Did Black Lives Matter to Phillip Johnson?

Over the past seven years, the Black Lives Matter movement has targeted systemic racism in policing, historic monuments, as well as cultural and educational institutions across the entire globe. Last month, the American Institute of Architects ‘took its knee’ by prohibiting its 95,000 members from knowingly designing prison execution chambers or solitary confinement cells. That announcement should not, however, be taken as a spontaneous expression of support. The resolution only came after six years of agitation by Architects, Designers and Planners for Social Responsibility , which saw their related petitions denied twice by the body. Prior to joining the recent wave of institutions condemning racism, the AIA had argued that architects were not responsible for the use of spaces they designed and that designing execution chambers aligned with the legal and social acceptance of the death penalty in the US. Such reasoning points to entrenched resistance to acknowledging systemic oppression within architectural practice and professional formation. Numerous factors contribute to that refusal. Like many industries, architecture…