Through her podcast, Nakita Reed explores the interconnectedness of architecture, historic preservation, sustainability, race & gender.
The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being. TONI MORRISON
Taking Up Space
Nakita Reed, a licensed architect with Quinn Evans in Baltimore, is an alumnus of the University of Virginia School of Architecture program. Recently, in Episode 6: Taking Up Space w/ Morgan C.B. Miles and Rasheda Tripp, Reed shares that she, Miles, and Tripp were the only black women in their graduating class. Having been dear friends for nearly 20 years, they speak candidly about their careers, what brought them to architecture and how they navigate white, male spaces as black women.
Tangible Remnants launched in Fall 2020 and, for Reed, this platform allows her to share the lenses through which she navigates the world: Black. Woman. Architect. Sustainable. Preservationist. Simple words that she uses to describe herself, but admits that she is still learning how to juggle.
I see myself as a connector between allied worlds. For example: I'm the black friend my white friends feel comfortable talking with about race, the preservationist who can help architects navigate historic approvals, and the architect who can help preservationist think of sustainability.
Participating on numerous boards, Nakita tries her best to blend her various passions, expressing, "it’s all connected." On June 11th, Reed spoke with the 2021 class of AIA Virginia's Emerging Leaders in Architecture Honors Academy, a program dedicated to boosting young designers and leaders who show potential to be outstanding contributors to the profession of architecture and their greater communities. Using her expertise as both an architect and preservationist, Reed shared with the group the history and context around the redlining of neighborhoods and offered guidance regarding community engagement, especially when that community isn't yours.
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Read the related Inform Magazine article Perspectives on Justice: Rasheda Tripp on Justice as a Noun and a Verb