Born in Harlem New York in April of 1926, Norma Merrick was a pioneering African American Architect whose legacy is inspiring and influential to this day. As a child, Merrick was labeled a very bright and creative person. Her father instilled the idea that she could achieve greatness regardless of what field she chose to enter. During the great depression, Merrick’s father taught her carpentry skills. This event, along with her developed love for art, science, and math, grew into a passion for what makes up the foundation of Architecture. Merrick attended Barnard College for a year, enough time to meet the requirements needed so she could enroll in the Columbia School of Architecture who only accepted a small number of women every year. While earning her degree she continuously amazed her peers and professors displaying her brilliance and potential as one of only two women in her graduating class. She was also one of few students to pass the Architectural exam in one try at Columbia.
After graduating, Merrick had a lot of difficulty attempting to land a job at a private Architectural firm. She ended up with a job working for the Public Works department in New York City. During which she was turned down from nineteen architectural firms but eventually landed a job in 1955 at a private Firm called Skidmore, Owings & Merrill where she stayed for the next five years. Afterward Merrick moved to California after accepting the position of first female Vice President for Gruen and Associates in Los Angeles, where she worked for two decades.
In 1966 she became the firm’s first female and first African-American director. Merrick was responsible for planning the technical aspects of major projects such as the California Mart, Pacific Design Center, Fox Hills Mall, San Bernardino City Hall, Leo Baeck Temple and the Embassy of the United States in Tokyo. She also directed the construction for Terminal One at the Los Angeles International Airport, which was a $50-million project completed in January 1984. Merrick then became the first black woman elected as a fellow of the American Institute of Architects. She also co-founded Siegel, Sklarek, and Diamond with Margot Siegel and Katherine Diamond which was the largest woman-owned firm at the time. Siegel, Sklarek, and Diamond put out proposals on five projects and won all five commissions. Wishing to work on larger projects, she left Siegel, Sklarek, and Diamond in 1989, and joined the Jon Jerde Partnership as a Principal until her retirement in 1992. Following her retirement, she was appointed by the governor to serve on the California Architects Board. She also served for several years as chair of the AIA’s National Ethics Council.
Throughout her career, Merrick used her professional and academic position to teach and mentor other minorities in the architecture field. She is an inspiration to the Design field being the first woman architect to be licensed in New York and California. Her work was always big picture oriented and focused on the entire process of design not just the initial planning but also a consideration of every part of how the design will function. Merrick believed that “architecture should be working on improving the environment of people in their homes, in their places of work, and their places of recreation. It should be functional and pleasant, not just in the image of the ego of the architect.” This is something we as Interaction Designers can take away for our own design thinking; to focus on improving people’s lives and not getting too stuck in our own designer egos.
Morton, Patricia. Norma Merrick Sklarek. pioneeringwomen.bwaf.org/norma-merrick-sklarek/.
The only biannual Magazine for Architectural Entertainment. “Remembering Norma Merrick Sklarek, an Architect of Many Firsts.” Home Page, pinupmagazine.org/articles/article-norma-merrick-sklarek-first-liscensed-black-woman-architect-new-york-california-natalia-torija.
Hale, Jack. “Norma Merrick Sklarek, ‘the Rosa Parks of Architecture’.” The Modernist, The Modernist, 17 June 2020, www.the-modernist.org/news/2020/6/16/norma-merrick-sklarek-the-rosa-parks-of-architecture.
This is such detailed biography! good job!