For Neba Sere, Akua Danso and Selasi Setufe, a humble WhatsApp group turned out to be a way to galvanise change in the architectural world. The three are the founders of Black Females in Architecture (BFA), a social enterprise and membership network.
Before meeting, all three had personal experience of the lack of diversity in architecture in the UK, documented in the statistics gathered by the Architects Registration Board, with which anybody who wants to practice as an architect must register. The ARB report, which was released in 2023 and based on the figures for 2022, showed that of just over 43,000 registered architects, no more than one per cent described themselves as Black, a significant under-representation given that Black people make up four per cent of the population. Those identifying as Black women are just 0.4 per cent of the total.
Sere, who grew up in Cologne, had moved to London to do a master’s in Architecture at Central Saint Martins, but found that her course (and later, her workplace) were not at all reflective of the capital’s melting pot of cultures. After graduating from her studies at the Universities of Kent and Liverpool, Danso found it difficult to secure a job and had to spend months doing bar and retail gigs – it was only after a recommendation from a white male friend that she was able to get her first formal role in practice. Setufe was one of only a handful of Black students in her courses at the Universities of Portsmouth and Manchester, and had long been struggling to connect with architects of similar cultural backgrounds. So when the trio encountered each other at an event in 2018 and discovered the parallels in their experiences, they decided to set up a group chat to stay in touch. “I recognised the power of that connection and feeling seen and understood,” recounts Danso. “Seeking community was the bridge – or the last-ditch hope – that I had to try and navigate an industry which felt like it really didn't want me, and didn't have space for me”, adds Setufe. They slowly started adding other women, and in just a few weeks had accrued some 50 members.
It was in June of that year that they decided to formalise the group into an organisation that is now 500-strong. It supports Black women and female-identifying people working across the spheres of architecture, design and construction in practical ways. It hosts advocacy talks and CV workshops, and puts members forward for a variety of industry services, such as consultancy, project collaboration and panel participation from which Black people have historically been ignored. “We ultimately want to see Black women be more visible, having a voice and a hand in creating better, more equitable spaces” explains Setufe. “We feel like it's pertinent and necessary to have Black women at the table contributing to making better places for us on a local, regional and global scale.”
All three founders of the BFA still maintain full-time jobs: Setufe is principal project officer at the Greater London Authority, Danso is a property consultant at estate agency Aucoot and Sere is a professor at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL. As a result, much of their work for BFA has to be done after hours. The responsibility of diversity and anti-racism work disproportionately falls on the shoulders of minorities, yet in this instance, Sere says, it’s not burdensome – but an opportunity to rewrite the status quo. “I think the difference with BFA is that it was our choice, no one has asked us to do this. And that's something we sometimes have to remind ourselves of – we’re in charge, and it's okay if we have a meeting at seven o’clock at night… It took us a few years to be okay with running this at our own pace with our own goals, and not having to be responsive to an industry” she explains. “We've created this organisation, so surely we can create space for flexibility in the way that isn't afforded to us in standard capitalist-driven models of working,” continues Setufe. “In that, we can start to address ways of doing things that work against us as women more broadly, or against us as people from multiple different heritages and cultures.”
In terms of projects, BFA has already undertaken some impressive work. At the 2023 Venice Biennale it presented a short film titled A Voice for the 450 Plus, which offered an insight into the origins of the organisation and its aim of shaping a more inclusive built environment. Last year BFA also collaborated with architecture practice Studio Gil and the London Legacy Development Corporation to create a public space for teenage girls at the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London. “There were months of engagement with the girls built into the project process, and at the end they felt like the space really represented their own wishes… Many of them were Black, and to have us on the other end as professionals telling them about what we do on a day-to-day basis, and the possibilities of being a spatial practitioner, was really wholesome” explains Sere. “A few of them didn't even know what an architect or someone who works in a built environment does” continues Danso, “and it completely opened and expanded their minds as to what could be possible for them as a career trajectory.” The organisation will similarly be able to offer guidance through its six-month mentorship programme which launched in March. The scheme was initially piloted internally in 2024, and saw professionally seasoned BFA members advise counterparts in the early stages of their careers. This year the scheme is being done in partnership with London School of Architecture, and will extend mentoring services to its student body.
The coming months will see BFA nurture its own aspirations, too. Sere, Setufe and Danso all say they’re keen to take on more independent projects. They want the organisation to redefine the architectural canon, but also to contribute to it. “We've found ourselves being very reactive; we’ve never really been able to initiate much because we didn’t have the capacity,” says Setufe. “All of this in pursuit of trying to define what our practice could be, not necessarily just a firm that we put a name to, but a mode of delivering, thinking, curating, creating, designing, executing and delivering projects at different scales.” First up is a research initiative called Ma that will examine matriarchal spaces and what they look like in an African context, while exploring the continent’s material traditions and how these intersect with notions of sustainability. Funding and sponsorship is still in the process of being secured, but they will present the research in an exhibition this summer at the London Festival of Architecture, and possibly in published form.
Given that the organisation grew from the exchange of a few text messages, the impact of BFA to date is remarkable. Its work suggests that a future in which Black women play a full and valued part in architectural practice is at least imaginable. Setufe says it still seems institutions are tip-toeing around having “frank conversations”. “I think that the way we are talking about diversity and inclusion is still on a superficial level,” agrees Sere, “there’ll be a Women's Day talk on March 8th, or a Black History Month talk in October, and as a practice you’ll think you've done your job well – but you don't really address the root cause of things.” The founders, however, remain cautiously optimistic. “Things haven't changed fast enough – even since our conception as a network – and it's a difficult road” says Danso, “but hopefully, we can continue to support others in whatever way we can.”
This article is taken from Anima Issue 3, to purchase a copy or subscribe head here
