Lou Switzer on Diversity in Design Today
For our March interiors issue, currently on newsstands, we looked at superbly-designed rooms from all over the world. While the projects varied immensely, the U.S. architectural profession itself isn't so diverse: according the AIA, only 17% of firm partners and principals were women in 2013. Only 11% were ethnic minorities. While the lower ranks of interns and designers were more diverse, those younger employees will take years, if not decades, to reach architecture's upper echelons. We talked with Lou Switzer—who in 1975 founded The Switzer Group, a 100% minority-owned business of around 50 employees—on how he got to where he is and the current state of diversity in design.
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Lou Switzer helped found the ACE Mentor Program of America, Inc. which works to get high school students involved in architecture, construction, and engineering. The Switzer Group is an interior architecture firm with clients that include the Walt Disney Co., General Motors, IBM, Columbia University, and AMC.
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