The Notion of the Future of a Racist Architect…

This is a shorter reflection, but a critical thought for current architectural practice.

This evening, I had the opportunity to listen to a lecture by Burt Pinnock entitled “see…be seen” as part of a series of lectures entitled “By Whom? For Whom?” presented by the School of Architecture+Design at Virginia Tech. I tried to come to the start of this series with all political ideas set aside (which I have come to recognize is actually a political act in and of itself), and because of that felt I was able to soak up new thoughts and ideas that I hadn’t considered before.

What spoke to me in this particular lecture was the sincerity with which Burt spoke, showing the truth and deliberate nature of his work. He consistently emphasized that he was speaking “from his lane” as a black man. In the current sociopolitical environment, I thought that this presentation was essential. Since the vast majority of our professors in the school of architecture are white we don’t often get a different perspective on the way architecture profession, and the built environment relates to different persons and lived experiences, and how what we do can affect others positively or negatively. Until now, the perspective that he gave was one that I did not even realize I lacked… naïveté on my part. So to hear someone speak in this way, without heightened emotion or an attempt to persuade politically, on their experience of and in the world of architecture really was inspirational.

Aside from the projects that Burt presented, including the Slave Trail by Baskervill in Richmond, VA, there was one thing in particular that stood out to me. He stated that, just as the black community has redefined the n-word, architects can redefine the term racist:

I don’t really have a reflection or words to respond to that, I think his words speak for themselves, but this is a critical idea to be explored.

I’ll leave it with a quote he provided from Maya Angelou, which I had not previously heard: