Renowned African American architect responsible for some of Atlanta’s most iconic buildings has been selected to receive the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Service Award from the Atlanta Area Council, Boy Scouts of America. Oscar Harris, FAIA is being awarded for his outstanding commitment to service and mentor low-income urban youth.
From his days as a young boy from a unique, supportive, community in Pittsburgh through his struggles to become one of the nation’s leading architects, Oscar Harris has seen it all and overcome seemingly impossible odds. Throughout his career, Oscar has struggled to bring diversity and equality to one of America’s most exclusive industries. Through his “give back and pay it forward” philosophy, Harris founded the Atlanta Center for Creative Inquiry, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to mentor, educate, and develop creative abilities in youth to promote greater diversity in the architecture, engineering and construction professions.
This year the Atlanta Center for Creative Inquiry celebrates ten years of servicing youth in the Atlanta area. Under this unique program, metro Atlanta high school students are exposed to creativity, design, art, architecture, real estate development, construction and entrepreneurship. ACCI operates through partnerships with leading industrial companies and professionals who provide students with the opportunity to explore the process of how projects are executed, from the initial vision to the final construction.
“Oscar Harris clearly is an example of an African American entrepreneur at his best. He has inspired, educated, and enlightened youth to take the challenge of accepting leadership roles at a young age” says Paul Sparks, a past ACCI student who is working on his PHD in Engineering at Stanford University.
Oscar L. Harris Jr., FAIA, is one of the most inspiring and creative architects of our time. As a legacy to the famous historic city of Atlanta, he has created commanding architectural designs that help shape the skyline of America’s most popular southern metropolis. His iconic work provides a structural record of Atlanta’s culture—its people, its politics, its hardships, and its victories.
Oscar Harris’s recently released book, Oscar: Memoir of a Master Architect is now available at www.sugartop.co.