Melvin Mitchell - An HBCU Perspective on Blackness in Architecture, Wealth Creation, and a Culture of Building

In this episode, I spoke with architect and writer Melvin Mitchell, FAIA, NCARB, NOMA. In our conversation, we talk about Melvin’s HBCU perspective on Blackness in architecture, several ideas in reforming architectural education, entrepreneurship and wealth creation, and much more.

Melvin has been a practicing architect in Washington, DC, for 45 years. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a past president of the DC Board of Architecture, and former director of the School of Architecture & Planning at Morgan State University in Baltimore. He was a professor at the University of the District of Columbia and Howard University, where he was the James E. Silcott Professor of Architecture from 2016 to 2018. His architecture degrees are from Howard University and the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Melvin is the President and CEO of Bryant Mitchell Architects, Developers & Construction Managers and is the author of two books, The Crisis of the African American Architect, published in 2002, and African American Architects: Embracing Culture and Building Urban Communities, published in 2020. He is currently working on his third book.

Show notes:

• Spring 2021 USC Virtual Lecture with Melvin Mitchell
• Morgan State University Spring 2020 Lecture with Melvin Mitchell
• The Crisis of the African-American Architect: Conflicting Cultures of Architecture and (Black) Power by Melvin Mitchell
• African American Architects: Embracing Culture and Building Urban Communities by Melvin Mitchell
• Melvin's essays on Archinect
• Follow Melvin on LinkedIn
• Follow Melvin on Twitter @MelArch3