Linking Rural Needs with America’s Architects
New American Institute of Architects working group helps to elevate rural architecture. By Stephen Sugg and Alejandra Hardin
Kirk Narburgh is on a mission with a team of national architects who want the architecture profession to engage as effectively with rural America as it does with urban America. As CEO/Managing Partner at King + King Architects in Syracuse, New York and an established leader within state and national architecture circles with 29 years of teaching architecture at Syracuse University under his belt, Narburgh is well-positioned to carry out his mission. In a conversation with Rural Voices, he discussed the American Institute of Architects’ justlaunched rural “Incubator” working group that seeks a defined rural agenda within the profession, enhancing AIA’s engagement with rural areas. Narburgh cited lagging rural recovery since the Great Recession, climate change, and housing, among factors undergirding the Incubator’s launch. He also noted his affinity for rural issues—he grew up in upstate New York and has worked with rural schools and communities across his career—and the influence of his AIA peers including Omar Hakeem, who has been a great resource helping launch the Incubator.
Hakeem is CIRD’s design partner and soon to be part of the AIA’s Strategic Council; he will link Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design to AIA’s rural efforts going forward.
Rural Leaders Wear Many Hats and Often Lack Helpful Information Narburgh said that local leaders’ dearth of exposure to planning and architecture often hampers connection to architectural resources that may be readily available. “In most of these communities, you’ve got political figures and community leaders who
