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2021 Whitney M. Young Jr. Award Recipient
Pascale Sablan, FAIA, NOMA, LEED AP Sabian is the 2021 Whitney M. Young Jr. Award Recipient. An architect and activist, she is the 315th living African-American female registered architect in the United States and the youngest African-American to be elevated to the AIA College of Fellows.
Beyond her work at Adjaye Associates, Pascale is the founder & executive director of Beyond the Built Environment, positioned to uniquely address the inequitable disparities in architecture by providing a holistic platform aimed to support numerous stages of the architecture pipeline. Beyond the Build Environment is the champion agency behind initiatives such as the SAY IT LOUD exhibits, SAY IT WITH – Me(dia), and the Great Diverse Designers Library.
Pascale is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2018 AIA Young Architects Award. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Pratt Institute and a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University.
Gabriela Baierle (GB): You have recently joined Adjaye Associates. How has the transition been? What do you love about the work you’re doing now?
Pascale Sablan (PS): I started in January of 2021, and it’s been a rewarding transition. My new role recognizes my work as both architect and activist. Beyond my role as an architect, I am also responsible for overseeing initiatives around design and justice, and ensuring the office is tracking its goals in this space. Advocacy is not a secondary function of how we spend our time; it is front and center. We are learning together about making a difference, and I get to work on projects that have been centered around justice. It’s been great.
GB: I know you are very proud of your Haitian heritage. Is there a correlation between your role as architect and activist, and your heritage?
PS: It’s been a tough year with everything that’s been happening in Haiti, particularly because it made it more difficult to travel and be present there. My relationship to it is two-fold. I am both Haitian, and a member of the diaspora. I have two different perspectives to grapple with, and this adds to my work and my motivation. I’ve been involved there for years. For example, it was after the 2010 earthquake that I traveled there with the Architecture for Humanity Rebuild 101 guide to teach contractors and builders about building methods in an effort to make local architecture more equitable and more resilient to climate disasters. Being part of the team for the National Palace of Haiti project, the design competition that David won prior to joining the studio, has been profoundly rewarding and gave me an opportunity to leverage my Haitian heritages as an architect on this historic project.
GB: You once said in an interview that “the 2014 NOMA conference saved your life”(sic). Can you tell us about that particular experience?
PS: There are three reasons why I say this. The first reason is because 2014 is the year I became licensed. During the conference, the keynote speaker asked newly licensed architects to stand up; and two people did, and it was Jason Pugh and I. Fast forward to now, and Jason now leads NOMA, and I am president-elect. Creating a community of like minded architects fighting for justice, a connection I could have only made at a NOMA National conference. The bonds and friendships I made during that conference are my most cherished and precious professional relationships I have in my network. The second reason I credit NOMA 2014 saved my life is because it also was catalytic to activating my public speaking career. I received great feedback from the audience, and the positive response reached my firm leaders. This provided me with growth opportunities in my office. Thirdly, I won a design award for a Haiti Campus project I developed with the ACE Mentoring students I worked with that year. At that point, NOMA 2014 conference replenished my cup in a lot of ways, from providing me a platform to share my thoughts, encouragement from my peers, and recognition of my work.
GB: What does getting involved mean to you?
PS: This kind of advocacy work is about collective responsibility - it is important that we don’t start from scratch, but we leverage the hard work of those who came before. And it is important that we fully understand who are the agents of change in this space and who are the oppositions and pour our resources accordingly. Starting to participate as a sponge means you can be part of that force to make change.
GB: As president-elect of NOMA, what are the goals you are bringing to this charge?
PS: I’ve had the ability to serve under the presidential reign of Kevin Holland, Brian Hudson, Kim Dowdell and now Jason Pugh. With respect to the NOMA a 50-year legacy, I plan to come in looking to understand how the initiatives that are already in place are performing, to look at metrics, and go from there. My unique goal is to take NOMA international, which I have been preparing for through both my advocacy work with Beyond the Built Environment, with initiatives such as the SAY
IT LOUD traveling activation exhibitions and now my role within Adjaye Associates. We are currently working on building the mechanism and infrastructure that allows successful chapters to be created abroad.
GB: You are our most recent Whitney M. Young Jr. Award recipient. How has the repercussion been?
PS: It’s been an honor. Being recognized with this award has helped validate and empower the activist work that I do, and the difference is actually quantifiable. For example, since I was honored with this award, the Great Diverse Designers Library has grown from documenting 299 to 669 architects. It’s humbling and so exciting to see these initiatives propelled by the recognition.
GB: Could you exemplify a way in which you were supported, and how you support your emerging peers?
PS: When I worked under the brilliance of Sudhir Jambhekar, I started noticing that the way he presented projects would lift all the team members. I had never seen someone in a position of power be so generous with their light and bring in the team’s contributions into the conversations. It took nothing away from him to acknowledge and give importance to the team and their work. Observing that attitude was catalytic for me. I always try to speak to people’s contributions.
GB: How should the College of Fellows work to create a future that is socially and racially just?
PS: There is an opportunity here for the reframing of who gets elevated and the systems that are embedded that make it less likely for women and people of color to win awards and be supported. First look inward - what can we do internally to be a more equitable organization? Secondly, there should be some kind of pledge, either centered on mentoring or in creating a goal that we can all work towards together. An example is the AIA New York Chapter statement against designing unjust spaces of incarceration; the Say It With Media initiative that stemmed from Beyond the Built Environment is another. I personally believe in creating tangible goals collectively; being a megaphone, speaking to the issues of design justice and acknowledging the past architecture that was used to hurt, taking a stance against carceral spaces, these are all ways in which the College of Fellows can further expand its support of diverse designers, and of a future that is more equitable.
Gabriela Baierle, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP BD+C
Baierle is a licensed architect practicing, writing, and teaching in Boston, Massachusetts. She specializes in academic projects at Finegold Alexander Architects. She has taught studios at the Boston Architectural College and the University of Minnesota.
