Local NOMA chapter sees a welcome resurgence of young minority architects

Noma Cincinnati
NOMA group initially formed CAMP

By Miyah Byrd

Do you remember the first time you made your way through the city and saw a magnificent building? It might be the private home-turned-museum, Taft Museum of Art. Or you adore Cincinnati’s first residential settlement, the Private Ladies. Maybe the Châteauesque sandstone of the Clifton library branch tickles your fancy. Many groups of people, from design professionals like engineers, landscape architects, and interior designers to people in manufacturing and construction are responsible for building our city and countless others.

As of 2022, The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards reported 121,603 licensed architects working in America yet only 2% of them are black. The National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) aims to change that by strengthening relationships between minority architects, building communities of design professionals across the country whose interests include promoting urban communities and providing opportunities to introduce the profession to youth.

David Kirk, President/CEO of DNK Architects, Inc. (DNK) and a licensed architect in five states had been involved with NOMA since 1992. He discovered around that time that there was no organization in Cincinnati that brought together the minority architecture community in a way that celebrated their work and allowed them to get to know each other. Along with a group of others, he began a Cincinnati chapter of NOMA.