Explore every episode of the podcast Behind the Building

Welcome to Behind the Building with your Host Funlola Obayan. Today on the show we have Ian Vaughan. Ian Vaughan’s design portfolio spans both the private and public sector. As an
architect and project manager, he has dedicated his career to improving the built
environment. A native of Virginia, Ian served on the Downtown Design Committee
for the City of Portsmouth from 2012-2021. In 2018, he was appointed by the
Governor to serve on the Art and Architectural Review Board for the Commonwealth
of Virginia, where he served as an advisory board member until June 2022. Ian is
also involved with VANOMA, Preservation Virginia, AIA Young Architects Forum and
the AIA Virginia’s Emerging Leaders in Architecture Honors Academy.

Welcome to Behind the Building with your Host Funlola Obayan. Today on the show we have Sidney Griffin. Sidney Griffin, licensed Architect with 20+ years of firm experience and an established leader in Building Information Modeling, specializes in the tools of digital practice and building technology. Sidney presently holds the position of BIM Project Manager for the University of Virginia Facilities Management where he is championing the integration of BIM into University operations and business practices. He has received both Master and Bachelor of Science degrees in Architecture from the University of Virginia.

Though technology in practice is his professional focus, Sidney also aspires to be a lightning rod for the significant advancement of equity and justice for minorities in Architecture and adjacent professions. He believes this starts with working with our young learners to kindle an awareness of design as a viable career path for all who envision better environments within which we live, work, play, and learn. This is especially true for people that have endured existing in spaces that were not designed to embrace them, if not outright reject them.

In pursuit of that goal, Sidney has taken a leadership role in AlA Central Virginia as the President-Elect for 2022-2024. In this role he will work with architects and supporting companies to increase awareness of the role architects play in our communities and inspire more students to pursue and excel in a design career. Sidney also is an active member of the Virginia Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (VANOMA) where he will be participating and presenting in the 2022 Proiect Pipeline Summer Camp for Virginia middle and high school students.

Outside of work and volunteering, Sidney and his wife enjoy raising three bright and promising children, exposing them to our country's natural beauty and diverse cultures through RV camping around Virginia and eventually throughout the entire United States.

Whether on the road, in the conference room, or behind a screen and keyboard, Sidney is always looking to enhance the lives and experiences of others.

Welcome to Behind the Building with your Host Funlola Obayan. 
Today on the show we have Nick Brinen. Nick is a licensed and registered architect in Virginia, Texas, and New York.  He is a Founding Partner of Studio Figure, where he oversees various project typologies across multiple scales.  The scope of his work spans from private residential to restaurants, offices, and mixed use buildings.  In conjunction with co-directing projects at Studio Figure, Nick has taught architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design, University of Virginia, Pratt Institute, and Parsons School of Design where he spent thirteen years teaching and developing the curriculum.   While at Parsons, Nick wrote and shaped drawing courses, design studios, and established the Parsons Street Seats design-build program with a research grant awarded by the Tishman Environment and Design Center.  In addition, he led the Parsons Design Workshop, an M.Arch graduate level design-build studio that designs and fully constructs community-based projects on a pro bono basis.  Currently, Nick is the Area Head and a professor of Architectural Design at James Madison University, where his research and teaching focuses on the synthesis between empathetic design-inputs and material resourcefulness to elevate design strategies for community-based projects.  Nick's research into material resourcefulness and pest-infested lumber has received funding from multiple grants and won him the 2023 Beck Fellowship.  The $6,000 annual Fellowship recognizes a full-time faculty member in the School of Art, Design and Art History who works to advance the visual arts at JMU and in the Harrisonburg-Rockingham County community, focuses on student success, embraces new technologies in their classrooms, and creates opportunities that make students thrive. 

Welcome to Behind the Building with your host Funlola Obayan. Today we have on the show Lynden P. Garland.

Lynden P. Garland, AIA is a Studio Director for the Healthcare Studio at Baskervill in Richmond, VA with over 22 years’ experience.  Previously, he was a managing principal at KEi Architects, in Richmond, VA, for 3 years. Lynden received his Bachelor of Architecture from Hampton University in 1998. At Hampton, Lynden filled his minimal free time in the marching band playing tuba and becoming a drum major. He earned a Master of Urban and Environmental Planning at the University of Virginia in 2000. Following graduation, Lynden worked at Liollio Architecture in South Carolina spending 6 years working on a wide range of projects including office/ commercial, residential, ecclesiastical, medical, and government.  Lynden worked in Florida for Chancey Design Partnership focusing on multifamily, mixed-used development, and resort projects before returning to Virginia in 2007, where he worked for Glave & Holmes Architecture in the Higher Education Studio. Lynden attained his Master of Business Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University in December 2014 and is a member of the AIA Virginia ELA 2015 class. Lynden married his wife Gabrielle in 2017 and has two children.

Welcome to Behind the Building with your Host Funlola Obayan. 

Today on the show we have Joel Mieses, RA, NOMA was born in the Dominican Republic. He migrated to the United States in 1996 at the age of 12, and grew up in the Daytona Beach area in Florida. After graduating from High school, Joel attended Florida  A&M University (FAMU), where he completed his Bachelors in Architecture and later a Masters in Landscape  Architecture in 2011. He became a Registered Architect in 2021. After working for the Design Department  of Publix Supermarkets for 7 years In 2018, Joel's family relocated to Richmond, Virginia, where he worked as a Sports and Recreation Designer for CHA Consulting. Currently Joel is a Project Manager for AECOM. He is very active in the community with his fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc., his family church, and passionately promotes the profession of Architecture as an adjunct professor and by mentoring young men and women about the wonders of Architecture. Joel and his wife have been together for 10 years and are raising four children.

Welcome to Behind the Building with your Host Funlola Obayan. 

Today on the show we have Georgie Marquez's. Georgie Márquez is Principal Owner at Andre + Marquez Architects, Inc., a SWaM certified, Hispanic woman-owned, Architecture and Interior Design firm in Norfolk, VA. The firm was started by her and her husband, Joel André, in June of 1993. Their office specializes in Commercial, Industrial, and Government work. Ms. Márquez received her Bachelor of Architecture degree from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, when few women were encouraged to study architecture or pursue STEM careers. During her time at Pratt, she received a grant from the John Hay Whitney Foundation to work with a youth gang turned sweat-equity organization: The Renigades {sic}, in East Harlem, NY. Following graduation, she continued working with the group assisting with their urban renewal plans and fund-raising. She later moved to private practice, working at several small firms in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Ms. Márquez is licensed by the Commonwealth of Virginia and the District of
Columbia to practice Architecture and is certified as a CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) Professional. In June 2018, she completed the Safety Assessment Program Evaluator Training to assist local governments in safety evaluations of the built environment following a disaster.

• Some of her work includes:
•  Project Architect for various Support Buildings in the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Expansion project
•  Project Architect for the renovation of the 9th and 10th floors of the New Executive Office Building, part of the White House campus, in
  Washington, DC
• Project Administrator in charge of Interior Design for a 22,000 SF, Silver LEED Certified Dining Facility for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection

She is involved with several local and national organizations, including the AIA, NOMA, the Hampton Roads Chapter of Women in Transportation, HRACRE, and ULI. She served as the 2020 Chair for the Hampton Roads Chamber's Norfolk Division Board. Ms. Márquez was the 2021 Vice-Chair of Small Business and the 2022 Vice-Chair of Diversity for the Chamber's Executive Board. She was selected as an honoree for the 2018 Women In Business Achievement Awards by Inside Business and is a graduate of the LEAD VA Class of 2021. In 2018 Ms. Márquez was appointed by the Norfolk City Council to the Mayor's Advisory Commission on Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation.
In 2021, she was appointed as an Invited Member to Virginia Governor Northam's Technical Advisory Committee to support developing a Coastal Adaptation and Protection Master Planning process. She currently represents the Hampton Roads chapter of the American Institute of Architects (HR-AIA) on the statewide Disaster Assistance Committee. Ms. Márquez received an M.A. in Biblical Studies from Regent University in 1992. She has taught Church History and World Religions as an Adjunct Professor at the Norfolk Campus of Tidewater Community College. She is also a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program at Babson College and the Inner City Capital Connections (ICCC) Washington D.C. program for entrepreneurs. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, she has lived overseas in Mexico City, Mexico, and Madrid, Spain. She now lives in a 110-year-old home in Port Norfolk, a nationally designated Historic District located in Portsmouth, VA. She is fully bilingual (English/Spanish) and can communicate in basic French. She is an active member of St. Paul's Catholic Church in Portsmouth, where she volunteers. Ms. Márquez and Mr. André have been married for 42 years, and have one son: Laurent André.