Profile | Diane Collier, AIA
NIChOLAS MCwhIrTEr, AIA
Diane Collier is a principal with Collier Galvin Associates, a Dallas-based firm representing manufacturers of site amenities and materials for cities, universities, corporations, and retail environments. An active and enthusiastic member of AIA for decades, she received her master of architecture degree from the University of Texas at Arlington and her bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Nebraska. An affiliate member of the American Society of Landscape Architects, her passion lies in the intelligent design of urban spaces and enhancement of those spaces using signature materials and furnishings to develop unique, safe, and inviting outdoor environments. WhY DID YOU BeCOMe An ArChITeCT?
My father was a carpenter, a builder of things. His grandfather and his brothers and ancestors were carpenters in Czechoslovakia and immigrated in the first part of the last century to Omaha, NE. My father carried on the family tradition and I remember visits to job sites early on, as well as stories of which buildings in town my family helped to build. When I was growing up, I loved to hang out with my father in his shop, exploring all the tools you could imagine. To this day, one of my favorite fragrances is sawdust. In high school, I met a college student
studying architecture and that started the life-long passion for architecture, history, etc. As a sophomore, I started taking mechanical drawing classes and, in my senior year, my high school offered an architecture class. After that there was no looking back. Being a woman in architecture in the ‘70s was interesting. I was the only woman in drafting classes for all three years in high school. There were only a couple of females in the architecture program at the University of Nebraska. That being said, I really didn’t feel that unusual on a day-to-day basis, but my place as a woman became clear when I
Page 73
interviewed in 1974 to become a summer intern for a large architecture firm. After the interview the principal walked me out of the offices, put his arm around my shoulder, and told me that this was one of the most interesting interviews he’d ever had. He said, “I’d hire you, but I have no idea what we would do with a woman.” Truly, I was stunned yet determined, and soon found a job with a smaller company that offered me a terrific summer of learning. That was the beginning of my understanding that women had to work differently to get ahead in architecture.