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Architecture Beyond
I am Brandon Aaron Gibbs, AIA, NOMA—a licensed architect, researcher, educator, media producer, and advocate working across architecture, technology, and public engagement.
My story begins with my parents, who met while attending Howard University. My mother came from Mississippi, and my father came from the U.S. Virgin Islands. They raised me in Memphis, Tennessee, where I developed an early love for music, creativity, architecture, and design.
As a youth member of several orchestras including the Memphis Youth Symphony, I traveled nationally and internationally and experienced cities, cultures, and remarkable spaces beyond my hometown. Those experiences showed me how buildings and public places can express identity, history, and possibility. They helped inspire my decision to pursue architecture.
I studied architecture at Pratt Institute as a recipient of the Pratt Institute Presidential Scholarship. I later earned my Master of Architecture from the Architectural Association Design Research Laboratory in London. Over more than 15 years, I have contributed to sports and entertainment venues, healthcare facilities, churches, community spaces, commercial developments, and residential projects across Tennessee, New York, the American South, and beyond.
My work has expanded into research, education, entrepreneurship, and media. Through MotionFORM, I explore design, sustainability, computational methods, and emerging technology. I also founded Iamthestudio to help architects and designers strengthen their creative and technical skills.
Selected accomplishments include:
- LICENSED ARCHITECT IN TENNESSEE
- CO-CHAIR OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, NOMA NASHVILLE
- PRATT INSTITUTE PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT
- BISHOP G. E. PATTERSON MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT
- AUDIENCE AWARD RECIPIENT, QUICKFLICK LONDON
- WORK FEATURED BY PRATT INSTITUTE AND AIGA MOBILE
- PANEL SPEAKER WITH MUSIC CITY NSBE
- SPEAKER AT PODCAMP NASHVILLE AND BARCAMP NASHVILLE
- SHORTLISTED AS A PROSPECTIVE TEDX MOBILE SPEAKER
- ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAINING THROUGH THE NASHVILLE ENTREPRENEUR CENTER AND NASHVILLE BUSINESS INCUBATION CENTER
Through Architecture Beyond, I bring together professional experience, independent research, and storytelling to make architecture more accessible and relevant. As “The Architect in Your Corner,” I explore how design affects our communities, industries, opportunities, and everyday lives.
Architecture Beyond
The Architecture of Segregation: How Design Can Unite or Divide Us With Author Jerel McCants, AIA | AB EP 48
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Architecture has the power to connect communities—but it can also reinforce barriers that last for generations.
In this episode of Architecture Beyond, host Brandon Gibbs, AIA, NOMA sits down with architect, author, and industry leader Jerel McCants for a conversation about his career, leadership, and the ideas behind his book, The Architecture of Segregation.
Drawing from history, professional practice, and decades of experience in architecture, Jerel explores how the built environment has contributed to separation and inequality—and how architects today can use design, planning, and leadership to create spaces that offer greater connection, dignity, and opportunity.
Watch Video Episode Here:
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About This Conversation
The Architecture of Segregation examines the historical contexts of segregation, from Indigenous peoples of North America to the African diaspora through the Triangular Slave Trade, and considers how architecture and the built environment have played roles in the subjugation and separation of marginalized communities.
But this conversation is also about what comes next.
Brandon and Jerel discuss the opportunities architects have to learn from this history and create a different future—through better buildings, better planning, stronger professional leadership, and spaces that bring people together rather than push them apart.
In this episode:
- Jerel’s journey from Chattanooga to architecture and firm ownership
- The experiences that shaped his approach to architecture
- Leadership through AIA, NOMA, and the wider design community
- Starting an architecture practice during the Great Recession
- The ideas behind The Architecture of Segregation
- How physical environments can reinforce separation
- Creating more liberating and connected spaces
- Where emerging and established designers can make an impact
- How architects can turn history into better design decisions
Meet Jerel McCants
Jerel McCants is an architect, author, firm founder, and professional leader.
Originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee, he earned his B.S. in Architectural Engineering from Tennessee State University and later received his Master of Architecture from the University of South Florida.
His career has included work with architecture and construction firms in Nashville, Atlanta, and Tampa, ultimately leading him to establish Jerel McCants Architecture, Inc. during the Great Recession.
His practice has served municipal, educational, cultural, residential, and federal clients.
Beyond practice, Jerel has held leadership roles within the architectural profession, including serving as President of AIA Tampa Bay, while continuing his engagement in professional and community organizations.
His international experiences across more than 30 countries have also shaped his perspective on architecture, culture, community, and the environments we inherit and create.
Continue the Conversation
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Advocacy, Leadership & the Future of the Profession
Featuring Dillon Dunn, President of NOMA Nashville
Continue the conversation around professional advocacy, leadership, representation, and how architects can become more active participants in shaping the future of the profession.
[WATCH THE DILLON DUNN EPISODE]
The American Dream
In this episode, Brandon Gibbs examines the American Dream through architecture, housing, opportunity, public investment, and the communities that ultimately experience the consequences of the spaces we create.
How can architecture contribute to a future in which opportunity is not simply an idea, but something reflected in the places where people live, work, learn, and gather?
[WATCH THE AMERICAN DREAM EPISODE]
Architecture Beyond is where architects, designers, and creative thinkers share the stories shaping life and impact beyond the studio. Since launching, we’ve released dozens of inspiring episodes and grown into a global community of listeners who care about architecture’s role in the world.
We’d love to hear from you—what topics inspire you most, or who you’d like to see as a guest. If you’re interested in sharing your own story on the show, visit Iamthestudio.com and click ArchBeyond in the menu. Join the conversation and help us continue building a platform that elevates architects everywhere.
Sponsored by iamthestudio architecture software courses (site here).
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