The XXAOC Project

In January 2019, WIA’s Sarah Akigbogun began looking for the stories of female architects of colour she might tell. Sarah has been a filmmaker for several years, learning her craft whilst in Pascal Schoning’s unit at the Architectural Association. Since then her work has focused on giving voice to untold stories and histories, and included work with female lead theatre companies, such as the film Escape.

In 2017 she directed, filmed and edited the film She Draws : She Builds, a documentary featuring interviews with 15 female architects. Following this Sarah began the search for female architects of colour and the XXAOC project was born. Her reasons for wanting to do this are outlined in an article on Parlour, published earlier this year.

The search began with a simple tweet which led to an interview with Sharon Egretta Sutton, the first Black woman to be made a full professor of architecture in the US. Following this Sarah was invited to take part in this year’s NOMA conference in New York.

On learning about the incredible work of Dr Sharon Sutton, Sarah nominated her for Part W’s Alternative Gold Medal List: