Monteil Crawley

An architect in SmithGroup’s Cultural practice, Monteil recognizes “the vital role that museums and cultural institutions play in shaping our collective understanding of history and culture.” Yet that narrative, he says, has long been dominated by Eurocentric and Western perspectives. “People of color and their perspectives have been left out of the main discourse of architecture and design. By giving marginalized communities a platform to share their stories, my work strives to ensure that these spaces represent the diversity of human experience—ultimately leading to a more just and equitable society.”

Monteil says he has loved sketching and building things since his youth and discovered architecture through art. “Architecture is the built form of poetry,” he remarks. “It was architecture’s ability to create meaning, evoke emotion and connect us that drew me to the profession.” Monteil has always had an affinity for 3D puzzles, too: He has mastered 5x5 Rubik’s cubes, he reports, “but my favorite to solve is the Megaminx, a 12-sided dodecahedron.”