ROBERT JOHNSON NASH
Robert J. Nash FAIA & Associates, P.C
African American AIA Fellow
SAY IT LOUD - Washington DC Exhibitor
Washington DC Based Designer
Bio:
Nash later served at the first co-chair of the AIA Human Resource Council with Nathaniel Owings, FAIA, implementing the organization’s three main equal opportunity initiatives: Establishing community design centers, improving the design and construction of affordable housing, and increasing diversity within architectural education
ROBERT JOHNSON NASH
Bio:
The great architect Robert J. Nash, FAIA, was the first African American architect elected to national AIA office and was named to the AIA Task Force on Equal Opportunity following Whitney Young’s 1968 public challenge for architecture to chart a more socially responsible path. The inaugural recipient of the Whitney Young Award in 1972, graduated from Howard University in 1952, and shortly after, he launched his architectural career in Nigeria, where he used indigenous materials and experimental construction techniques to design low-cost housing and schools. After two years in Africa and another two years with the Army Corps of Engineers, he opened his own office in Washington, D.C. Always socially active, he firmly believed in close ties between architecture and the community—a stance further reinforced following the 1968 riots in the nation’s capital. Nash later served at the first co-chair of the AIA Human Resource Council with Nathaniel Owings, FAIA, implementing the organization’s three main equal opportunity initiatives: Establishing community design centers, improving the design and construction of affordable housing, and increasing diversity within architectural education. Nash also became an AlA liaison for the Urban League’s Black Executive Exchange Program, facilitating African American professionals to visit architectural schools at historically black colleges and universities.
Year of Elevation:
1973
Featured Project Name:
Family Life Center for Shiloh Baptist Church
Featured Project Location:
Washington DC
Featured Project Completion Date:
1982
Role in Featured Project:
Architect
Featured Project Description:
Founded 1862 in a horse stable by 300 people who fled slavery in Fredericksburg, Virginia; many outreach ministries and gospel choirs; Shiloh features a popular Family Life Center for racquetball, saunas, restaurants, conference rooms. After being almost completely burned down in1991, Penza Bailey architects took over the restoration and expansion efforts.
