Photo: Paul Revere Williams (center) with Edgar Johnson and Norman Houston, Jr., photo via PBS SoCal; Norma Merrick Sklarek and Paul R. Williams photos from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Building Community: Pioneering Black Architects in L.A.: A Virtual Tour

Building Community: Pioneering Black Architects in L.A.: A Virtual Tour

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About the Event

During this one-hour virtual tour, learn the stories of Norma Merrick Sklarek, Paul Revere Williams, and Robert Kennard (to name a few), and understand how Black architects shaped Los Angeles and influenced communities through advocacy and architecture. “Building Community” will challenge tourgoers to reflect on why it’s important for architects to understand and represent the communities for which they design buildings.

The tour travels through five different Los Angeles neighborhoods and cities, beginning in Beverly Hills and ending in the City of Compton. Virtually discover iconic historic buildings in Los Angeles and those that provided (and (still provide) positive spaces for the Black communities.

Featured Location(s)

Photo courtesy Architectural Resources Group

Harold L. Williams

Compton City Hall and Civic Center

The plaza’s focal point, a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr., is a large sculpture of angled white planes arranged in a circle and converging at the top.

Pacific Design Center

Photo courtesy Architectural Resources Group

Victor Gruen Associates

Norma Merrick Sklarek

Pacific Design Center

At once beloved and reviled by its neighbors, the Pacific Design Center is an enormous landmark that arose in three major stages: Center Blue, Center Green and Center Red.

Photo by Eric Staudenmaier Photography

Paul R. Williams

28th Street Apartments

Paul Revere Williams, the first African American member of the American Institute of Architects, designed this YMCA to serve the African American community.

Photo by Adrian Scott Fine/L.A. Conservancy

Paul R. Williams

Norman F. Marsh

Second Baptist Church

Designed by Paul R. Williams, the Second Baptist Church has been an anchor in South Los Angeles' African American community for decades.

Owner Desiree Edwards at the Watts Coffee House. Photo courtesy of Desiree Edwards.

Kennard and Silvers

Watts Coffee House

Beloved Watts legacy business nourishes neighbors with soul food and history.

Exterior of Watts Happening Cultural Center. Photo by Rita Cofield.

Kennard and Silvers

Watts Happening Cultural Center

Since 1969, Black art, culture, and activism have flourished in this rare Late-Modern style building in the Watts neighborhood of South L.A.