Dr. Phillip Smith
Phillip Smith is an architectural designer, educator, and preservation practitioner whose work centers on the role of the built environment as a vessel of African American history and cultural memory. A native of Travelers Rest, South Carolina, he is a descendant of a family whose roots in the region span eight generations, dating back to the 1830s. This deep connection to place informs his commitment to documenting, preserving, and interpreting the layered histories of the American South.
Phillip holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Notre Dame and a Bachelor of Arts in Historic Preservation and Community Planning from the College of Charleston. His work aligns closely with efforts across South Carolina to identify, preserve, and elevate sites and cultural landscapes significant to the African American experience.
As a former Assistant Professor of Classical Architecture at the American College of the Building Arts, Phillip led a progressive design curriculum spanning residential, civic, preservation-focused, and sacred architecture. His teaching emphasized architecture as both a cultural and material act, equipping students to engage history with clarity, rigor, and respect.
His recent work focuses on African American heritage documentation, cultural landscape studies, and public interpretation. He serves as an architectural historian and preservation consultant for the Santee River Delta Project and contributes to broader preservation initiatives through lectures, presentations, and community engagement.
Phillip remains actively engaged in civic and professional service. He currently serves on the Planning Commission for Travelers Rest, South Carolina, and as a Peer Professional for the U.S. General Services Administration. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the Atlanta Preservation Center and the Community Advisory Board for the Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World Program. He previously served as Vice Chairman of the South Carolina State Board of Review for the National Register of Historic Places, contributing to the evaluation and recognition of historically significant sites across the state.
Through both scholarship and practice, Phillip seeks to advance architecture as a tool for stewardship—one that not only preserves historic structures, but also sustains the stories, communities, and cultural legacies embedded within them.