This blog is dedicated to exploring the historical intersections of race and architecture around the world. It is a space for reflecting upon the influence of racial discourses on the writing of architectural history, the representation of world cultures, and the shifting demographics of the architectural profession. These efforts contribute to a critique of exclusive civilizational narratives that lay the groundwork for a more inclusive estimation of the past.
I will include book reviews, editorials, and summaries of my own research in this blog as time and space permit. Feel free to make recommendations about books, events, or places that you think are related to this topic.
BIO: I am an architectural historian and critic. I completed my Master’s of Architecture at the University at Buffalo and my Ph.D. in Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. My academic research examines the historical integrations of race and style theory in modern architectures of the nineteenth and twentieth century. My current book manuscript, “Building Character: the Racial Politics of Modern Architectural Style” is under contract with the University of Pittsburgh Press. I am also co-editor along with Beth Tauke and Korydon Smith of Diversity and Design: Understanding Hidden Consequences, which was published with Routledge in 2015.
I have taught courses at the University of Pennsylvania, Parsons the New School for Design, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Ohio State University. I currently teach in the School of Architecture and Planning at the University at Buffalo–the flagship of the SUNY System.
– Charles Davis, PhD
Race & Architecture 
Hi Dr. Davis. What’s the small, blue thing on the upper right part of the picture above your head? Just kidding. Nice blog.
I purchased “Architecture in Black” based on your blogging. I am reviewing Fair Park here and the 1936 Centennial Art Deco architecture. There is a lot that is fairly blatant in regards to race and Fair Park. There is the history of segregation, Confederate items, etc. Then there is the issue that there was a Hall of Negro Achievement in which everything African American was contained, leaving the rest of the fair to be a white space, there is the Six Flags structuring of history, the Hall of Negro Achievement was torn down after the centennial. The trouble with all this blatant racism is that it often obscures other relevant but less obvious aspects of race and place. So after all this I have a couple questions. 1. Do you know of any prior critical analysis of Fair Park and race? 2. What papers or materials would you recommend for study? Thanks.