Building Their Destiny: These Black Women Are Charting A Path In Design And Architecture

Within the $17.5 billion industry, a mere 2.3% of interior designers in the U.S. identify as Black or African American.

By Jasmine Browley · Updated May 14, 2022

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Black female architects are a rarity.

Archinect reported that less than 1% of licensed US architects are Black women. Additionally, within the $17.5 billion industry, a mere 2.3% of interior designers in the U.S. identify as Black or African American.

During an interview in February 2019, Tiffany Brown of 400 Forward told Essence Magazine she was “on track to becoming one of 452 licensed Black women architects in the United States.” The following year, it was announced that the milestone finally reached 500.

Although that’s a significant step forward, it’s still disparate. Despite the stark numbers though, Black-led design firms are seeing an uptick than in previous years. Here are the women who are breaking through in the architectural and design space that you should know.

Malene Barnett

As the founder of Black Artists + Designers Guild (BADG), Malene Barnett said she aimed to foster a space for Black creatives “seeking community, collaboration, and creative support.” According to her bio, she is interested in finding ways to define the black narrative while raising awareness about racial inequality in America. Her artistic practice is inseparable from her work as an activist. Through her sculptural ceramic tiles and vessels, mixed media paintings and handwoven rugs, she shares her African heritage with a global audience. She has been featured in publications like New York Magazine and Elle Decor, and has been invited to speak by MSNBC and TEDx. Malene’s clients include Marriott, Viacom, Saks, WeWork, Avalon Communities, and the MetLife Building.

Hannah Beachler

The Academy Award-winning production designer said she knew she had a connection to aesthetics from an early age. The daughter of an architect and interior decorator, she said the design was a huge part of her life on a day-to-day basis. Now, she’s pouring her talent into movie productions like Fruitvale Station, Moonlight, Creed, and Black Panther to life and Beyoncé’s LEMONADE and JAY-Z and Beyoncé’s OTR II Interludes.

Mariam Kamara

When she established design firm Atelier Masōmī in 2014, she said it was guided by sustainability, and encouraging progressive community-minded projects with ecological solutions. “One can sometimes feel invisible and isolated when producing architecture from a base like ours, in Niamey, as opposed to being somewhere in the West,” she said in an interview with the Architectural Digest. She said that her mission is to provide people with a better quality of life through the spaces that she designs. “I believe that architecture can be a tool for social, environmental, political, and economic change,” she said. “I always try to ensure that our projects can contribute to all, or most, of the above in a positive way.”