Elgin Cleckley

Elgin Cleckley, NOMA, is an assistant professor of architecture at the University of Virginia with an appointment in the School of Education and Human Development and the School of Nursing. He is a designer and principal of _mpathic design, a design thinking pedagogy, initiative, and professional practice. After studying architecture at the University of Virginia (1993) and Princeton University (1995), he collaborated with DLR Group (Seattle), MRSA Architects (Chicago), and Baird Sampson Neuert Architects (Toronto) on award-winning civic projects. Before joining the University of Virginia’s design thinking program in 2016, he was the 3D Group Leader and Design Coordinator at the Ontario Science Centre (Toronto). This work produced the world’s first museum/design thinking architectural space, the Weston Family Innovation Centre. Cleckley is the recent winner of the 2020 ACSA Diversity Achievement Award, and the University of Virginia’s 2021 Alumni Board of Trustees Teaching Award. He is also the Design Director at the UVA Equity Center, and the NOMA Project Pipeline: Architecture Mentorship Program.

Empathic Design

Perspectives on Creating Inclusive Spaces

How do you experience a public space? Do you feel safe? Seen? Represented? The response to these questions may differ based on factors including your race, age, ethnicity, or gender identity. In the architecture and design professions, decisions about the articulation of public spaces and who may be honored in them have often been made by white men.