Tina and Eniola have an honest discussion about the recent Black Lives Matter protests after the brutal death of George Floyd in America and how this is something that cannot be ignored in the built environment and architecture.
We are an ethnic minority owned architectural business, rare in itself, even rarer that the two directors are of different ethnicities, and our lived experiences therefore are very different from our white counterparts in the industry. This discussion, looks at how diversity impacts the built environment and our continuing desire for this to change so that the spaces being designed and built and are being designed by all representations of society.
There are some honest and cold truths that are explored in an unfiltered way so that we can bring some of the lived experiences to the forefront. We are also very aware that the lived experiences of black people are very different from those of Asians and other ethnic minorities, the fact that not a single architectural practice out of a 110 awarded a contract by a London borough are of black ownership shows the lack of representation in the built environment. Racism exists in many forms, and it needs to be called out for what it is, from white on black to Indian on Pakistani to Asian on black, it is not something that we want to stand by and continue to see.
The emotional message that was referenced in the discussion was from Curtis M Hayes Jr. https://www.instagram.com/curtis_hayesnc/ , the take away being that the way that this discussion is had has to change.
By having this honest conversation, we hope that people will listen and work with us on making this change.
