The Importance of Broadening your Perspective

Yolande Daniels is a founding principal of the award-winning studio SUMO. Her work lies between practice and academia, grounded on a multi-disciplinary approach bridging between the physical, social, cultural, political and historical contexts. Yolande was a recipient of the Rome Prize in Architecture as well as a Helena Rubinstein Critical Studies Fellow at the Whitney American Museum of Art. In a candid conversation, Yolande shared with us her path and emphasized the importance of broadening one’s perspective. Take a look at her story.

How did you get to where you are, a Principal of studio SUMO?

Yolande Daniels. Photo Credit: USC

I always envisioned myself having a studio. My interests were art, making, writing and I always had space to make things. My father had multiple businesses, but the one that most directly related to architecture was that he was a paint contractor. I worked with him during summers, painting on construction sites, but I did not actually think about architecture until later. My father was my model for having my own business.

When I went to college I did not actually know what I wanted to study. I took many different classes - anthropology, philosophy, botany - and I liked them all. My parents wanted me to have a major that would allow me to be able to support myself. They did not think I could do that as an artist or a writer. I found out about architecture after my sister, who is a year and a half younger than me, went to college. She wanted to be an engineer and graduated from Howard University. When we moved her in, we visited the school and the engineering and architecture programs were adjacent. That was the first time I saw what architects do and got a taste of what architecture school was like. I decided that architecture would be a way to merge all my interests.

I think I was setting myself up for my own practice since young. In undergraduate and graduate schools, I worked in a freelance capacity. Working in a freelance capacity, you do everything as if you have your own business. When I finished graduate school, I started doing competitions with friends and the competitions led to art installations, which turned into having clients in the arts field. Becoming a Principal at studio SUMO wasn’t something that I sat down to make a business plan for. We just started doing things and then the business developed around that.

What do you find interesting about architecture?

When designing architecture, you come up with the idea of a building that lives in your head and can seem somewhat unreal. I have taught since 1992 and one interesting thing has been when I’ve given problems to students that are actually real projects. At Columbia, I gave my students real RFPs that later on went to be built. In school there is always an air of things not being real and students thinking, “Oh this is not real. This is too fantastical.” But, when you give a project and then you go in the world and see the same project built by someone else, it gives it an interesting spin. What seems unrealistic could be a real thing.

My first building experience was memorable. As an architect, you know the project on paper and in models, but walking around it is pretty amazing. Then the people whom you designed it for come and they do not know the process you went through and they start doing things in space. Life happens. It might not be how you wanted it to be, but that is the really interesting process of being an architect. At times it might be a bit frustrating if they do things that you think undermine your design, but the whole aspect of something being in your head, building it into the world, and people coming in and making it their own is pretty amazing.

The other thing that excites me and makes me want to sit down and work, is figuring out design problems. Often people do not really realize the skill in architecture. Many people think they can be an architect without any training. But architects are trained in many skills though I don’t think we talk about them. Essentially architects figure out design solutions. It gives me great joy to figure out details and a design solution to something that didn’t seem possible.

I also like how, in the field of architecture, I can do work which is more about analyzing the relationship between buildings and society. I spend time thinking about spatial relationships, mapping them and materializing them, through constructions and writing. I make room for this in my practice. Since this work is not a building, to follow these interests I have had to be persistent, to work across disciplines, and to design new descriptive terms. Over time I have been able to do this work in the field of architecture.   

If you could change any policy in architecture, what would that be?

The first thing that comes to mind is coming up with an alternate review structure at schools. The current review structure is pretty archaic; I understand the value of reviewing work, but I think the structure is somewhat chauvinistic and disempowering to students. I have tried alternatives such as having reviews where people sit at a table, or even scavenger hunt style reviews at sites in the city. The generation before me, my generation, and the generation after me have all done experiments to try and change the structure, but, somehow it remains the same. The default ends up being a little too narrow and kind of aggressive. We need a model that is critical and analytical, but also, to think of design as less about competition and more about cooperation.

Have you experienced any challenges being a woman in the profession? 

Because I am a woman and my business partner is a man, I often have to prove what I am responsible for in work that we do. For example, if I apply for a (teaching) position, I must not only present the work; I have to present the work and also say what I did despite that I am equally responsible for it all. I asked my partner if he is asked this question and he said, “Never.” So as a woman, I have to prove I am responsible for design, whereas it is assumed that he is the designer. This happens too often. I think it is both sexist and racist. I would like to change that. I think not enough people in the field of architecture realize this as a biased act.  

How about any advantages of being a woman architect?

I attract women clients, minority clients, and clients who have alternative lifestyles. I guess as the world is more diverse in general, and, people from diverse backgrounds have means, they want to be with people whom they feel comfortable with. I feel very much that the work we have is the result of that. In almost every project, I would say that my partner’s identity and my identity have mattered.

Have you observed a change in academia?

There has definitely been a change since I was a student and pretty much every year of teaching since 1992. Reviews have changed a bit over the years; they are less sexist, they are less biased against non-white students and women. I have wondered if it has changed, in part, because there are more women and more men who approach the world in a different way than previously. The way we communicate with each other and the way we want to communicate with the students is different now. There is more diversity, there are more points of view, and also more acceptable approaches to a problem. The emphasis has shifted from purely formal problems and the role of the architect has expanded somewhat. In the same way, the workplace structure needs to change too to be more equitable. 

What challenges do emerging professionals face?

It seems that there are more choices in what direction you might go in the field of architecture. That might make it a bit harder. If you know you want to be an architect, and there is one box, then it is pretty easy to go and fit yourself into it, but, if there are 10 boxes, then you have to figure out how you are going to navigate in the field. This can be challenging as a student or young professional who might want to figure out what their direction is going to be and not understand that it might be incremental and more of a process. There is some pressure and stress related to this, but, I hope that, for students and young professionals, exploring their interests could be an adventure. With each job, even if it not very thrilling, there is always something meaningful to learn. It helps to be somewhat opportunistic in the different things that life presents to you and to work towards positions and places that are inspiring.

Would you share any tips to young designers and other leaders?

It is important to travel and see things. Going to other cultures and places makes me think differently, makes me question my assumptions, and helps me be a better designer. You think about things one way as “normal,” because everyone around you is thinking about it this way. Then you travel somewhere else, and if you are open, you will see things in a totally different way. My travels to Japan, Brasil, and other places have been opportunities to experience, question, and think about things differently. Actually, you don’t have to go anywhere different for this to happen; just talking to people who are different can facilitate this. Exposure to people with different viewpoints also enhances perceptions. It is important to be open and curious, to explore and to experiment and take this to your work.