How Detroit-based architect Saundra Little, FAIA, designs for her city

{"version":"0.3.0","atoms":[],"cards":[],"markups":[["a",["href","https:\/\/www.dkgallery.com\/","target","_new"]],["a",["href","https:\/\/www.noirdesignparti.com\/","target","_new"]],["b"],["a",["href","https:\/\/techtowndetroit.org\/","target","_new"]],["a",["href","https:\/\/spacelabdetroit.com\/","target","_new"]]],"sections":[[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"By Christina Sturdivant Sani"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"After\nco-founding Detroit-based Centric Design Studio and operating it for a decade,\nSaundra Little\u0027s firm was acquired by Washington, D.C.-based Quinn Evans Architects in early 2019. With more than 15 years\nin the industry, Little had designed several notable\nprojects at that point, including design-build renovations at Burton International Academy, a Detroit public school, and\nthe award-winning design of the "],[0,[0],1,"David Klein Gallery"],[0,[],0,". The acquisition of\nEvans\u2019 company landed her the role of principal in Quinn Evans\u2019 Detroit office."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Three years earlier, Little\u2019s history and documentation project "],[0,[1],1,"Noir Design Parti "],[0,[],0,"was selected as\none of Detroit\u2019s winners in the 2016 Knight Foundation Arts Challenge. The\nproject, which she conceptualized with historain and diveristy and inclusion advocate Karen Burton, documents the\ncareers and creative works of Detroit\u0027s African American architects. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Most recently, Little accepted the position of director of diversity, equity and inclusion\nat Quinn Evans. \u201cI\u2019m interested in seeing how I can continue to move the needle in\narchitecture for minorities in the profession,\u201d she says. She also serves as the Midwest Vice President of the National\nOrganization of Minority Architects. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Read on to learn about her passion\nfor community development and history, the challenges on her road to becoming an architect,\nand vision for Noir Design Parti. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"How would you describe your niche as an architect?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"All roads lead to history. I work\non a lot of adaptive reuse projects, and I do some new construction, but\neverything is in the community neighborhood setting. So I would say any project\nthat has a community or historical impact. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"Do you have any favorite projects?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"I\u0027ve done three co-working spaces:\n"],[0,[3],1,"TechTown"],[0,[],0,", "],[0,[4],1,"SpaceLab Detroit"],[0,[],0,", and then a concept for an art co-working space that\nhopefully gets built out in the next year. I like coworking spaces because I\nused to be a small business owner, and I feel like coworking spaces level the\nplaying field for anybody starting a business. It gives you access to amenities\nthat most small business owners who are bootstrapping can\u0027t get, and it gives\nyou a leg up. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"A new favorite under construction\nnow is Allied Media Projects. It is a four-story renovation to a warehouse\nbuilding here in Detroit. The vision of the project is led by each of the\ntenants, who are all nonprofits. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Total accessibility for the\nbuilding has been the focus of this renovation. They didn\u0027t go straight for LEED\ncertification but had sustainability, accessibility, and inclusive design in\nmind. I can\u0027t wait for that project to be completed. It was just great working\nalongside an owner with a vision like that. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"What initially sparked your interest in architecture? "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"It\nstarted with an interest in art and drawing, but I\u0027ve found that along the way, there\nhave been different things that led me to architecture without me even\nrealizing it. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"For instance, I visited a building that Nathan Johnson designed as a kid, and I\nwas struck by the mid-century modern [design] and how he created this odd-shaped window\nwithout any structural kind of emphasis at this corner. And he completely\nframed out a view of the neighborhood. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"What have been some of your biggest challenges on the road to becoming\nan architect?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"It was tough not knowing a lot\nabout the profession before heading into it in college. I didn\u0027t have a mentor\nwho could give me words of wisdom. My family was like, \u2018Are you sure you want\nto be an architect? Nobody in our family is an architect.\u2019 Though I didn\u0027t have\nany support, I just went for it. And I\u0027m lucky that I made it. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"Why did you choose Noir Design Parti for your Knight Foundation\nsubmission? "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Karen\nBurton and I had been talking about it for a\nlong time. We always heard people say, \u2018I didn\u2019t know of any Black\narchitects until I met you.\u2019 "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"But I\ncame up through firms that were minority-owned.\nAnd I was like, how did they not know these people? I\u0027ve also heard about Black architects from the trailblazing generations before me [who had] retired\nby the time I started to practice. So I was like, we have to get this out here, because I don\u0027t want to hear that anymore. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"What have you enjoyed most about the project? "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"It\u2019s been great seeing them\nhighlighted and telling their stories. Just being the first of anything is\nhistory-making. Nathan Johnson started his practice in 1954 right in the middle\nof the Civil Rights movement. There were only two or three architecture firms\nin the state of Michigan at that time that were Black\u2014so that\u0027s just remarkable\nto me."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"We recently\nmade it a focus of the project to write letters of recommendation for Black architects for AIA awards. So just to see these people\nget awards while they\u0027re still living has really meant a lot to me. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"Where do you see [this project] going in the future? "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Now that\nwe\u0027ve gathered\nall this information, it needs to be archived [in] a place where people can look and learn\nabout how Black architects did a lot of things against all odds. I\u2019m\nalso interested in getting a book done so we can have a print version of what\nwe\u0027ve been researching. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"Have you been able to outline your priorities\nas Director of DEI at Quinn Evans? "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Trying to\nfigure out the pandemic and this position at the same time has been\ninteresting. But one of the goals for this\nyear is to come up with objectives for the position and the firm. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"One of the things that got me very interested in Quinn Evans when we were talking about the acquisition\nwas that, as of April of this year, Quinn Evans will be a woman-owned firm. A 200-person firm\nthat\u0027s woman-owned interested me three years\nago, and to see it really come to light this year is going to be amazing. I think that\u0027s going to\nbe a great attraction for diversity when others\nhear about the big changeover in April. "]]]]}