Yet he had not noticed that the young man had been late for two years. She married again in 1950, to Benjamin Fairweather, with whom she had another son, David Merrick Fairweather (The New York Age, June 17, 1950, 7). She was lovingly known as the “Rosa Parks of Architecture”. She was eventually hired by the twentieth architecture firm she applied to - Skidmore, Owings and Merrill - in 1955, where she stayed for five years.

She joined the Jerde Partnership as principal of project management.

Norma Merrick Sklarek collaborated with design architects to transform building ideas from paper to architectural realities. Eventually, she took a job at the New York Department of Public Works, but felt her true skills were being underused. “In architecture, I had absolutely no role model. Nevertheless, her formidable technical skills and rigorous work ethic made her a brilliant project manager and propelled her ascension to a top position in the firm. Board member Anthony Costello called Sklarek the “Rosa Parks of Architecture.”, Courtesy of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Meet Norma Merrick Sklarek: The First Licensed African-American Female Architect. She strived to make things better, whether it was through her designs or in her relationships with others in her industry. [3] As a result, she graduated five years later with her degree in architecture as the only African American woman.[1][3][4]. Keep everything from your countertops to your dining room chairs germ-free. In 1985, she made history once again when she and fellow architects Margot Siegel and Katherine Diamond launched one of the largest female-owned architectural firms in the country, and she became the first black woman to start an architectural firm. This week we wanted to honor the work of the late, great Norma Sklarek.

She collaborated with design architects, then took their vision and made them a reality.

Sklarek went on to study at Columbia University, graduating with a degree in architecture in 1950; she was the first African American woman to do so, and one of only two women in her graduating class. Norma Sklarek, Gruen Associates, California Mart, Los Angeles, 1963.

Its a travel magazine of sorts.. Out now. AIA Young Architects Forum, interview with Norma Sklarek, FAIA. “They weren’t hiring women or African Americans, and I didn’t know which it was [working against me],” she told a local newspaper in 2004. She stayed at Gruen for twenty years, during which time she married her third husband, Rolf Sklarek, an associate at Gruen, who died in 1984.1919Ibid. “It took only one week before the boss came and spoke to me about being late. In 1947, she married Dumas Flagg Ransom, a law student at Wagner College, with whom she had a son, Gregory Merrick Ransom (. Sklarek worked at Jon Jerde until retirement in 1992. Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, "Norma Merrick Sklarek – First Black Woman to Become a US Architect", "Legacy: A Pioneering African-American Architect", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norma_Merrick_Sklarek&oldid=979147638, Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation alumni, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, 1980 – American Institute of Architects Fellow (first Black woman), 1985 – First Black woman to establish and manage an architectural firm, 1987 – Association of Black Women Entrepreneurs Outstanding Business Role Model Award, 1990 – Honorary Member of the Delta Sigma sorority, 2007 – Honored by the California State Legislature, 2007 – Honored by Goodwill Board of Governors for work on behalf of the disabled, 2007 – Honored by National Organization of Minority Architects, 2008 – Whitney Young Jr. Award Service Award for Social Action at the AIA National Convention in Boston, 1963–65 – San Bernardino City Hall, San Bernardino, California, This page was last edited on 19 September 2020, at 02:30.

All can be made in 45 minutes or less. She eventually became the firm's, yes, first female director. Color can make or break the ambience of a space. “They weren’t hiring women or African Americans, and I didn’t know which it was [working against me],” she told a local newspaper in 2004.44Quoted in Norma Merrick Sklarek obituary, “Pioneering African American Architect Was 85,” Los Angeles Times, February 10, 2012. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/10/local/la-me-norma-sklarek-20120210 She took a civil service job as a junior draftsperson in the City of New York’s Department of Public Works.55“Norma Sklarek: Visionary Videos: NVLP: African American History.” Interview. [1][5][3] As a single parent in the start of her career, her mother took the role of watching the children so she can begin her new profession.

She graduated from Columbia in 1950 with a B.Arch., one of two women and the only African American in her class. Docomomo US relies on your donations to raise awareness of modern design and advocate for threatened sites.
By her account, architecture school was difficult; many of her classmates were veterans of World War II, some had bachelor’s or master’s degrees, and they collaborated on assignments, whereas she commuted to school and struggled to finish her work on the subway or at home alone.

She took budding female and minority architects under her wing, providing guidance and counsel.

Axonometric drawing of two houses showing underground tunnels from Austin, Suspended Vanity 329-1, 1960–73, and 62 Ottoman, Kodak factory, São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil, 1971, Alfred and Jane West Clauss, Clauss Residence II (Redwood House), Little Switzerland, Knoxville, Tenn., 1943, Desert View Watchtower, Grand Canyon, 1933, Pepsi-Cola Headquarters, 1960, New York City, Living room in the Eames House, Pacific Palisades, California, 1958. You didn’t trot that person out in front of your clients and say, ‘This is the person designing your project.’”1717Norma Merrick Sklarek obituary, Los Angeles Times, February 10, 2012. Ms. Sklarek was the underlying inspiration that would eventually lead to my frustrations which birthed All Black Everything.


Sklarek, Norma Merrick, American, 1926 - 2012 Date 1993 Medium ink on paper Dimensions H x W: 9 5/16 × 3 1/2 in. Jeff Bailey, “Legacy: Norma Merrick Sklarek, 1926 to 2012.” Accessed August 19, 2013. http://aboutusa.japan.usembassy.gov/j/jusaj-usj-embassy-ref.html#21. Born and schooled in New York City, she was most successful after moving to California at age 35. “Designing Women, Siegel, Sklarek and Diamond Are Bridging the Architectural Gender Gap.”, “First Black Female Architect Dies at Age 85.”, Murdock, James. A classic craft gets an appealing update with customizable projects in fresh designs.

Eleanor Raymond's "Rachael Raymond House", Belmont, Mass. Sklarek was the only black woman at the firm, but despite the scrutiny she felt at first, this is where she really began to make a name for herself in the world of architecture. Norma Sklarek, Jerde Partnership, Mall of America, Minneapolis, 1992.

Sklarek went on to join JERDE Partnership in 1989, taught at University of California at Los Angeles and served as director for the University of Southern California Architects Guild, all before retiring in 1992. The glass portion in the foreground is a later addition. Memo: Newsletter of the American Institute of Architects (May 1988): 7. [1][3] Within a year of attaining her license, she was hired at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill which exceeded her expectations in being hands on and testing her skill-set.

She passed away that year at the age of 85, with so many beautiful buildings, as well as the Howard University Norma Merrick Sklarek Architectural Scholarship Award, living on in her honor. Photo via architectsjournal.co.uk] In 1989 she joined the Jon Jerde Partnership as a principal, and her most notable project during this period was the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. [4] The Terminal One station was built along with the Tom Bradley International Terminal so people can travel oversees especially before attending the summer Olympics from July-August. She served on many professional boards and committees, including the California State Board of Architectural Examiners, the AIA National Ethics Council, and as a juror for the National Council of Architecture Registration Boards (NCARB).2525Black, “Sklarek, Norma Merrick.” She was director of the University of Southern California Architects Guild and a director of the Los Angeles American Institute of Architects. The $50-million station was constructed nearly two decades later to increase capacity. She was responsible for the building of landmark projects like the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, the Pacific Design Center and Terminal 1 at Los Angeles International Airport, to name a few. She grew up in Harlem and Brooklyn, and attended predominately white schools, including Hunter College High School, a selective public school for girls, where she excelled in math and science and showed talent in the fine arts. Sklarek rose to the position of Gruen’s director of architecture, responsible for hiring and overseeing staff architects and coordinating technical aspects of major projects, including the California Mart, Fox Plaza, Pacific Design Center, San Bernardino City Hall, and the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.