Norma Sklarek

Norma Sklarek is a pioneer in many areas of the architectural profession. In 1954, she became licensed as an architect in the State of New York. It would be twenty years before another black woman would achieve the status of licensed architect. In 1966, she became the first black woman to be licensed as an architect in California. For her outstanding contribution to architecture, Sklarek became the first black woman to be honored by her peers with a fellowship in AIA. At the time of the award in 1980, only 43 female architects had been named Fellow by the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

Sklarek was born on April 15, 1928, during the Depression. Her West Indian parents, from the Caribbean, were living in Harlem, New York at the time of her birth. Her mother, Amy Willoughby was born in Barbados and her father, Dr. Walter Ernest Merrick was born in St. Vincent. Norma recalls, "My father was a doctor, but we were poor in terms of money, so we did lots of things around the house ourselves. It was during the Depression, so we could not afford to hire someone else to do the work. I believe that these early childhood experiences helped develop my sense of self-sufficiency."

Even though Norma was an only child, she was not spoiled. She credits her Father with nurturing the desire to pursue a traditionally male profession. "Although both my parents spent a lot of time with me. I did lots of things with my father that girls did not ordinarily do, things like going fishing, painting the house, and doing carpentry work. I think that because of my father's influence, the typical female careers did not appeal to me. My grades were good enough to consider any profession, but I had an interest in art, the sciences, and math. During the time I was thinking about my career choices, my father said, 'What about architecture?' Before he suggested it, I had never considered that profession. The field of architecture required all the skills and interests that I had, so I seriously considered his suggestion."

Sklarek chose to study at Columbia University's School of Architecture. During the late 1940's when Norma applied to Columbia, a quota system existed for women. The School of Architecture only admitted a small number of women each year. Sklarek recalls, "Other colleges at Columbia may have had similar gender and racial quotas, but it was quite obvious in architecture. The School didn't want to waste space on women. They felt that women would get married and return home to have children. The competition for admittance was fierce for women."

She studied liberal arts for one year at Barnard College and four years at Columbia University School of Architecture, from which she received a Bachelor of Architecture in 1950. "I remember my first year at Columbia. I had a hard time because everything was so different from high school. I was working very hard just to keep up. I was not getting A's, I was just trying to pass the courses. I spent the summer considering whether to return to Columbia in the Fall. I decided to return."

Sklarek admits that architecture school was tough. At Columbia, her classmates consisted of students who were war veterans, some with bachelor and master's degrees. Sklarek had entered with a minimum requirement of one year of liberal arts. "I was the youngest in my class. These classmates were not only older but much more mature than I. The competition in class was keen. But I had a 'stick-to-it' attitude and never gave up. The rewards were even more evident as I was able to pass all seven parts of the four-day-36-hour architect's licensing exams the first time I took it, something often unheard of at that time. Many of my fellow colleagues were not so fortunate. My passing the exam surprised many people. The dean of the school told me that even some straight-A students in my class had not passed the exam the first time."

Sklarek recalls that breaking into the field was not easy. "Even after graduation from school, with a professional architectural degree, it was tough to get a job. I applied and went to about twenty different offices before I was able to land an entry level job. I could never figure it out. I don't know if the rejections were because I was a black person, because I was a young woman, or because of the economic recession at the time. Since I was turned down so many times in private industry, I went to work for the city of New York in a civil service job with the Department of Public Works. I decided very quickly that civil service was not where I wanted to be."

Next was a four year stint with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, at that time, one of the largest and most prestigious architectural firm in the United States.

Sklarek moved from New York to Los Angeles, joining the firm of Gruen Associates in 1960. As the first female Director of Architecture at Gruen Associates, Sklarek headed its large architectural department and was responsible for all of the technical documents on an impressive list of commercial, award-winning projects. Some of Sklarek's many significant projects include: the American Embassy in Tokyo, Japan; the Fox Hills Mall in Culver City, CA., which received a Citation for Design Excellence from the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Institute of Architects; the California Mart, a 2.5 million-square foot international merchandising complex, which holds the distinction of being the largest fashion center in the world; and the San Bernardino, CA City Hall, selected as one of the Nation's Outstanding City Halls by the Library of Congress and the American Institute of Architects. Sklarek stayed with Gruen for twenty years. "My years at Gruen provided me with opportunities to engage in all aspects of the architectural field. It was truly a rewarding experience and prepared me for the challenges I would face with the next firm I joined."

After leaving the Gruen firm, Sklarek joined Welton Becket Associates as a Vice President, serving as Project director for Passenger Terminal One, accommodating 10 million annual passengers at Los Angeles International Airport. Sklarek recalls, "I learned a lot from the Terminal One Project. My experience on the project, which had to be ready for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, tested my ability to work under pressure and complete projects on time."

In 1985, Sklarek became a principal in a firm headed by three women, Siegel-Sklarek-Diamond, one of the largest all-female owned architectural practices in the United States. The projects that her architectural firm was able to obtain commissions on were of a smaller nature than Sklarek was used to doing. In addition, she says, "I was not happy with the possibility of being personally financially liable for anything which might go wrong during construction. For those reasons I left the firm."

From 1989 to 1992, Sklarek was a principal at The Jerde Partnership in charge of project management and review of the functional and technological aspects of projects. She was responsible for ensuring that the architectural detailing was complete and that the sophisticated engineering systems required for state-of-the art innovative buildings had been adequately incorporated in the architectural design.

Sklarek has been involved in comprehensive architectural pursuits in addition to her office practice. She has created professional renderings in tempera, taught on the graduate architectural staff of UCLA, and been a lecturer at Arizona State University, Columbia University, Hampton University, Howard University , Iowa State University, Kansas State University, Southern University, Tuskegee University, and the University of Utah. She has served as director of the Los Angeles chapter of the AIA, Vice President of the California Council AIA, Commissioner to the California Board of Architectural Examiners and as Master Juror for the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, (NCARB), grading the Design and Site Planning licensing papers. Her writing activities include technical advisor of the Architectural Graphic Standards, and author of "Women in Architecture" in the Encyclopedia of Architecture & Construction. She was featured in I Dream a World, Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America, and African American Architects in Current Practice, where she talks about her training and career. She is currently serving as Chair of the AIA National Ethics Council.

Norma Sklarek is now semi-retired but continues to serve as Chair of the AIA National Ethics Council, conduct classes for the architectural building design and site licensing exams, and guest lecture at architectural schools. In her honor, Howard University offers the Norma Merrick Sklarek Architectural Scholarship Award.