Supporting and mentoring people of colour in the profession
Architect and founder of POC in Architecture. Part 1: 2018, Part 2: 2021
Savannah Williams combines a full-time job as an architect with POC in Architecture, an organisation she set up in 2020 to support people of colour in the profession.
‘Through university I didn’t have a mentor or any black or brown tutors, and wanted the younger generation to avoid the same unwanted feelings of isolation or imposter syndrome,’ says Williams, who studied at the University of Liverpool and the University of Westminster.
Judges were hugely impressed with her achievements at POC in Architecture, which began as an online platform for architecture students of African and Caribbean heritage to showcase their final projects. The initiative has since grown to include a mentoring programme pairing Part 1 and Part 2 students with a qualified architect over a four-month period. Support includes careers advice, portfolio and CV assistance and interview preparation.
The organisation stages an annual exhibition, hosted this year at Morris + Company and showcasing the work of 50 students. Williams also organised a two-week model-making workshop in collaboration with Foster + Partners, both this year and last.
Judge Peter Laidler praised Williams for ‘addressing her own experience in providing a role model to the next generation of architects’.
She’s reaching people in different ways,’ added James Purkiss of her organisation’s many different outputs.
While Williams admits that organising POC in Architecture single-handedly can be stressful, she says ‘it’s worth it seeing the network that it is today’.
She hopes to continue tackling the issue of inclusion for minority ethnic groups in the UK within the architecture industry, with the aim of being able to grow a team so that POC in Architecture can expand its outreach and support even more students.
‘We all know that people of colour are severely under-represented in the profession,’ said her referee, Paul Hirons, professional knowledge manager at the RIBA, ‘which makes Savannah’s POC In Architecture community not only important for aspiring architects, but also crucial for creating a more diverse future.’
What piece of architecture or placemaking do you most admire?
The Yinka Ilori Launderette of Dreams in Islington, north London, was a public installation that brought people together; an adventurous, playful space that reminds us to not lose sight of our imaginations. The originality of the piece draws on Ilori’s childhood memories, shifting the somewhat monotonous to exciting and high-spirited. It shows a side of architectural thinking that can be forgotten, drawing on our playful side. I admire spaces that provide positive social interaction and bring communities together.
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