Norma Sklarek

US Embassy in Tokyo, at Tokyo, Japan

Terminal One at LAX, at Los Angeles, California

(b. New York, New York April 15, 1928)

Norma Merrick Sklarek, FAIA, is a prinicpal in the firm Siegel-Sklarek-Diamond in Los Angeles, California, which is perhaps the largest totally woman-owned architectural firm in the United States. She was the first black woman to become a licensed architect in the states of New York and California, and in fact in the entire United States.

She has said, "Until the end on World War II, I think there was strong discrimination against women in architecture. The schools ahd a quota, it was obvious, a quota against women and a quota against blacks. In architecture, I had absolutely no role model. I'm happy today to be a role model for others that follow."

She also said, "Architecture should be working on improving the environment of people in their homes, in their places of work, and their places of recreation. It should be functional and pleasant, not just in the image of the ego of the architect."

— Brain Lanker, photos and interviews, Barabara Summers, editor. I Dream a World. New York: Stewart, Tabori, and Chang, 1989.

Brain Lanker, photos and interviews, Barabara Summers, editor. I Dream a World. New York: Stewart, Tabori, and Chang, 1989. E185.86.L355. LC 88-32607. ISBN 1-55670-063-6 (cloth), ISBN 1-55670-880-7 (hardcover), ISBN 1-55670-092-X (paper). autobiographical essay, p40. — Available at Amazon.com

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