J. Max Bond Jr. (1935[1] – February 18, 2009) was an American architect. He developed an interest in architecture based on experiences ranging from viewing a staircase at a dormitory at the Tuskegee Institute to views of North African construction styles on a visit to Tunisia. He became one of a small number of nationally prominent African-Americanarchitects.[2] He married writer Jean Carey Bond in 1961 and they had two children.[3]
Education
Bond was born in Louisville, Kentucky to black parents. In 1951 he began his education at Harvard University while still 16 year old,[4] where he was awarded a bachelor's degree in 1955 and earned a master's degree three years later. During his time at Harvard, he was one of a group of eleven black students targeted by a cross-burning incident in front of their dormitory, Stoughton Hall.[5] He ignored advice from a Harvard faculty member to give up the professional pursuit of architecture due to his race, overcoming barriers in what was at the time a white profession.[2]
Career
Bond started his professional career in France working for architect André Wogenscky. He returned to New York City, where he worked at the firm Gruzen & Partners and then at Pedersen & Tilney. In 1964, he moved to Ghana where he designed several government buildings, including the Bolgatanga Regional Library in an area near the border with Burkina Faso, which consisted of four buildings shaded by a common roof that was designed to provide natural ventilation and make air conditioning unnecessary.[2] He returned to America in 1967.[3]
A resident of New York's Manhattan, Bond died of cancer at age 73 on February 18, 2009. He was survived by his wife, writer Jean Carey Bond, two children, three grandchildren, a sister and a brother.[2]
