Raj Barr-Kumar FAIA FRIBA, also known as Raj Barr, is an American

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, professor of architecture and was the 1997 national president of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

Personal life and education

Raj Barr was born in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

British Ceylon British Ceylon (; ), officially British Settlements and Territories in the Island of Ceylon with its Dependencies from 1802 to 1833, then the Island of Ceylon and its Territories and Dependencies from 1833 to 1931 and finally the Island of Cey ...

, to Alexander Hamilton Barr-Kumarakulasinghe and Francesca Thanga-Ranee Winslow. The Barr-Kumarakulasinghe family of Jaffna has a history as a family of distinguished professionals, and has long been recognized as "direct descendants of the ancient kings of Jaffna." Raj was educated at the Royal Preparatory School and the

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo also known as; Royal Colombo, Colombo Royal College or Colombo Royal) is a Single-sex education, boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started by Joseph Marsh (priest), Joseph Mar ...

where he won the Steward Panel Prize and served as editor of the College Magazine and Prefect. Raj earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

and

RIBA ''Riba'' (, or , ) is an Arabic word used in Islamic law and roughly translated as " usury": unjust, exploitative gains made in trade or business. ''Riba'' is mentioned and condemned in several different verses in the Qur'an3:130

Part I from the

University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univ ...

in 1971. He earned RIBA Part II and a Graduate Diploma in Architecture and Development Planning from the Bartlett School of Architecture at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

in 1974. Awarded the Ewart Memorial Scholarship for his performance at the University of London, he earned a Master of Architecture in

Urban Design Urban design is an approach to the design of buildings and the spaces between them that focuses on specific design processes and outcomes based on geographical location. In addition to designing and shaping the physical features of towns, city, ...

''summa cum laude'' from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

in 1975. He earned a Doctorate of Architecture (ArchD.)in

Sustainable Design Environmentally sustainable design (also called environmentally conscious design, eco-design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability ...

''summa cum laude'' from the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

in 2003.

Career

Architect

Raj began his architectural career in Ceylon working with the firm Panditaratna & Adithya on the Kalutara Bodhiya Temple prior to attending architecture school. He also worked with Geoffrey Bawa

on the Triton Hotel, Valentine Gunasekara RIBA on the Tangalle Bay Hotel and the Catholic Chapel at Tewatte, and Justin Samarasekera RIBA on various projects throughout the county from 1966 to 1971.Vosbeck, R. Randall. ''Legacy of Leadership: The Presidents of the American Institute of Architects.'' The American Institute of Architects, 2008. Print. After graduating from the University of Ceylon in 1971 Raj moved to Hong Kong and worked with Jon Prescott RIBA on plans for Macau New Town and renovations to the historic Teatro Dom Pedro V. Raj worked for the N-E Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board on

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

District General Hospital in the United Kingdom in 1972. He joined Llewelyn-Davies Associates in 1973 and worked on The Military Hospital in Baghdad, the Doha Hotel in Qatar, and the Manama Conference Center in Bahrein. Moving to

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

in 1974, Raj worked on the Hyatt Regency Hotel with Patty Berkebile Nelson Associates, The Menninger Foundation sanatorium in Topeka with Kiene & Bradley Associates, and on Rogers New Town, Arkansas with Seligson Associates. As Senior Designer at Barrett Daffin and Carlin in Tallahassee,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, he designed the Suwannee River Water Management District HQ Building in 1979. In 1981 Raj founded Barr-Kumar Architects Engineers PC and BARR Group International, LLC, commercial and residential

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

and

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

firms based in Washington, D.C., and served as its sole employee.

Practice Experience

Practice experience includes Cortlandt Medical Center New York, Eco Maya Condominiums in Mexico, Altos Escondidos Eco Development in Panama, Aleid Eco Resort in Saudi Arabia, World Bank HQ, Hilton, Hyatt Regency and Kimpton Hotels; Rasika, Bibiana, Bombay Club and Ardeo Restaurants; the Washington National Cathedral, Masjid Noor and Jain Temple; Trinidad & Tobago, Sri Lanka and Malta Embassies; and numerous custom homes.

Educator

Raj's career as an educator began at the University of Kansas in 1975 where he served as an assistant professor until 1979. He then served as Director and Tenured associate professor of the Florida Architecture Center in Washington, D.C. from 1979 to 1984. Raj served as an associate professor in the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

from 1986 to 1994, and was named Emens Distinguished Visiting professor at

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. The university is composed of seven aca ...

in 1998. He joined the faculty at

The Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily ...

in 2003 and introduced the first course in sustainability on campus. Raj served as Professor of Practice in the School of Architecture & Planning from 2007 to 2012. Raj taught at the University of the District of Columbia from 2017 to 2020 with the express purpose of helping the Master of Architecture program achieve accreditation. Accredited in 2020, the program at the only public university in DC provides an affordable pathway to becoming a professional and provides upward mobility to many families.

Advocate & volunteer

Throughout his career as both a practitioner and an educator Raj has attempted to publicly champion the principles of sustainable designMendis, Cheranka

'' Daily FT'', August 30, 2012, Retrieved 2015-06-17 as well as innovative approaches to addressing social problems including homelessness. In 1996, Raj was nationally elected to serve as the National 1997 President of The

(AIA) and became the first person of color to lead the organization in its 140-year history. During his tenure, Raj pioneered the annual AIA Legacy Project at the organization's national convention in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. He called for every AIA National Convention to leave improvements to the built environment of the host city. The first Legacy Project, an $11.5 million, 117,000 sf facility for New Orleans's homeless was called, "A model of cooperation and achievement." The project has been replicated in every host city since 1997, improving schools, community centers, housing, and hospitals.Adams, Eric. "A Great First Step." ''AIArchitect'', May 1997: page 19. Print.

Honors and awards

Bibliography

Books

*''Green Architecture: Strategies for Sustainable Design'' - (2003) *''Sustainable Design Strategies'' - (2010) *''Fire Water Sound Motion: Re-thinking Mechanical Systems -'' (2011)

Articles & Papers (Select)

References

External links

BARR Group International, LLC
Official firm website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Barr-Kumar, Raj 1946 births Living people 20th-century Sri Lankan architects 21st-century Sri Lankan architects 21st-century American architects 20th-century American architects Architects from Washington, D.C. University of Kansas alumni University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Fellows of the American Institute of Architects Presidents of the American Institute of Architects American people of Sri Lankan Tamil descent Tamil architects Sri Lankan emigrants to the United States