firsthand. He graduated from Yale University in 1973 with degrees in both architecture and law. When faced with the decision of which field to enter, he chose law because he doubted he would be given the mentorship necessary through an architecture internship. During his career, he has focused particularly on architectural law. Thirty-plus years later, he believes that the architectural field has not made great strides toward building a diverse work force. His role since 2002 as the chair of the AIA’s Diversity Committee has allowed him to work with the committee to develop a data collection and analysis system to track diversity gains in the architecture profession and initiate diversity programs among AIA components.

“Our profession, our schools of design, including students and faculty must change to better reflect our nation’s emerging cultural and racial make up,” wrote Charles Redmon, FAIA, recipient of the 1985 AIA Kemper Award, in his letter of support. “I believe Ted’s passion and voice on this matter will greatly affect our ability to fulfill these goals.”

In 2004, the AIA Diversity Committee sponsored a day-long conference that resulted in the publication of a series of essays entitled “20 on 20/20 Vision: Perspectives on Diversity and Design” that called for, as Landsmark emphasized, “substantive actions that can change architecture.” In his introduction to “20/20,” Landsmark wrote: “[The essays] address the need for more consistent tracking data; describe models for recruiting more women, minorities, and professionals with disabilities; and underline the need for better internships and mentoring.”

Landsmark was the keynote speaker last September at The Massachusetts Smart Growth Conference. That same year, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino appointed Landsmark to lead a 16-member task force to collect public opinion on how students should be assigned to public schools, an issue that has been the subject of racial controversy in Boston since court-ordered busing started 30 years ago.
Landsmark wrote in “20/20”, a compilation of essays on the topic of diversity in the profession, “We can do better. With the 35-year-old words of the late Whitney Young still echoing, I thank my peers who are committed to increasing diversity. I implore this profession to become more relevant. He wanted you to begin to speak out as a profession. I want this profession, as it looks forward to 2020, to meet the real needs of the society we serve.”

Recalling Landsmark’s multifaceted career and dedication to inclusiveness and diversity, Professor Kathryn H. Anthony, Ph.D., recipient of the 2003 Institute Honor for Collaborative Achievement wrote: “His personal, academic, and professional background has offered him a unique set of lenses through which to view our architectural profession. Throughout each of his careers, he has addressed key social issues. He has made significant and long-lasting contributions to promoting diversity and to the causes that Whitney Young espoused.”

About The American Institute of Architects
For almost 150 years, members of The American Institute of Architects have worked with each other and their communities to create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings and cityscapes. AIA members have access to the right people, knowledge, and tools to create better design, and through such resources and access, they help clients and communities make their visions real.

AIA Demographic Diversity Final Report

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