Celebrating Architecture + Advocacy: A Panel on the Life and Work of Robert T. Coles, FAIA

Panel conversation to take place Friday, Oct. 13, 2017

Book cover - Architecture and Advocacy.

Join us for a panel conversation about the life and work of local architect and inspiration Robert T. Coles. Moderated by UB professor of architectural history Charles Davis, the panel will include Robert T. Coles, book co-editor William Siener, and UB senior architect Michael Wright. 

Friday, Oct. 13, 2017
1 pm 
Hayes Hall 403

The panel discussion will celebrate Coles's most recent publication and memoir, Architecture + Advocacy, which was released on November 15, 2016. Cole's memoir recounts his life story and trajectory from childhood, when he was told there was no place for African Americans in the architecture, to graduating from MIT's architecture program, to founding a firm in 1968, to positions of leadership across the AIA. While Cole has practiced in major cities across the United States, his work remains visible throughout Western New York. The University at Buffalo Alumni Arena, John F. Kennedy Recreation Center, and the Frank E. Merriweather Jr., Branch Library are a few examples of Cole's work.  

Participating panelists are:

  • Robert T. Coles, FAIA
  • William Siener, independent historian and museum curator
  • Michael Wright, senior architect, University at Buffalo, 
  • Charles Davis, University at Buffalo, Department of Architecture (moderator)