In Conversation with Three Architects Featured in the Say It Loud Minnesota Exhibition
By Ann Mayhew | November 18, 2021
From left to right: Urban Design Perspectives’ Alicia Belton, AIA, NOMA, Snow Kreilich Architects’ Karen Lu, AIA, NOMA, and Alliiance’s Anna Pravinata, AIA, NOMA.
SPOTLIGHT
Say It Loud Minnesota is part of a series of exhibits around the U.S. that elevate and celebrate the work of minority architects. Curated by Pascale Sablan, FAIA, NOMA, founder and executive director of Beyond the Built Environment, and presented in collaboration with AIA Minnesota, MSP NOMA, and the University of Minnesota, Say It Loud Minnesota features 22 projects by 19 Minnesota architects and designers. The exhibition can be experienced in person at the University of Minnesota in the HGA Gallery in Rapson Hall or online through the end of January.
ENTER spoke with three of the architects whose work is featured in the exhibition—Urban Design Perspectives’ Alicia Belton, AIA, NOMA, Snow Kreilich Architects’ Karen Lu, AIA, NOMA, and Alliiance’s Anna Pravinata, AIA, NOMA—to learn more about their participation and what the exhibition means to them.
Tell us about the projects you selected for the exhibition.
Belton: I chose an adaptive-reuse project called Club 3 Degrees, a teen youth space; it was one of the first projects I did when I started my practice. It was challenging trying to convert an historic office building into a space for teens. And while all projects are budget-challenged, this one was especially so because it was for a faith-based organization that was moving from a smaller gathering space to larger concert venue with a cafe. We got really creative in terms of trying to figure out products to use. How can we reuse and repurpose what we had? How could we take advantage of their nonprofit status?
That demonstrates the way architects are problem-solvers.
Belton: Absolutely. And working in partnership with our clients and really understanding what they value. It was such a needed space—that kind of fun hangout for preteens and teens to be in a safe environment with their friends and hear the Word and great music.
Lu: I selected Salt City Market in Syracuse, New York, a market and food hall created by the Allyn Family Foundation. It’s very ambitious in terms of equity and making an impact in the local economy. The first floor provides spaces that support small businesses and help create generational wealth, especially for local communities of color; the second floor is office space for nonprofits and other community-minded organizations, and the upper two floors are mixed-income housing. Equity was also built into the construction of Salt City Market: There was a desire to have as many people from specific neighborhoods as possible work on the project.
“Representation matters—it shows up-and-coming architecture students and even youth outside of the [architecture] profession that there are people doing this work that look like you.”
Pravinata: Tate Hall is an historically significant building that sits on Northrop Mall at the University of Minnesota. I chose the Tate Hall renovation and addition because it’s the most significant project of my career—not just the largest but also the most complex. And I was able to be involved in it from the very beginning to the end, understanding and designing for the client’s needs and delivering a building that works for the clients.
What is the significance of Say It Loud Minnesota for the three of you?
Belton: It’s a wonderful opportunity to share work from BIPOC designers here in the Twin Cities. Representation matters—it shows up-and-coming architecture students and even youth outside of the [architecture] profession that there are people doing this work that look like you.
Lu: To me, it’s significant that the exhibit is part of an international effort that Pascale Sablan has initiated to elevate the work of women and people of color. It’s gratifying to be engaged in something that is touching a lot of people and has this kind of impact.
Pravinata: If you open up an opportunity like this to everybody, typically the dominant group will be highlighted, right? So, it’s nice to have an exhibition focus on the contributions of BIPOC people and women to the architecture field. And it’s a big honor to be included. The other exhibiting practitioners are well known for their good work in Minnesota and beyond.
What do you hope people will take away from the exhibition?
Belton: I hope people get a sense of the breadth of work. It made me smile to see that we’ve got this extensive range of talent and experience in the Twin Cities.
Also, I want people to realize that Say It Loud Minnesota isn’t the only one. There are Say It Loud exhibits across the U.S. So often you hear, “Where are BIPOC designers doing great work? What are they doing?” These exhibits that Pascale Sablan has created are a platform for publishing the work of BIPOC architects and women in the field.
Lu: I love that the exhibit is in the HGA Gallery at Rapson Hall so that students—particularly women and people of color—can see architects who are successful and the diversity of the work they could do in their own futures. [When I was a student], the exhibit in the lobby of my architecture school was usually focused on the work of a “starchitect” or a single designer, and that architect wasn’t the kind of practitioner I saw myself in.
Pravinata: I hope people become more aware of the BIPOC and female architects and designers in the Twin Cities, so that when they are talking about architecture or design, we feel included in the conversation. Many times in my career, I have felt invisible. Say It Loud Minnesota makes me and my colleagues more visible.