Championing Inclusivity: LGBTQIA+ Trailblazers in the AECO Industry

We’re past midway through Pride Month, and we’re taking a moment to recognize our employees and customers who are standing proud. We’re here for it, building a culture of inclusion, allyship and belonging while working to ensure greater equality and representation in the AECO industry.  

The AECO industry has been a field traditionally viewed as one where diversity is sorely lacking, where communities have faced significant barriers to entering and advancing in their professions. But as more LGBTQIA+ architects, engineers and construction professionals embrace their identities and make true impacts in the industry, they’re actively disrupting this legacy to champion innate human diversity among the people our industry serves and the places our industry creates. Through their ‘built’ and ‘unbuilt’ work, their advocacy and their leadership, they’re pivoting AECO culture towards more authenticity, establishing needed precedents and inspiring the next generation to follow suit.  

Tom Guy is a director at architectural practice Guy Piper Architects in London, where he focuses on residential projects. While still studying at Oxford Brookes University, in 2005 he launched National Student Pride, an annual festival that gathers students from more than 170 universities and colleges in the UK for talks and a diversity careers fair. In 2016, he founded Architecture LGBT+, a network for the promotion of diversity and inclusion in architecture.  

 

The Belgian-born husband of the former Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel – one of the first European Union head of governments to marry a same-sex partner in 2015 – is Gauthier Destenay, a Belgian architect who has worked as an associate architect at the Belgian-Luxembourg firm A3 Architecture, since 2013; the firm has developed a noteworthy portfolio of sustainable, ecological designs. 

 

Ben Campkin is professor of urban history and theory at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, and is one of the founders of its LGBTQIA + research network; as well as his recent book, Remnants of the London LGBTQIA+ past (2015), he has written an important survey of the loss of LGBTQIA+ commercial venues in London – and the role of architects in the creation and survival of LGBTQIA+ spaces.  

 

Jane Greenwood, co-founder with Kimberly Kostow of the influential company Kostow Greenwood Architects in New York City, has fought for LGBTQIA+ rights for decades. She co-founded the Organization of Lesbian + Gay Architects and Designers (OLGAD) in the 1990s and was selected as one of the 100 most influential LGBTQIA+ people by ‘Out’ magazine in 2017. The CNN Production Hub at Time Warner Center, Brooklyn Tabernacle, and Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies Headquarters are among her projects. 

 

Mexican architect Carlos Huber has designed innovative, sustainable dwellings that incorporate traditional materials into modern structures and that respect their natural outdoor environments. He also created ARQUISTE, a line of perfumes that draws on historical characters and architecture, among other inspirations, and has been involved in several initiatives promoting a more diverse and inclusive group of architects. 

 

Guillermo Díaz-Fañas, an expert in geotechnical and earthquake engineering, launched Qu-AKE, a nonprofit providing LGBTQIA+ professionals with resources for support in the built environment. The project seeks to make the industry more inclusive and equitable through mentorship programs and networking opportunities. 

 

Tricia Clayton, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin, is working to make civil engineering education more LGBTQIA+ friendly, and she is part of the Qu-AKE group, promoting more LGBTQIA+ representation and support in engineering.

 

Mark McBride-Wright is a structural safety engineer and co-founder and chair of InterEngineering, a professional network for LGBTQIA+ engineers in the UK that fosters a supportive community, runs mentoring programs, and performs advocacy on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual and other minority groups within the profession. 

And… instead of choosing to keep their Pride private and focus solely on their careers, these superstars also used their position and influence in the discipline to advance LGBTQIA+ rights and social inclusion.  

Their work has made – and continues to make – many spaces safer, more accommodating and inclusive. 

At Newforma, we cherish diversity and an environment where everyone feels fairly treated, respected, and valued as who they are. We believe that diversity is the key to innovation, creativity and a path to success, and we want to create a culture where diversity of voices and opinions thrives. We’re committed to learning, growing and allyship!