Curtis Moody and Lou Switzer will share their thoughts on design, practice, and legacy. They will also discuss how they organized the largest black-owned architecture and interior design firms nearly four decades ago.
Curt Moody, FAIA, decided to start an architecture firm over 30 years ago. Driven by a passion to break into a field with little minority representation, he took a considerable risk and opened the doors of Moody and Associates in 1982 — in the midst of a depressed economy. At the beginning, the firm had two employees, Moody and a graduate student in architecture. By the end of the first year, the firm had grown to nine staff members, eight of whom are with the firm today. Sensing an opportunity to position the firm for growth, Moody joined forces with the engineering firm Howard E. Nolan & Associates, creating Moody Nolan Architects. From early projects such as branch libraries and religious facilities, Moody Nolan has worked on projects with universities, housing authorities, and hospitals throughout the country.
Lou Switzer is the Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of The Switzer Group, Inc., one of the nation’s most progressive interior architectural design consulting firms. The firm openend in 1975 and has grown to be the nation’s largest black-owned interior architectural design firm. It is currently ranked among the top 100 American design firms. For nearly forty years, he has developed a reputation as an innovator with a distinctive style in facilities design. Switzer’s work has been profiled in many prominent trade publications. A native of Orangeburg, South Carolina, Switzer attended the Pratt Institute. He has received numerous community and industry awards and honors including Interior Design Magazine’s Hall of Fame, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor from the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations in New York in 1994, Entrepreneur of the Year from the National Association of Black Accountants in 1987, and Man of the Year in 1995 for his distinguished achievement and support of the ACE Mentor Program as a Trustee and founding member.
Organized by: AIANY Diversity and Inclusion Committee and NYCOBA NOMA
