Kathryn Tyler Prigmore, FAIA, seamlessly blends architecture practice and education. With 28 years of involvement in the industry, she has managed the design of award-winning buildings, taught and mentored future architects, and fostered public awareness of the profession.
With this level of accomplishment and expertise, it is no surprise that Prigmore, a project manager in HDR's Alexandria, Virginia, office, recently received a National Women of Color Lifetime Achievement Award.
Practice
Her interest in architecture began as early as middle school. To satisfy this curiosity, Prigmore read the extensive collection of architecture books and journals at The City of Alexandria Public Library. Still not satisfied, she then she ventured out to the Fairfax County library and the library at the AIA headquarters in Washington, D.C. Her appetite for knowledge continued throughout college, internships and summer jobs. She graduated from architecture school a semester early and received her license to practice architecture in 1981, making her the 14th black woman licensed in the United States. Prigmore's enjoyment and fascination of architecture continues today.
"Designing and constructing objects in the built environment is like solving large, complex, dynamic puzzles. Innumerable options exist and countless decisions have to be made before the work is complete," said Prigmore. "Some outcomes the designer or builder control; some are the result of external elements. Some rely on forces of the natural environment, others on technology. Never can the results be the same and ultimately the judgment of success is in the eye of the beholder, not of the creator."
She joined HDR in 2003 because its philosophy about architecture was similar to hers and she felt her unique skills and interests would be an asset to the growth and development of the organization. She appreciated that, at HDR, technology is central to good design, support for sustainable design starts at the corporate level, and great design, financial success and employee satisfaction are considered equally important to the success of the firm.
Among Prigmore's high-profile projects at HDR is her work on the Pentagon. She serves as project manager for the tenant fit-out of Wedge 2, Phase 3 of the Pentagon Renovation Project. Over the course of the year, she ran tenant programming meetings and produced documents for over 140 tenants, including the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Secretary of the Navy. She is responsible for developing a process to facilitate work with the design-build contractors, the Pentagon client representatives and tenant representatives and training staff to do the work.
During the course of the Pentagon project, Prigmore said client expectations evolved as they could see that HDR was able to be more responsive to the schedule and client requirements than the previous consultant had been. She was responsible for managing their expectations, and for maintaining the morale of a team which worked for months under a relentless schedule.
For Prigmore, the end result makes the hard work worthwhile.
"The most satisfying aspect of architecture is the ability to make a positive impact on others through my work," she said. "In the long term, it is seeing the glow on a client's face as they enter a completed building for the first time."
Prigmore is now working on a new challenge; she has been assigned to manage the Doctor's Community Hospital renovation and expansion projects in Lanham, Maryland.
Teaching
In addition to designing distinctive buildings, Prigmore has found opportunities to share her love of the profession with others. She spent 13 years at Howard University School of Architecture and Planning.
"The reward of teaching surpasses everything else I have done as an architect," said Prigmore, who served on the Howard University faculty and was associate dean. "There are no words to adequately express the satisfaction I feel for the gift of being able to inspire others to learn."
As the associate dean, Prigmore was involved with the development of most aspects of the architecture program. She formed alliances internally with university staff as well as externally to broaden student exposure and improve the professional programs.
Prigmore has also found opportunities at HDR to satisfy some of the yearnings that inspired her to teach. For example, HDR has created a Professional Development Team to encourage interns to become licensed. Prigmore is one of the "faculty" for the Architecture Section's monthly educational sessions. She has also talked with HDR's Sustainable Design Services group about offering sessions on sustainable design, which would draw on her academic expertise since she taught about environmental systems and sustainable design.
"Teaching is the most rewarding thing I have done, with the exception of being a parent," said Prigmore, a mother of a high school-age and a college-age daughter. "The ability to share your knowledge, to watch the students assimilate the knowledge and incorporate it into their design projects and in how they live, and then years later, to see how they have evolved and matured into successful architects or developers, or civic leaders is just amazing and exhilarating."
Mentoring
This enthusiasm toward sharing knowledge and helping guide future generations of architects has also led Prigmore to become a mentor. She has been mentoring students since she was in college at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, where she received a bachelor's degree in building sciences and a Bachelor of Architecture degree. She also earned a master's degree in engineering from The Catholic University of America.
"Mentoring can change peoples’ lives," said Prigmore, who continues to mentor many of her former Howard University students. "Mentors don't dictate; they don't impose their will on their protégées. They listen, offer options and support, and open doors when they can. I have sought, and continue to seek, opportunities to share my knowledge with others, and over the years I have been sought out by many young people to help them create the right paths to follow."
Prigmore has had two primary mentors - one for nearly 30 years and one for almost 25 years - and she attributes much of her success to them and to the friends and associates who have helped and supported her along the way.
"As my career as evolved, one of the most valuable lessons, and the source of most of my satisfaction, is that I learned to reach back and pull others along with me," she said.
Involvement
Prigmore, who has served on AIA, NCARB, NAAB and ACSA committees at the national level, continues to be involved in professional service activities.
A member of the AIA National Ethics Council (NEC), Prigmore helped revise the Code of Ethics and developed Guidelines for the Attribution of Credit. The NEC is responsible for upholding the Rules of Conduct found in the AIA Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility. The NEC also hears and decides disciplinary cases brought against members of the AIA. Prigmore will chair the NEC in 2006.
She also serves on the board for the Washington, D.C. chapter of the AIA, and is chair of the DC/AIA Fellowship Nomination Committee. On this committee, Prigmore assists members who have been nominated for fellowship by evaluating their dossiers and offering training sessions for the nominees as they go through the process.
Currently serving on architecture program advisory boards at Hampton University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, she is also a member of the National Organization of Minority Architects and the Society of Building Science Educators. Through the research, publications and tools offered by the SBSE, Prigmore stays current on sustainable design issues.
Fellowship
Through practice, teaching, mentoring and involvement, Prigmore has already accomplished a great deal in her architectural career. In 2002, her accomplishments were recognized by the American Institute of Architects when she was elevated to the level of Fellow of the AIA. Prigmore was the fifth black woman, out of about 260 women fellows, to achieve the distinction, which is awarded to AIA members who have made significant contributions to the profession. Out of the nearly 72,000 total AIA members, only about 2,500 members have been distinguished with the honor of fellowship.
According to the AIA, candidates for fellowship are individuals who have been members in good standing of the institute for at least 10 years and "who have contributed notably to the advancement of the profession" at a national level. There are five categories of fellowship nomination and Prigmore's recognition is in the second category, which is generally referred to as "practice". In this category, the AIA stipulates that the individual must "advance the science and art of planning and building by advancing the standards of architectural education, training and practice."
"My elevation to fellowship evolved from service to the profession that focused on creating linkages between the practice of architecture and the academy throughout my career," said Prigmore. "It confirms that my peers acknowledge service to others is just as important to our profession as great design or any of the other more traditional quantifiers of architectural success."