Bringing Back Beauty: Aaris Design's Nicole Hollant-Denis on Cultural Identity, Her Circle of Sisters, and Healing
By Julia Gamolina
Architect and designer Nicole Hollant-Denis has created distinctive structures including culturally relevant memorials and exhibition spaces. The founder and principal of Aaris Design in New York City, Nicole’s 25 plus year career in architecture has ranged from the development of cultural heritage memorials and aviation design, to permanent hurricane and earthquake safe housing in Haiti. Recent works include La Marqueta Plaza, New Offices for NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies and Shiloh Church of Christ in Harlem, USA.
Nicole’s firm, highlighted in the 2018 Beverly Willis documentary “Unknown New York” is a proud winner the NOMA Design Excellence Honor Award for the African Burial Ground National Monument. Nicole studied architecture at Cornell University and the Harvard Graduate School of Design and lives with her husband and two daughters in New York.
JG: How did your interest in architecture first develop?
NHD: I always had a love, appreciation, and talent for art. I wanted to be an artist except that my parents were immigrants from the Caribbean, Haiti and Martinique, they did not believe that they had the necessary connections to support my success as an artist in New York. My father a T.V. repairman, and was a founding father of Haitian Americans United for Progress, H.A.U.P., pronounced “hope”. My mother was a teacher at the Lyceum Kennedy, NYC. Both parents were engaged in our community.
Born in Brooklyn, growing up in marginalized conditions at the time, I began to understand the social injustices that existed, and I wanted to do something to give back to our community. The idea of creating spaces that influence how people feel and think was at the core of my pursuit of architecture. Helping to bring beauty back to dilapidated and neglected neighborhoods was and remains a priority and has always been the best way for me to give back.
Nicole circa 1990s, emerging architect at the Port Authority of NY NJ, photo by John Bartelstone
Early concept sketches by Nicole Hollant-Denis of the Columbia Business School Executive Dining Hall
What did you learn about yourself in studying it?
As I applied to college, I wasn’t completely sure I would pursue architecture. My parents thought I should be a pediatrician since I did well in school and I was great with kids. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stand the sight of blood [laughs]! Alternatively, I started architecture at Cornell University School of Architecture Art and Planning, which had an art-based design program. I absolutely loved it! I spent a semester at the Cornell Rome Program studying renaissance architecture in Italy and traveled to France and England. I spent a summer with the Cornell Japan Program learning Japanese design principles.
I was one of very few African Americans in the entire program, which was an enormous challenge. What I learned about myself is that I am someone who doesn’t accept things as they are if don’t seem fair. I along with a handful of colleagues, encouraged fellow students of color to rally forces and call attention to the Ivy League disparity among the historically underrepresented minorities. We created first AAP student chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects, NOMA, called Minority Organization of Architect Art and Planning, MOAAP. I was already president of the Cornell Haitian Club, so I volunteered as Vice President of MOAAP. Since then, MOAAP has been a beacon among the student chapters.
The other thing I found incredibly frustrating about our program is that we learned about European, Asian, and other forms of architecture but learned very little if anything about African architecture or African American architecture. Any time we learned anything about Egypt it was as if Egypt was not on the continent of Africa. I also wanted to understand why people of African descent, part of my heritage, were in such a precarious condition here in America. I decided to take an independent study option for my thesis titled Le Memorial Du Marron Inconnu, which translated into “A Memorial to the Unknown Maroon,” a study of afro-centric architecture and the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. This was a transformative journey which opened my design mind to amazing buildings. I discovered for myself ancient structures and contemporary works like the Nkrumah Memorial in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Simply stated, in completing my undergraduate thesis, I felt like I found missing pieces of my cultural identity.
“...we learned about European, Asian, and other forms of architecture but learned very little if anything about African architecture or African American architecture. Any time we learned anything about Egypt it was as if Egypt was not on the continent of Africa.”
How did you get your start in the field?
Although I was very interested in finding a firm engaged in community buildings housing, schools, libraries, and museums, I graduated during a recession and the only decent job I could get at the time was with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. However, this was interesting considering the first building I fell in love with was Eero Saarinen’s TWA Terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport. We lived ten minutes from the airport when moved from Brooklyn to Queens.
The PANYNJ was the best internship I could have ever landed on. I was hired as a Project Manager trainee and went through all phases of design through construction on different large-scale state-of-the-art aviation and monorail projects, all in one training year. Seeing the amount of coordination and collaboration on the client side of these large-scale projects gave me an early understanding of the enormous work involved to move large projects forward.
What did you do next?
While the training and the professional practice experience was great at the Port Authority, again I was one of few African American employees and work life was not comfortable. I also didn’t feel that the environment was creative enough at the time. I worked for a few great offices, some small for several of years, became licensed and then applied and was accepted to Harvard University Graduate School of Design, for a Master in Design Studies, with a focus in Real Estate and Development.
La Marqueta Plaza band stand and flexible seating, reclaiming underutilized urban spaces as cultural enclaves courtesy Aaris Design Studios.
How did Aaris Design Studios come about?
Once I completed my degree at Harvard, I started my own practice. I started with consultant work, enough to add staff and take on a business partner. Together we pursued contracts as Aarris Architects, PC with the School Construction Authority, Port Authority and other clients. Work at the SCA was especially gratifying, though it was mostly capital improvement jobs, replacing boarded up windows letting sunlight back into student spaces. We also revisited and pursued the competition for the African Burial Ground Memorial for which we used the parti from my undergraduate thesis.
This was a deeply moving and cathartic experience for me. It was an uncommon opportunity to tell our story as architects of African descent paying homage to the thousands of voiceless enslaved people whose lives were sacrificed to build lower Manhattan. This was easily one of our most significant works. While our company ownership has changed through the years, we were able to continue to practice despite compromised resources and limited access.
We were then named Associate Architects for the Columbia Business School a 450,000 square foot two-tower development in Manhattanville, the northern expansion of Columbia University into a new 17-acre site. We are working with world renown architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with FXCollaborative. We are responsible for some of the main gathering spaces in both towers, including the main Executive Dining Hall at the top floor of one of the towers with a commanding view of the Manhattan Skyline. Working on such beautifully crafted buildings has truly been an inspiration and has taught us a lot about detailing clean sight lines and creating impactful moments in larger scale projects.
“My ‘number’ is 92; I am approximately the 92nd of all of the five hundred or so licensed Black Women architects ever licensed in this country...I remember thinking that I could have a party and have room for all my fellow licensed Black women architect colleagues [laughs]”
Where are you in your career today?
Today I am in a great place, seeing that significant change is on its way. Since COVID19, and the murders of Briana Taylor and George Floyd and too many others, we have been in the middle of a socio-political reckoning that has truly exposed systemic racism for what it is and just how pervasive it has been, specifically in our profession. Prior to this post-Obama era, I did not think that I would witness and African American president in my lifetime! I now remain optimistic. Architects of color are getting access to better clients, contracts, and meaningful work.
I often like to say that “Black Lives Matter” means “Black Contracts Matter”. As we push for more accountability and equality in the wake the Floyd case, it is encouraging to know that most Americans are coming to truly understand the plight of people of color in this country. I fully expect to see considerable burgeoning of a marvelous part of American history that has been suppressed for centuries. While we all know of the horrors of slavery, there is an enormous amount of contributions, enlightening and heroic stories that have been hidden for years, including stories of Black and Brown Americans, Asian Americans, Latino Americans, Black Latino Americans and others.
We at Aaris are poised for culturally relevant work. We recently completed La Marqueta Plaza which I am proud of for the fact that this was a transparent design process and the community was included as a major stake holder. La Marqueta has grown a wider network and is a place where people from the community can come together and celebrate their diverse cultures. I feel that it’s also a perfect example of reclaiming underutilized urban space for public use. With Hunter Roberts as our Construction Manager client and the Economic Development Corp (EDC) as our end client, we navigated through several agency entities to get this project approved and completed. We have also most recently been involved with work related to Terminal One at JFK. Aviation design remains one of my first loves in architecture. Together with branding consultants we aspire to create spaces that embrace the international community that the airport terminals service.
Looking back at it all, what have been the biggest challenges?
Being African American and a woman in this field has been a serious challenge to say the least! Of the approximately 116,000 architects there are in this country .5% are African American women. My “number” is 92; I am approximately the 92nd of all of the five hundred or so licensed Black Women architects ever licensed in this country. When I received my license in 1996, I remember thinking that I could have a party and have room for all my fellow licensed Black women architect colleagues [laughs]. This points to the fact that we as a nation are recovering from the cruel and unspeakable past of slavery that have kept people especially women of color from property ownership and a truly free and equitable existence. With limited resources and access, it has been very difficult especially when I see my counterparts with similar aptitude and talents accomplish so much more due to the access and resources they are afforded.
Another great challenge has been getting the proper design credit for work. Thanks to organizations like NOMA, the Beverly Willis Foundation, the Women Builders Council, and the American Institute of Architects, I have been able to recuperate some credit on certain projects but this is also a major problem for all women and especially Black and Brown women and it definitely effects our bottom line in the long run. Lastly a great challenge has been working on large team projects. This has been a tough process for reasons that are common for MWBEs working for public agencies on larger projects. For one, we have to fight hard to make sure we could get paid within 45 to 60 days which is not a simple task, but a significant improvement from when we first started where payments could take up to 6 to 12 months or more! As expressed on recent panel discussions, these are the types of barriers we are looking to remove for MWBE certified firms, who due to systemic racism are hardest hit.
View at the spiral ramp to the Libation court of the African Burial Ground Memorial.
Nicole Hollant-Denis and daughters at the African Burial Ground National Monument, 2010.
What have been the highlights?
One of the greatest highlights for me has been seeing the young men and women that I have mentored through the years grow into their own to become highly accomplished professionals. Some of the women I have mentored include Kim Dowdell, Pascale Sablan, Ifeoma Ebo, Omarys Vasquez, Samantha Josaphat, Monica Aliaga Laud, Shella Cadet, and Danei Cesario - and this is just a few! I did and still do for them what my mentors have done and are still doing for me. At any time, I can call Roberta Washington, Sara Caples Jefferson, and Cheryl McKissack for a critical question I may have, or just to complain about the same old, same old!
These are relationships that I cherish. Having these women that I can count on for guidance or just to share war stories and sweet victories, makes all the difference. I also have a Circle of Sisters, nine of my best friends from undergrad, who have remained my closest friends. We support each other through the best of times and the worst of times by staying in touch and praying for each other. One of the biggest highlights is to be able to share my work with my family, my husband and daughters. Especially for my daughters showing them that all things are possible when you put your heart and mind to it. Knowing that we have given birth to the African Burial Ground National Memorial a place of healing and reconciliatory joy, the first project of its type in the US, will always remain one of my greatest professional achievements.
Who are you admiring right now and why?
Right now, I am admiring poet laureate Amanda Gorman! What makes her so powerful is not only the truth, dedication and love that flows from her work but the fact that she had to work so hard to get past her own limitations in order to let her message get through. As I learned in her interviews after her recital of, “The Hill We Climb”, at President Biden’s Inaugural ceremony, Amanda could not pronounce the letter “r,” for years! It brings tears to my eyes thinking about how hard she had to work to get out of her own way … and she eventually did, in divine time. That is what is so inspirational to me! I am also admiring our Vice President Kamala Harris. Understanding everything she had to go through to get to where she is and everything she has done for so many people is enough to make me a big fan!
“Architecture can be the most political of all the arts and can have the longest lasting effects on our civilization. It is an extremely powerful and permanent extension of thought.”
What is the impact you’d like to have on the world? What is your core mission?
I would like us all to always keep in mind how much better we could be doing for each other and with each other. When I went to Haiti after the earthquake of 2010 it was the first time that I was back to my father’s country as a mother. While Haiti is one of the most beautiful Caribbean Islands, the level of destitution after the earthquake was greater than I had ever seen. I saw a mom and her three children, all under the age of four, who clearly faced starvation their whole lives. She had rotten mangos that she tried to sell to me. I gave her money but felt entirely helpless to do anything truly significant. I was struck by this and I vowed to do my best to try and make an impactful difference even if it takes time to understand exactly how.
So, I am now also working with a team of architects and engineers on resilient housing focused on disaster relief. We hope to network and synergize our efforts here in the US, the Caribbean and other places. The big idea is to create beautiful LEED platinum super-smart simple high-end homes at a price point $50,000 less than its competitors so that when one is sold, a buyer has an option to also contribute towards small homes for struggling families. Whether it’s through designing national monuments, museums, schools, churches, user experiences at an airport, affordable housing and/or resilient housing, my core mission has always been about helping, inspiring and healing. We need a lot of healing in our world.
Finally, what advice do you have for those starting their career? Would your advice be any different for women?
Never under any circumstance should you ever give up your dreams! At a time when COVID 19 has literally brought us to a screeching halt, we have the opportunity rethink everything and to start fresh. Architecture can be the most political of all the arts and can have the longest lasting effects on our civilization. It is an extremely powerful and permanent extension of thought. In art, music and poetry different combinations of images, notes and or words evoke feelings that can be healing and inspirational. Likewise, with architecture the design author can carefully carve spaces that encourages inclusivity and can create magical experiences and memories.
You also never know where the next big idea will come from. I just learned last month that the first feminine napkin was invented by sisters Mary Davidson Kenner and Mildred Davidson Austin! African American. So, dream on! (Laughs) For women and women of color I would say, because pursuing your passion can be more of a challenge, treat yourself with kindness and take ownership of your talents and greatness. In the words of Amanda Gorman, “There is always light if only we are brave enough to see it, if only we are brave enough to be it!”