GRIOTS REPUBLIC - AN URBAN BLACK TRAVEL MAG - OCTOBER 2016

chitects (AIA) elected her as their first
black woman fellow, the organization’s
highest honor. Spending most of her career
working with Gruen Associates and
Welton Beckett Associates, she eventually
became the first black woman to
start her own architectural firm. Siegel-Sklarek-Diamond
opened in 1985
and was the largest woman-owned and
mostly woman-staffed architectural
firm in the United States.
“She was excellent at putting the whole
package together,” said Marshall Purnell,
a past president of the American
Institute of Architects. But, because of
race, Sklarek often had to take a backseat
in designing.
It was the 1950s, and although she was
highly capable according to her employers
and colleagues, “it was unheard
of to have an African American female
who was registered as an architect. You
didn’t trot that person out in front of
your clients and say ‘This is the person
designing your project.’ She was not allowed
to express herself as a designer.
But she was capable of doing anything.
She was the complete architect.”
Despite those stigmas and setbacks, Sklarek
was known for handling complex
buildings on time and under budget.
Ahead of her time and current software
capabilities, Kate Diamond, a partner
in Siegel-Sklarek-Diamond said, “She
could see three-dimensionally-understanding
how things fit together.”
Now, 60 years later, Sklarek’s work still
stands. A recent $508 million renovation
project is underway to modernize
LAX’s terminal 1 and build upon her