Explore every episode of the podcast Practice Disrupted by Practice of Architecture
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 165: The Future of Housing with the Co-Founders of Higharc | 29 Aug 2024 | 00:51:10 | |
How can AI, automation, and technology democratize custom home design and improve the home building process for both buyers and architects? On this episode of Practice Disrupted, we welcome Marc Minor and Michael Bergin, the co-founders of Higharc. With Marc's passion for combining design and technology and Michael's dedication to improving the built environment through design automation, they created Higharc. Higharc provides software tools to make custom home design more accessible, enabling users to design, estimate, sell, and build their ideal homes. Our discussion is focused on their vision for democratizing custom home design. First, Marc and Michael discuss the origins of Higharc, their relationship as co-founders, and their goal to bring design automation to the industry. They highlight the ways tech can address housing shortages, improve affordability, and enhance the home-building process. Then, we dive into efficient customization in home design and how Higharc empowers architects to engage with the industry on a larger scale. They share strategies for optimizing the home-buying experience for both buyers and architects, working with the industry's supply and demand, and managing the current housing market. What really is going to make it so that houses are more affordable is addressing the supply problem. Higharc as a business is also very pointed at this soft cycle supply problem making it faster to build homes so that we have more homes for people to move into. There's an ecosystem here, and if we could take that knowledge and have systems that enable professionals to engage with this process, this industry at greater scale, we all stand to benefit. - Michael Bergin To wrap up the conversation, Marc and Michael look to the future and share their vision for bridging the gap between architects and buyers, with the goal to create more diverse, automated, and connected communities. Tune in next week for an episode with Tanooki Labs Product Manager, Liz Fibleuil. Guests: Marc Minor: Marc started Higharc with the goal of making good home design accessible to more people. He’s passionate about pairing design with technology and guiding teams to bring those technologies to market. Prior to starting Higharc, Marc launched two 3D printing companies — Desktop Metal and Carbon3D — out of stealth to become industry leaders, and held management roles for some of the world’s most beloved brands and creative consultancies. Michael Bergin: Michael is VP of Product and Co-Founder of Higharc. Throughout his career, he has been dedicated to improving the built environment through design automation. Early in his architecture training, he became dissatisfied with the slow pace and limited accessibility of custom home design. Frustrated, he returned to graduate school and explored the potential to improve these conditions through research into mass-customization of homes. He applied these concepts in practice as a Research Lead at Autodesk, creating a product enabling design automation for the automotive and aerospace industries. His work leading the product design effort culminated in the release of Autodesk Generative Design. 📍 Show Links: Connect with Marc on LinkedIn Connect with Michael on LinkedIn Follow Higharc on LinkedIn 📚Continue Learning: Contact Higharc 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 164: Architect, And: Construction BD Manager Laura Wake-Ramos | 22 Aug 2024 | 00:41:24 | |
How can architects think broadly about their career options and the various ways they can contribute to and grow within the built environment? On this episode of Practice Disrupted, we're joined by Laura Wake-Ramos, a business development manager at Mortenson. As an architect and real estate developer with experience in design-build construction, she brings a unique perspective to the intersection of architecture and construction. In our conversation, Laura shares her journey in the field, insights on alternative career paths outside of traditional practice, and thoughts on the future of architecture. First, Laura shares her background of getting into architecture and what a business development manager does at Mortenson. She provides insight into business development in architecture, explaining how she balances creativity with construction logistics. Then, Laura dives into alternative career paths in architecture, emphasizing the importance of building support networks and diversifying your skills. She offers advice on following your curiosity and taking career development risks while highlighting the benefit of continuing education. In simplest terms, I think of real estate development as a Shark Tank of architecture – where you have this concept, you have this design, you have this idea, and you need to talk about how you're going to get it funded. That's where I think the bridge between architecture and development lies. The development world has connections to private equity and to the debt partners to get buildings funded. - Laura Wake-Ramos To wrap up the conversation, we discuss gaps in the architecture profession. Laura identifies areas for improvement in architectural education, such as the need for more business knowledge in capital markets and market analytics. She shares her aspirations to elevate alternative career perspectives in architecture and break down barriers between architecture and allied professions. Tune in next week for an episode about the future of housing with the co-founders of Higharc. Guests: Laura Wake-Ramos Laura is a leader in project delivery through strategy, leading teams, and technology integration. As a Business Development Manager with Mortenson, Laura is responsible for cultivating real estate development opportunities in the Washington DC metro region, leading with the strategy of integrated developer-builder. Laura’s career encompasses construction management, design-build management, and virtual design & construction integration. One notable project Laura led as the Design Phase Manager was a historic renovation project in Washington DC that won a National Design-Build Award in 2023. Laura serves as the 2023-2024 Chair of the AIA Project Delivery Knowledge Community, and serves as 2024-2026 At-Large Representative for AIA Strategic Council. Laura is passionate about volunteering and giving back her experience to the community. Laura has volunteered with the ACE Mentorship Program of America, Greater Washington Affiliate Board Member, Arquitina, Design-Build Institute of America, Mid-Atlantic Board Secretary, and DBIA student chapter liaison. 📍 Show Links: Connect with Laura on LinkedIn 📚Continue Learning: Design-Build Institute of America 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 159: Architecture, And: Senior Product Manager at Higharc | 20 Jun 2024 | 00:34:42 | |
Episode 159: Architecture, And: Senior Product Manager at Higharc How can technology, software, and product management roles transform and expand the traditional architecture practice? On this episode of Practice Disrupted, we sit down with Abe Drechsler, a licensed architect and current product manager at Higharc, to explore the intersection of the architecture practice and evolving technology. Throughout our conversation, Abe explains his role as a product manager, where he leverages digital tools to automate and streamline design processes and compares the traditional architecture practice to one that prioritizes tech. First, Abe shares why he transitioned from traditional architecture practice to product management and highlights the potential of tech-oriented roles within architectural firms. We touch on the workplace culture at Higharc and the pros and cons of the architecture industry-wide call back to working in person in the office. Then, Abe discusses the impact of technology on automating tasks, allowing architects to focus on design and other human-centric aspects of the practice. He also notes the differences between architecture and product management, including the physical nature of architecture as opposed to the digital divide and flexibility of tech. In architecture, there's a clear understanding of what you're trying to build and what the client wants, at the end of the day. It's very obvious that if a client wants a hospital, chances are they're going to expect the hospital four years later. But in tech, there's a whole lot more exploration because you are not really sure what the final solution is going to be when you start off. You have to have the conversations and you can build something wildly different depending on how the initial conversations go. - Abe Drechsler To wrap up the conversation, Abe offers his advice to recent architectural graduates who are considering non-traditional career paths. He emphasizes the influence of alternative practices on the future of built environments and outlines the opportunities they present in the field. Tune in next week for an episode where I'm going in the interview seat and we have a special guest back on the podcast. Guest: Abe Drechsler, AIA Abe is a Product Manager and Licensed Architect with a passion for design and digital technologies. As a product manager at Higharc, he develops methods for systematizing and automating the design and documentation of homes. Previously as an Architect at KieranTimberlake and Ballinger he has worked on a variety of project types and scales. Throughout his career he’s focused on expanding the value of architecture and making design more accessible. 📍 Show Links: Connect with Abe on Linkedin Check out Higharc Within Formal Cities Trailer Architechie Slack Workspace 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 087: Designing New Workplace Policies | 08 Sep 2022 | 00:50:38 | |
Episode 087: Designing New Workplace Policies If you launched an architecture firm with the goal of designing workplace policies above and beyond the baseline, what would those policies look like? This week we discover how the desire to lead with better policies informed the creation of Saam Architecture, a mid-size practice based in Boston. President and CEO Diana Nicklaus has led with the goal of reimagining what is possible. The proof is in the numbers. Her practice is a place women want to work because the policies in place support their needs. The Saam studio is a place where collaboration is celebrated. Whether it is sitting together in their Boston office or working remotely, they maintain a high level of communication and trust, empowering their team to operate in spaces and places that improve the quality of service to their clients and the quality of their team’s lives. They are cyclists, sailors, runners, gardeners, singers, kayakers, hikers, yogis, and musicians. But above all, they are a team dedicated to a common goal: to enjoy delivering value to their clients. Guest: With over 20 years of experience, Diana Nicklaus has practiced architecture in both the United States and Italy, with projects throughout the continental U.S. and Europe. Her portfolio includes high-profile, large-scale institutional projects, including those in the higher education, healthcare, cultural arts, and K-12 education sectors. As an advocate for women’s leadership and equitable practice, she has shared Saam’s strategies in numerous presentations and interviews, including Equity by Design and the AIA Women’s Leadership Summit. Diana was a founding co-chair of the Massachusetts Building Congress Women’s Network, the Founding President of Boston Professional Women in Construction, and is currently serving as the Secretary of the Board for the Boston Society of Architecture. 📍 Show Links: 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 086: A Large Firm Perspective on Innovation & Transformation: CannonDesign | 01 Sep 2022 | 00:45:26 | |
Episode 086: A Large Firm Perspective on Innovation & Transformation: CannonDesign How do large firms think about innovation and transformation within the industry, and where are they investing next? Within the last four years, CannonDesign:
In turn, growing their market share and the value they continue to deliver to their clients. In this episode, we sit down with CEO Bradley A Lukanic, AIA, to talk about the evolution of architecture practice, where he believes architects need to be focused, and the opportunities that technology and innovation are playing in decisions that Cannon is making about the growth of their operations and business. Guest: With a never-ending drive and passion for design and built experiences, Bradley A. Lukanic, AIA, LEED AP embraces situational change disrupters that transform the industry’s future – and he’s leading CannonDesign’s charge to get there. As CEO, Brad seeks partners that are curious to accelerate, command and propel design’s influences on environments with goals resolving cross-disciplinary thinking and engagement. He leads CannonDesign with a sincere approach of listening to employee and client challenges to guide a discovery of “what if” opportunities, instead of progressing in a silo. Parallel to his practical design experience, Brad’s thought leadership is shared within and beyond architecture audiences. 📍 Show Links: 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 085: A Case Study for Practice: Latent Design | 25 Aug 2022 | 00:59:52 | |
Episode 085: A Case Study for Practice: Latent Design How do you build an architecture practice that reaches beyond projects to further impact policy, culture, and community? Latent Design is a progressive Chicago-based architecture firm working at the intersection of design and community development to create social, economic and environmental impact. They define the context surrounding a project before they design the content of architecture. They offer innovative design solutions to those in resource and budget limited environments through a participatory approach that leverages local assets to directly generate project opportunities. Their collaborations range from small-scale tactical interventions, new construction community buildings, adaptive reuse, neighborhood master plans, and design speculations. In this episode, we’ll learn from architect, founder, and entrepreneur Katherine Darnstadt. Darnstadt has been building her business from the ground up since 2010. In celebration of 12+ years of growth, she’s expanded her work to help launch the Design Trust Chicago. Guest: Katherine Darnstadt, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP is the founder of Latent Design, a progressive architecture and urbanism firm leveraging civic innovation and social impact to design more equitable spaces and systems. Since founding her practice in 2010, Katherine and her firm have prototyped new urban design systems to advance urban agriculture with Fresh Moves, support small business through Boombox, created spaces for youth makers, and developed public space frameworks through Design Trust Chicago. She and the firm have been published, exhibited, and featured widely, most notably at the International Venice Architecture Biennial, Architizer A+ Awards, Chicago Ideas Week, NPR, American Institute of Architects Young Architects Honor Award winner and Crain’s Chicago 40 Under 40. She previously taught at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Northwestern University. 📍 Show Links: 📚 Continue Learning: Boombox Chicago Innovation Award video Boombox SXSW Place by Design Award video 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 084: Understanding the Architecture Labor Movement | 18 Aug 2022 | 00:59:24 | |
Episode 084: Understanding the Architecture Labor Movement Who is the Architectural Workers United? The Architectural Workers United is organizing towards making architecture more equitable, the profession more just, and our built environment more resilient. Join us as we interview Andrew Daley and Jess Myers to learn more about the architectural labor movement, unions, and the history of labor practices in architecture. What are the biggest misconceptions? What is the benefit? What are the most common questions people ask? We’ll discover all of this and more as we discuss why there is a growing group of advocates standing behind AWU. Guests: Andrew Daley is an organizer, activist, and licensed architect living and working in Brooklyn. He is currently working with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) on organizing efforts within the architecture industry. He has 12 years of experience working for a number of offices in multiple states, most recently for 7 years at SHoP Architects as a Project Director working on US embassies worldwide. Jess Myers is an assistant professor in Rhode Island School for Design’s architecture department. Her podcast Here There Be Dragons offers an in-depth look into the intersection of identity politics and security policy in public space through the eyes of New Yorkers, Parisians and Stockholmers. Her work can be found in The Architect’s Newspaper, The Funambulist Magazine, Failed Architecture, Dwell and l’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui. (Read more about Jess on Madame Architect.) 📍 Show Links: AWU Contact: architectural.workers.united@gmail.com 📚 Continue Learning: Labor Resources EPI Union Density-Top 10% Income Architecture Labor Resources The Architecture Lobby Union Pamphlet (downloadable pamphlet) Architecture and Anti-Trust Article Why Don’t Architects Have Unions? (by Jess Myers) Architecture and Labor (review of book by Peggy Deamer) FAECT Article (by Mardges Bacon) Press about AWU (selected) New York Review of Architecture Article Press about Overwork/Burnout/Stress Harvard Business Review Article (about long hours) Salon Article (about 40 hour work week) CNBC Article (about long hours) Wall Street Journal Article (about overtime) World Economic Forum (about employees leaving) National Bureau of Economic Research (union job satisfaction study) Recent Professional Unions (Non-Exhaustive, there are 6,000,000 professional union members) VICE Media Union (est. 2017) - WGA East VOX Media Union (est. 2018) - WGA East The New Yorker Union (est. 2018) - News Guild New York Magazine Union (est. 2018) - News Guild Wirecutter Union - (est. 2019) - News Guild New Museum Union - (est. 2019) - UAW Whitney Museum Union - (est. 2020) - UAW Guggenheim Union - (est. 2021) - UAW ACLU Lawyers - (est. 2021) - IFTPE 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 083: Lessons from Practice Disrupted on Navigating Change | 11 Aug 2022 | 00:45:46 | |
Episode 083: Lessons from Practice Disrupted on Navigating Change After four seasons of Practice Disrupted, what lessons on navigating change have we learned from past guests of the show? Practice Disrupted was launched during the pandemic as a niche podcast: leaders who believe architects can practice in new ways and some who are even willing to question the boundaries that define the practice. On the way to 100 episodes this season and over 19,500 listeners later, the podcast has grown beyond what we could imagine and has taught us many lessons as hosts. In this episode, we break down some themes that continue to surface throughout the podcast and share playlists for those interested in taking a deeper dive into the podcast. A special thank you to AIA Seattle Women in Design for hosting us in a July 2022 program that prompted us to explore this topic.
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| 082: Career Pivots | 04 Aug 2022 | 01:03:58 | |
Episode 082: Career Pivots How do you navigate a career that adapts to changing needs over time? In this week’s episode, we interview Tenille Bettenhausen, a Success Manager at Microdesk who has worn many different hats over time. Her path was not necessarily linear, but she has carved out a career that adapted to her changing priorities throughout life. Tenille started in a traditional firm and has taken quite a few intentional career pivots working on the ownership side, with developers, general contractors, a trade association, and more. Come with us on her journey to explore:
Did we mention Tenille is a fellow podcaster and host of Death by Architecture and a forthcoming children’s book author? We hope this episode inspires others to be intentional about their careers and understand that it’s about the journey, not a destination. Guest: Tenille Bettenhausen has been in the AEC industry for over 20 years. The first 15 of those years in project, in architecture firms and local offices as a designer and project manager. The last 6 years has been as a business developer and client relations strategist interfacing with clients. Tenille has a degree in Architecture from Arizona State University and is currently on the Board of Director for AIA Orange County and is co-chairing and mc-ing the 2023 Orange County Design Awards. She is the podcast host of Death by Architecture, a short storytelling podcast centered around true crime in the AEC industry and the author of the upcoming children's book, "Maybe I'll be an Architect" due out in this fall. Tenille is currently the Client Success Manager at Microdesk (a Autodesk software partner and technology strategy provider) where she truly believes that architecture and design lifts the human spirit and is a champion of goals that lead to knowledge diversification and consensus-building within our AEC firms. 📍 Show Links: 📚 Continue Learning: 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 081: S5 Launch: AIA Conference on Architecture Recap | 28 Jul 2022 | 00:21:19 | |
Episode 081: S5 Launch: AIA Conference on Architecture Recap Welcome back to season 5 of Practice Disrupted! Co-hosts Evelyn Lee and Je’Nen Chastain celebrate a new season and take you behind the scenes to the AIA Conference on Architecture. Following two years of waiting for large-scale in-person events to resume, the AIA welcomed its membership back by hosting a premiere conference experience against the striking architectural skyline of Chicago. Join Practice Disrupted as they reconnect with new and familiar faces from across the country, and explore what the conference has to offer. Discover what attendees had to say about the June 2022 event, what the AIA prioritizes through new executive leadership, and why volunteer leaders stay involved in the AIA. Save the date for A’23 in San Francisco! 📍 Show Links: 📚 Continue Learning: AIA CEO Lakisha Woods says "her success is tied to their success" at A’22 kickoff President Barack Obama appears at the AIA Conference on Architecture 2022 A’22: Architects, exhibitors and a former US president gather in Chicago to define a shared vision 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter
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| 080: Season 4 Finale with Madame Architect | 02 Jun 2022 | 00:56:05 | |
Episode 080: Season 4 Finale with Madame Architect Why is visibility of female leadership important in the profession of architecture? While the seeming lack of women in architecture has been well-documented, women are, and have been, making waves in all levels of the field. Madame Architect is an online magazine celebrating the extraordinary women that shape our world, a magazine designed to break the architect’s mold and show young women entering the industry the myriad choices they have in crafting a dynamic, meaningful, and interesting career. In this week’s season 4 finale, we’ve invited senior editor Amy Stone to join us in an interview. Moderator: Amy Stone is an architect, a mom of three, and is currently pursuing an MBA at Georgia Tech's Scheller College of Business. Amy is a design manager at Gensler and is dedicated to creating sustainable and equitable environments. Her professional work experience includes a variety of building types, including housing, mixed-use, adaptive-reuse, offices, higher education, and deep-green sustainable projects including the largest Living Building in the Southeast. Amy is a contributing interviewer and editor and is dedicated to elevating the voice and visibility of women in architecture and design. She studied architecture for her Bachelors's and Masters's at Georgia Tech. She is based in Atlanta. Follow Amy at @_amystone. Co-Hosts: Evelyn M. Lee, FAIA, MBA, MPA is a licensed architect in the state of California, with over 15 years of experience working with individuals and companies that are looking to reshape their future. She is the founder of Practice of Architecture, the first-ever Senior Experience Designer at Slack Technologies, and the first female Treasurer to AIA National‘s Board of Directors. She is widely published, wrote a monthly column for Contract magazine for over 3 years, and now is a frequent contributor to Architect Magazine. Evelyn has received numerous industry awards including the 2016 40 Under 40 award for Building Design + Construction and the 2014 AIA National Young Architects Award. She currently is a candidate for AIA National First VP 23/President 24 and most recently served as the first-ever female Treasurer to the AIA National Board in 2020-2021. Evelyn has been a featured Keynote Speaker, Invited Guest, Panelist, and Moderator at national design and architecture conferences including AIA National Convention, Dwell on Design, and Women in Green. Her topics focus on developing knowledge leadership, organizational change management, capacity building, stakeholder engagement, and strategic approaches to put design thinking into practice. Evelyn has nearly 20 years working with individuals, organizations, and companies who are interested in applying design thinking to their decision-making process. Je’Nen M. Chastain, MBA, Assoc. AIA (prounced Je-NEEN) is the founder of Apostrophe Consulting, a purpose-driven, woman-owned management consulting practice dedicated to helping architects transform their companies. In addition to consulting with firm leaders on practice management issues, she mentors architects on career development, leadership, and strategy. She specializes in facilitating conversations that engage multi-generational teams and has designed, developed, and presented dozens of training programs that inspire next-gen leaders. She is currently working on several in-house training solutions with award-winning firms that provide support to their teams on leadership development, mentorship, and communication. Je'Nen earned her MBA and BArch and has trained in architecture. She practiced in a traditional firm setting and has completed her NCARB hours. She has received several awards for her leadership in the profession, including the 2017 AIA Associates Award. Throughout her career, she's helped advance strategic conversations with firm owners and rising industry leaders. She has facilitated retreat planning and nationally recognized conferences, with expertise in leadership development. She co-created the AIA Leadership Institute and has contributed to dozens of professional development programs that support architects and emerging professionals. Her consulting work blends strategic planning, firm management, marketing, and team development. 📍 Show Links: Follow us at @madamearchitect. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 079: Increasing Black Women in Architecture | 26 May 2022 | 00:44:59 | |
Episode 079: Increasing Black Women in Architecture How can we elevate and celebrate Black Women Architects? FIRST 500 was founded with this mission in mind. Founder Tiara Hughes set out with the goa of elevating and celebrating Black Women Architects to raise awareness about their distinction through an excellent central community. FIRST 500 inspires Black women and girls to infinitely increase our licensed representation in the industry to better reflect the environments we serve. Tiara is building a database to bring visibility and showcase Black Women Architects, collecting and designing resources to support rising talent who are exploring architecture. She is also speaking to leaders about how to expand awareness and support. Guest: A St. Louis native, based in Chicago, Tiara Hughes is a Senior Urban Designer at SOM, an adjunct professor at IIT, a Commissioner with the City of Chicago Landmarks Commission, and founder of FIRST 500, a global platform dedicated to elevating and celebrating Black Women Architects. She is a devoted activist, educator, and advocate for underrepresented communities and voices, and currently serves on the Board for NOMA and the Charnley-Persky House Board of Directors for the SAH. Tiara's personal experiences in the industry along with her passion for advocacy led her to establish FIRST 500 in 2018. As the founder and executive director of FIRST 500, Tiara raises awareness of the importance of Black Women Architects throughout history and their contribution to the built environment. As a designer, Tiara creates work that emphasizes greater socioeconomic equity and cultural awareness. She believes "Ultimately our efforts to positively impact communities of color will expand outward and evolve our institutions, our firms, our industry, and by extension, our communities." In 2021, Tiara received the prestigious AIA Associates Award. In 2022, she received Landmark Illinois’ Influencer award for her progressive and inclusive efforts to preserve the built environment and advance the design industry. 📍 Show Links: 📚 Continue Learning: 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter | |||
| 078: Leading on Climate Action for a Positive Future | 19 May 2022 | 00:58:06 | |
Episode 078: Leading on Climate Action for a Positive Future How can architects address the challenge of global warming? Planetary warming is one of the biggest disruptions of our time. In this special crossover episode focused on climate action, our friends from Design the Future podcast will join us to discuss the evolution of the sustainable design movement and where it is heading. What can architects do to be part of the solution? The Design the Future podcast is hosted by Lindsay Baker and Kira Gould, two women working at the intersection of the built environment and climate change. Kira and Lindsay will share how they've seen architects leading on climate action, and where the opportunities exist for new leaders to join this work. Guests: Kira Gould is a writer, consultant, and convenor, working from multiple perspectives. As a writer and member of the design media, on staff at and as a consultant to firms, and as a volunteer leader at AIA, she has led the redefinition of design excellence as inclusive of climate action, health, and equity, and emphasized that human and leadership diversity is crucial to advancing all those goals. She is a member of the AIA Committee on the Environment's national Leadership Group. She is a Senior Fellow with Architecture 2030, and was named an Honorary Member of the AIA in 2022. She co-authored Women in Green: Voices of Sustainable Design with Lance Hosey (Ecotone, 2007). As CEO of the International Living Future Institute, Lindsay Baker is the organization’s chief strategist, charged with delivering on its mission to lead the transformation toward a civilization that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative. Lindsay is a climate entrepreneur, experienced in launching and growing innovative businesses. Her introduction to the green building movement began at the Southface Institute in Atlanta, where she interned before entering Oberlin College to earn a BA in Environmental Studies. She was one of the first 40 staff members at the U.S. Green Building Council, working to develop consensus about what the LEED rating system would become. She then earned an MS from the University of California at Berkeley in Architecture, with a focus on Building Science, and spent five years as a building science researcher at the UC Berkeley Center for the Built Environment. Lindsay applied her experience around the study of heat, light, and human interactions in buildings to a role with Google’s Green Team, and later co-founded a smart buildings start-up called Comfy, which grew over five years to 75 employees and a global portfolio of clients. She was the first Global Head of Sustainability and Impact at WeWork, where she built the corporate sustainability team and programs from scratch. Lindsay is a Senior Fellow at the Rocky Mountain Institute, and a lecturer at UC Berkeley. She serves on several non-profit boards, and is an advisor and board member for numerous climate tech startups. 📍 Show Links: International Living Future Institute Listen to Design the Future Podcast 📚 Continue Learning: AIA Resilience and Adaptation Certification Series Framework for Design Excellence 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 158: Architecture, And: Director of Product at Intelligent City | 13 Jun 2024 | 00:46:54 | |
Episode 158: Architecture, And: Director of Product at Intelligent City How can architects leverage the evolution of technology and the role of architects to enhance sustainability and innovation within the built environment? On this episode of Practice Disrupted, we are joined by Kristin Slavin, an architect, developer, and product manager who has helped drive national building code changes and an industry-wide shift to more sustainable building practices. Throughout our chat, we focus on the evolving roles of architects in sustainable practices. Kristin currently serves as Director of Product at Intelligent City, a company working to lead a sustainable future using mass timber technology and set new standards in affordable, carbon-neutral, urban living. First, Kristin shares her background in architecture and her exploration of various career paths, eventually transitioning into production design and management. She also discusses the limitations the founders of Intelligent City saw with traditional architectural methods and how that translated into the company's conception. Then, Kristin discusses the evolution of Intelligent City, explains the construction technologies they use, and emphasizes the design and quality of their solutions. She also highlights their internal culture and professional development, the benefits of diverse teams and remote work, and the intersection of architecture and construction industries. I think small teams can be really efficient. Often in the traditional practice of architecture, we may underestimate people's capabilities, and try to hold things more tightly than we need to sometimes. If you can give people the freedom to explore and grow within their role or even outside of their role, people will surprise you. So I think there's a lot of power in that. - Kristin Slavin To wrap up the conversation, Kristin encourages new architects to seek innovative firms and opportunities, emphasizing confidence, decisiveness, and the acceptance of their mistakes. She also explains her vision for the future, where architects embrace new technologies and materials for sustainable solutions and work with AI companies to create efficient, market-responsive designs. Tune in next week for an episode about a different take on Product Management. Guest: Kristin Slavin Kristin Slavin is Director of Product/Architect, bringing her expertise and thought leadership in mass timber construction and low carbon building design to the team. Her extensive experience as an architect, developer, and product manager of mass timber buildings and prefabricated building products has helped drive national building code changes and an industry wide shift to more sustainable building practices. Her built work includes Carbon12, the tallest CLT building in the US at completion. 📍 Show Links: Connect with Kristin on Linkedin Check out Intelligent City 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 077: Urban Intervention with Groundcycle | 12 May 2022 | 00:44:11 | |
Episode 077: Urban Intervention with Groundcycle What can we learn from a former architectural designer turned sustainable entrepreneur? At the peak of COVID-19 in New York City, farmers struggled to distribute their produce and the city had suspended all composting options. An architectural designer saw an opportunity to make a difference in her community. She began by picking up composting bins from friends and neighbors and has since grown her outreach into a fully operational business with over 300 customers. Vivian Lin made the jump from architecture into sustainable entrepreneurship and is dedicated to closing the loop between produce and compost with her Bin Swap and Compost Hub programs. Guest: Vivian Lin is a sustainability enthusiast born and raised in Midwood, Brooklyn. Being from lower Brooklyn, she has realized that many of NYC’s most valuable resources, including brown bins, Greenmarkets, and even Citi Bikes, don’t reach a majority of the city’s population. It’s important to her that these programs become accessible to all. Vivian is trained as an architect but recently left her design career to fill the massive composting gap in New York City. She is interested and curious about almost everything and is happiest when traveling, petting dogs, at an art museum, or simply being outside. Funny enough, for someone who started a delivery and pickup service, Vivian doesn’t even know how to drive but that doesn’t stop her. She is determined to make NYC a greener place to live. 📍 Show Links: 📚 Continue Learning: Read the article published in New York Times 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 076: Practice Applications Digital Architecture, Block Chain, and NFTS | 05 May 2022 | 01:04:18 | |
Episode 076: Practice Applications Digital Architecture, Block Chain, and NFTS What are practice applications of digital architecture, block chain, and NFTs? This week on Practice Disrupted we are going deeper into technology talk about all the buzzwords around the metaverse, cyber currency, blockchain, and NFTs to talk expert Wendy W Fok on the potential implications these technologies have on practice and the fabric of our communities. This conversation delves deeper into:
Guest: Wendy W Fok (she/them), trained as an architect, is interested in design, technology, and creative solutions for the built environment. They have experience in Product Development and Program Management from Zero to Launch, Design-Build, Manufacturing, Hardware/Software, and Digital Fabrication. Proficient in 3D modelling, innovative material research, design-build, augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (XR) design, and other types of engagement that could promote a larger discussion of how consumers interact with products and delivery for architecture, real estate, retail, and innovative business development. Grantee of the New York City Corps Artist Grant (2021), Fellow at the MacDowell (2022), Urban Design Forum (since 2018), they were featured as Autodesk Remake’s Women in Reality Computing (2017), winner of the Autodesk AiR (2016), Digital Kluge Fellowship, Library of Congress (2014/15), ADC Young Guns 11 Award (2013), AIA Dallas Women in Architecture (2013), Perspective 40 under 40 (2011), and Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award (2009). Fok was the co-editor of AD Journal’s “Digital Property – Open Source Architecture”, published by Wiley. Their recent book chapter “Bio-Data Matter of New York City” is published by Routledge in “Data, Matter, Design – Strategies in Computational Design”, edited by Frank Melendez, Nancy Diniz, Marcella Del Signore. Fok is currently working on “digitalSTRUCTURES” in issues of digital property and data infrastructures. Fok holds a Doctor of Design from Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) partnering with the Harvard Law School, obtained her Master of Architecture and Certification of Urban Policy/Planning from Princeton University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture with a Concentration in Economics (Statistics) from Barnard College, Columbia University. 📍 Show Links: Digitalstructures.cc IG: @WendyWFok Twitter: @W_W_F Personal: http://wendyfok.com 📚 Continue Learning: Fok is currently working on “digitalSTRUCTURES” in issues of digital property and data infrastructures. 💻 Learn about our podcast partners: 👉 Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool. Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not. Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now. 👉 ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit http://getarchit.com/pd to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 075: Growing an AEC Startup / The Evolution of a Company | 21 Apr 2022 | 00:56:38 | |
Episode 075: Growing an AEC Startup / The Evolution of a Company Why is everyone talking about Monograph? Founded in 2018 by Robert Yuen, Alex Dixon, and Moe Amaya, the initial agency called Dixon & Moe has grown into a 50-person team, now known as Monograph. In their search to build tools and websites for startups and architecture firms, they noticed a recurring challenge—architects and project managers kept complaining about their existing and non-existent project management software. Even more prevalent, there was a disconnect between how projects were managed, budgets were forecast, and time was tracked. Often they would hear that existing solutions are “cumbersome” or “tedious”. Why wasn’t there a solution that could help architects manage their firms more effectively, with more transparency? This week we interview Robert Yuen, the CEO and Co-Founder of Monograph to learn about the company’s growth, pursuit in solving the challenges of the industry, and vision for the future. Let’s just say that their plans are much bigger than project management. Guest: Robert Yuen, Assoc. AIA, is the CEO and Co-Founder of Monograph, a software company revolutionizing the future in how architectural projects are managed. Having worked as an architectural designer in his hometown Chicago and ultimately setting his roots down in San Francisco, Yuen discovered his passion for designing software solutions for the AEC industry. A serial entrepreneur, a trained architect, and zealously productive, Robert is an active member and avid public speaker within the architecture, design, and engineering industries. His experience in working with some of the industry’s most renowned firms and designers, including SOM, Holabird & Root, and BluHomes, led him to discover a void for a simple cloud-based project management application that was tailored to the industry. As such, Yuen co-founded Monograph alongside his co-founders Alex Dixon and Moe Amaya, to help architects and engineers oversee projects in an integrated, user-friendly, and ever-evolving interface. Robert graduated with a Masters in Architecture and a Masters in Science in Digital Technologies from the University of Michigan. 📍 Show Links: 💻 Learn about our podcast partners:👉 Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see projects and firm-wide financial health in a single tool. Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not. Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now. 👉 ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit http://getarchit.com/pd to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter | |||
| 074: Exploring the Evolution of Computational Design | 14 Apr 2022 | 01:00:25 | |
Episode 074: Exploring the Evolution of Computational Design What should architects understand about the influence of computational design in practice? Technology has prompted a massive change in the way we practice architecture. This week we’ve invited Andrew Heumann to the show to help us take a deep dive into the world of computational design and coding. This episode aims to bridge the gap between those new to the niche of computational design and those embedded in the community. Andrew will share his perspective on the evolution of the digital tools that help architects create, the role of coding in architectural design, his work at Hypar, and trends in computational design. Building technology visionaries have spent 70 years telling us we could generate building designs, but instead, the software industry helped us draw walls. It's time for AEC to do what the software industry has done for 40 years — capture and share its expertise to accelerate the improvement of an entire sector, not just individual projects. With Hypar, anyone can generate, visualize and analyze buildings to make better decisions faster. You can easily add your own processes and expertise so you don’t start from square one with each new project. Guest: Andrew Heumann is a software developer at Hypar, with a passion for building the next generation of software tools for designers. He has previously worked as an automation researcher at WeWork, and before that as an architectural designer at Woods Bagot and NBBJ architects. He has written more than 20 plug-ins for 3D modeling software like Rhino and Revit, including the popular "Human" and "Human UI" plugins for Grasshopper. Outside of his professional work, Andrew is a generative artist, working with data, algorithms, geometry, and machines to create rich visual abstractions that engage and challenge the limits and affordances of digital media. Andrew has studied both architecture and computer science and has lectured and taught seminars at Columbia GSAPP, Yale University, Princeton University, and the California College of the Arts. His work has been published in Wallpaper* magazine, the International Journal of Architectural Computing, CLOG journal, and presented at conferences including ACADIA, SIMAUD, Autodesk University, the Design Modelling Symposium, and the AEC Technology Symposium. 📍 Show Links: Andrew on Twitter @andrewheumann 📚 Continue Learning: <ATN> #26 What's All The Hype About Hypar W/ ANDREW HEUMANN TRXL 014: 'A DEGREE OF NUCLEAR', WITH ANDREW HEUMANN 💻 Learn about our podcast partners: 👉 Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool. Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not. Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now. 👉 ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit http://getarchit.com/pd to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 073: Architecture, And: Civic Leadership | 07 Apr 2022 | 00:58:38 | |
Episode 073: Architecture, And: Civic Leadership How are individuals using their training in architecture to explore diverse career paths in government and public service? The Mayors’ Institute on City Design (MICD) is a leadership initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors. Since 1986, the Mayors’ Institute has helped transform communities through design by preparing mayors to be the chief urban designers of their cities. MICD has hosted over 1,200 mayors representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. This week we’ll interview Trinity Simons, the Executive Director of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, and Jake Day, the Mayor of Salisbury, Maryland. Trinity and Mayor Day both started their careers in architecture. We’ll interview them to learn more about their current leadership responsibilities, the path from architecture to civic leadership, and how their foundational education informs their work. Guests: Trinity Simons helps local leaders across the nation improve their communities, bringing together her advanced training in architecture and planning with a conviction about the importance of the built environment and respect for the democratic process. For the last decade, she has served as the executive director of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design (MICD). At MICD, she works with mayors across the country on the nation’s most pressing urban planning and design challenges. During her tenure, she has led the expansion of leadership development and learning opportunities for mayors, building off the successful MICD Institute model, to now include virtual seminars for mayors, advanced technical assistance, and the innovative MICD Just City Mayoral Fellowship. She speaks and writes frequently about the intersection of design and politics, and how design is a tool that can help mayors creatively address numerous challenges simultaneously, including equity, affordability, and sustainability. Under her leadership, in 2021, MICD was awarded the Landscape Architecture Foundation’s Founders’ Award, its highest honor for organizations. Trinity previously directed the Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship, a prestigious fellowship program for emerging architects and landscape architects to achieve design excellence in affordable housing through work with community development corporations. Trinity has a Bachelor of Architecture from the Fay Jones School at the University of Arkansas and a Master of City Planning with a focus on city design and real estate development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Jake Day is the Mayor of Salisbury, Maryland. Born and raised in Salisbury, he was elected to the City Council at the age of 30 and unanimously elected President. First elected Mayor in 2015, he was reelected in 2019 with 86% of the vote. Under his leadership, Salisbury has established a Housing First program to reduce chronic homelessness, opened its first 2 youth community centers and recreation programs, borne witness to Maryland’s fastest declining rate of opioid overdoses, and the fastest dropping crime rate of any US city in the last decade. The renaissance of Downtown Salisbury has helped Salisbury become Maryland’s fastest-growing City, America’s 7th fastest growing job market, and America’s 16th fastest-growing metro area. As Mayor, Jake oversaw the complete reorganization of the Salisbury government; restoring employee morale, customer service, efficiency, and transparency. Jake earned a bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the University of Maryland, a Master’s Degree in Urban Design from Carnegie Mellon University, and a Master of Science in Environmental Policy from Oxford University where he graduated with distinction for his dissertation on the American lawn. Jake has spent his career revitalizing downtowns and making them more vibrant, livable places. His work with the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, most recently as the Director of the Center for Towns, employed design, planning, and implementation assistance to establish vibrant, sustainable small cities and towns on the Eastern Shore. Before moving back to the land of pleasant living, Jake served as national President of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) and later as Editor-in-Chief of CRIT: a journal of architecture. A Richard Upjohn Fellow, he served on the American Institute of Architects (AIA) national Board of Directors and in various capacities with each of the national architectural organizations (NCARB, NAAB, ACSA) as well as Urban Dialogues. 📍 Show Links: Mayors’ Institute on City Design 💻 Learn about our podcast partners: 👉 Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool. Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not. Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now. 👉 ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit http://getarchit.com/pd to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter | |||
| 072: Finding Your Voice as a Leader | 31 Mar 2022 | 01:14:45 | |
Episode 072: Finding Your Voice as a Leader What lessons on leadership and career growth can we learn from Practice Disrupted co-hosts Evelyn Lee and Je’Nen Chastain? To celebrate the last day of Women’s History Month, Evelyn and Je’Nen sit down to have an open and honest discussion about their career paths as industry leaders. They’ll discuss stepping into leadership responsibilities as emerging professionals in the AIA, challenges they faced in practice, and mentors who helped them along the way. Learn more about the experiences that have informed their work as well as their diverse contributions to the profession. Across four seasons of Practice Disrupted, Evelyn and Je’Nen continue to encourage individuals to share their personal stories on leadership to elevate more voices in practice. Hosts: Evelyn Lee, FAIA, NOMA, is the first-ever Senior Experience Designer at Slack Technologies, Founder of the Practice of Architecture, and Co-Host of the podcast, Practice Disrupted. Lee seamlessly integrates her business and architecture background with a qualitative and quantitative focus to build better experiences for an organization's employees, clients, and guests. She is widely published, wrote a monthly column for Contract magazine for over 3 years, and now is a frequent contributor to Architect Magazine. Evelyn has received numerous industry awards including the 2016 40 Under 40 award for Building Design + Construction and the 2014 AIA National Young Architects Award. She recently served as the first-ever female Treasurer to the AIA National Board in 2020-2021. Je’Nen M. Chastain, MBA, Assoc. AIA is the founder of Apostrophe Consulting, a practice focused on helping architects and next-gen leaders strengthen their teams and businesses. In addition to consulting with firm leaders on practice management issues, she mentors architects on career development, leadership, and strategy. She specializes in facilitating conversations that engage multi-generational teams and has designed, developed, and presented dozens of training programs that inspire next-gen leaders. She is currently working on several in-house training solutions with award-winning firms that provide support to their teams. Je’Nen is a co-host on the podcast Practice Disrupted, a show that explores the evolution of architectural practice through conversations with industry thought leaders. Through this work, she’s transformed her expertise in marketing and communication into a passion for telling the stories of leaders who are moving the practice of architecture forward. Common themes discussed on the show include business strategy, operations, technology, cultural shifts, entrepreneurship, and professional development. Je'Nen earned both her MBA and BArch, and has trained in architecture. She has received several awards for her leadership in the profession, including the 2017 AIA Associates Award. 📍 Show Links: Practice of ArchitectureEvelyn LeeApostrophe ConsultingListen to past episodes of the show: https://practiceofarchitecture.com/podcast/https://gablmedia.com/show/practicedisrupted/💻 Learn about our podcast partners: 👉 Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool. Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not. Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now. 👉 ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit http://getarchit.com/pd to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 👉 NCARB: Shape the Future of Architecture. You have the power to influence future updates to how architects are educated, trained, and licensed. Visit ncarb.org/AOP to take NCARB’s profession-wide Analysis of Practice survey and ensure your voice is heard. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 071: A Case Study for Practice: Shepley Bulfinch | 24 Mar 2022 | 00:58:07 | |
Episode 071: A Case Study for Practice: Shepley Bulfinch What workplace policies and recruitment strategies actually attract talent? This week is both a case study for practice management and firm leadership, featuring two CEOs working in partnership to help their firm grow and navigate this pivotal moment of industry transformation. Shepley Bulfinch is a national architecture firm that tackles complex challenges, focusing on visionary design in education, healthcare, and urban development. They are a nationally certified woman-owned business and a firm member of the Large Firm Round Table. Current CEO Angela Watson, FAIA, and immediate past CEO Carole Wedge, FAIA share their thoughts on practice management, their firm’s new workplace policies, and their leadership transition. They’ll also discuss key strategies the firm has implemented to attract new talent to the team. Learn how Shepley Bulfinch has embraced change to move the practice forward. Guests: Angela Watson, FAIA, LEED AP, is the President and CEO of Shepley Bulfinch, where she focuses on creating environments that support people in learning, teaching, and collaborating. Throughout her 25-year career, she has led more than a dozen award-winning projects. Angela publishes and presents widely, including a number of studies that investigate the impact of light on occupant well-being to better understand the relationship between space and behavior. Her passion for teaching in both the classroom and studio makes her a leader who fosters a collaborative team process that challenges all members to reach their full potential. Born and raised in Germany, she attended Universität Karlsruhe and earned her Master of Architecture from MIT, where she returned as a design studio lecturer from 2006-2010. She was named a Senior Fellow at the Design Futures Council in 2020. Carole Wedge, FAIA, LEED AP, is a Principal and former President and CEO at Shepley Bulfinch. Her work in both leadership and design capacities is noted for its success in achieving organizational change and strategically positioning her clients for the future. Carole is recognized for her leadership in moving the firm forward, growing the quality and creativity of the firm’s work, and aligning the brand. She is the recipient of the 2020 Edward C. Kemper Award. A senior member of the firm’s Education Practice Group, her experience includes projects at Princeton University, University of Houston, and Harvard Business School. 📍 Show Links: 💻 Learn about our podcast partners: March 8th - 10th, Monograph is hosting Section Cut, a virtual conference and career fair dedicated to firm owners and operation leaders. Hear from leaders at Cottage, Krueck Sexton, Verdant Studio, and more! Register today to reserve a seat by visiting https://sectioncut.com/ 👉 ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit http://getarchit.com/pd to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 👉 NCARB: Shape the Future of Architecture. You have the power to influence future updates to how architects are educated, trained, and licensed. Visit ncarb.org/AOP to take NCARB’s profession-wide Analysis of Practice survey and ensure your voice is heard. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 070: She Builds Crossover in Three Acts | 17 Mar 2022 | 01:02:20 | |
Episode 070: She Builds Crossover in Three Acts What lessons on change and disruption can we learn from the women who have influenced the industries of building design and construction? To celebrate the 70th episode of Practice Disrupted we’ve teamed up with our friends at She Builds Podcast to create a very special AEC podcast crossover episode. Tune in to discover how women who shaped the history of the design and construction industry relate to modern themes of change, including: identity & culture; workplace shifts; and disruption in education. She Builds Podcast is a podcast featuring the seldom-told stories of women who build; women whose worth is not taught in schools, but who have shaped the industries of architecture, construction, and development over the last century. The podcast was started by three friends who, after graduating from Syracuse University School of Architecture together, wanted to fill in the gaps in their education and share those with others. Guests: Norgerie Rivas is an Architectural Associate with a Bachelor’s of Architecture from Syracuse University. She works for an architecture firm in Houston, Texas. Since before she was riding a bicycle she was making model houses and dreaming of becoming an architect. Norgerie has experience in commercial, healthcare, and retail architecture projects from design through construction. She is also a co-host of She Builds Podcast. She enjoys the process of creating and developing projects, whether they are physical spaces or an internet radio show. With She Builds Podcast, Norgerie hopes to share the stories of women in the AEC industry and to inspire future, new, and experienced people in the profession. Norgerie enjoys bike rides with her husband, sampling craft beers, and playing board games whenever she has a chance. Elizabeth Raar (Lizi) is a licensed architect at an architecture firm in Marin County, California. Originally from Holland, Michigan, she always had an interest in architecture and design and knew that would be her profession by the age of 11. After architecture school, Lizi took an internship at an architectural concept firm in The Hague, Netherlands. In 2014 she moved to San Francisco to take a job at her current firm, which focuses on single-family residential architecture. Lizi loves focusing on making a client's home functional and yet beautiful for them. Now with She Builds Podcast, Lizi is so excited to be sharing stories of women in the industry who haven’t been showcased throughout history in the hopes that women will play a more equal part in future architectural history. When not in the office or podcasting, Lizi is most likely traveling the world, salsa dancing, or baking delicious things. Jessica Rogers is a Miami native that now resides in Washington D.C working as a Senior Manager for Program Development at the AIA National Headquarters. There she manages and develops programming and resources for emerging professionals, women in architecture, and EDI Strategies. She is passionate about helping others succeed, elevating the voices of those underrepresented, and creating a more equitable profession. Prior to working for the AIA, Jessica was a drafter at several firms in Tampa and Miami, Florida. She has worked on various projects including single-family homes, retail land proposals, and a Port Terminal for the City of Miami. Jessica attended Design and Architecture Senior High, a magnet art school in the design district in Miami. She loves being creative and trying new things like handling the social media of She Builds Podcast. You can typically find Jessica in a museum or gallery, catching up on pop culture, or tending to her plants. Show Links: Continue Learning: 📚 Episode 17: Minnette de Silva 🎧 She Builds Episode Catalogue 💻 Learn about our podcast partners: March 8th - 10th, Monograph is hosting Section Cut, a virtual conference and career fair dedicated to firm owners and operation leaders. Hear from leaders at Cottage, Krueck Sexton, Verdant Studio, and more! Register today to reserve a seat by visiting https://sectioncut.com/ 👉 ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit http://getarchit.com/pd to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 👉 NCARB: Shape the Future of Architecture. You have the power to influence future updates to how architects are educated, trained, and licensed. Visit ncarb.org/AOP to take NCARB’s profession-wide Analysis of Practice survey and ensure your voice is heard. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter | |||
| 069: A Case Study on Leadership: Expanding Established Design Practices to New Locations | 10 Mar 2022 | 00:54:38 | |
Episode 069: A Case Study on Leadership: Expanding Established Design Practices to New Locations What does it take to help an established firm set up a new office in a new location? This week we host a panel interview featuring three architects representing three award-winning design firms to learn about their individual experiences of helping each of their practices expand into a new location. While each architect’s story is unique, these women will discuss and discover the common themes between their journeys. Learn more about each firm, the leadership teams who support them, how each leader pitched the idea to their team, and the level of support necessary to make this type of transition happen. Amanda Loper, AIA, LEED AP, Summer McEneny, and Abigail Hammett, AIA are three strong architect leaders with a vision of how to expand their practices, while also helping their hometowns. Case study firms:
Our three practice leaders include: Amanda Loper, AIA, LEED AP, is a Principal at David Baker Architects, a progressive, award-winning architecture and urban design firm known for combining social concern with a signature design character. Amanda leads the southeastern office in Birmingham, Alabama, which she established in 2016. Her work integrates architecture and urban design so that each project is a “small but mighty act of urbanism.” Since the completion of her Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Interior Architecture at Auburn University, Amanda has contributed to solving the affordable housing crises in San Francisco and throughout the Southeast. She adapts these solutions to help other cities across the country address their own affordable housing crises and enhance livability. A strong “architecture communicator,” Amanda also shares her experiences, innovations, and philosophy widely with designers, students, developers, and the public through lectures and writing. Amanda was awarded a 2021 AIA Young Architects Award, a national honor that recognizes individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and made significant contributions to the architecture profession early in their careers. Contact Amanda at amandaloper@dbarchitect.com. Summer McEneny is a Principal at Cone Architecture based in Seattle, WA and Charlotte, NC. Cone was founded in Seattle in 2015 with the goal of making a collective impact on the future of housing. After graduating from the UNC-Charlotte School of Architecture, Summer spent ten years in Seattle, where she became a licensed architect and joined Cone in 2016. She managed residential projects of a wide variety of scales – from small residential remodels, to mid-size townhome communities, to large mixed-use apartment projects. Summer recently relocated back home to North Carolina to be closer to her family, and now leads the Cone Carolina office in Charlotte, NC, where she looks forward to bringing her expertise in community-oriented housing design to her home state. Abigail Hammett, AIA is an Associate Principal at Brick leading East Coast operations as Managing Director of the firm’s new Boston office. She is a committed generalist – part design-obsessed creative thinker, part detail-oriented production enthusiast, and part business-minded long-term strategist. She has practiced on both the east and west coasts and has extensive experience in the design and execution of a broad range of project types including commercial, life science, higher education, affordable housing, hospitality, and adaptive-reuse. Abigail brings enthusiasm, dedication, rigor, and humor to all her professional pursuits, and is at her best when collaborating with a diverse and intelligent team. Abigail holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and a Masters in Architecture from the University of Michigan. She is a licensed architect in California and Massachusetts, a working mom of two exuberant daughters, and the newest member of the Planning Board in her hometown of Watertown, MA. Contact Abigail at ahammett@brick-inc.com. 📍 Show Links: 📚 Continue Learning:
💻 Learn about our podcast partners: March 8th - 10th, Monograph is hosting Section Cut, a virtual conference and career fair dedicated to firm owners and operation leaders. Hear from leaders at Cottage, Krueck Sexton, Verdant Studio, and more! Register today to reserve a seat by visiting https://sectioncut.com/ 👉 ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit http://getarchit.com/pd to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 👉 NCARB: Shape the Future of Architecture. You have the power to influence future updates to how architects are educated, trained, and licensed. Visit ncarb.org/AOP to take NCARB’s profession-wide Analysis of Practice survey and ensure your voice is heard. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 068: 2022 AIA Whitney M. Young Jr. Honor Award Winners: RIDING THE VORTEX | 03 Mar 2022 | 01:04:46 | |
Episode 068: 2022 AIA Whitney M. Young Jr. Honor Award Winners: RIDING THE VORTEX What lessons on architecture, practice, and change can we learn from AIA Whitney M. Young Jr. Honor Award Recipients Kathryn Prigmore, Kathy Dixon, Katherine Williams, and Melissa Daniel? Named for civil rights leader Whitney M. Young Jr., the AIA Whitney M. Young Jr. Honor Award distinguishes an architect or architectural organization that embodies social responsibility and actively addresses a relevant issue, such as affordable housing, inclusiveness, or universal access. Architects and design leaders Kathryn Tyler Prigmore, FAIA; Kathy Denise Dixon, FAIA; Katherine Williams, AIA; and Melissa R. Daniel, Assoc. AIA are the winners of this year’s award for their leadership in advancing educational programming to support and increase the number of people of color licensed to practice architecture in the U.S. According to the American Institute of Architects, “The number of practicing African-American architects had been a stagnant 2% in recent decades. In the early 1990s, there were just 1,800 licensed African-American architects in the country, and only 30 of them were women. As of the summer of 2021, those numbers have grown to 2,435 and 533, respectively, and VORTEX has been a major catalyst in the 254% growth in African-American women architects.” This episode includes the stories of the VORTEX collaborators, as well as a candid discussion about their careers, what inspires them, and their work to build this program. Guests: Kathryn Prigmore, FAIA, NOMAC, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C, CDT is an architect, educator, and design practice leader with an inimitable understanding of the dynamics that impact the management of firms from the perspective of an architect, academic, and regulator. She has over 40 years of design and management experience for award-winning architectural projects of a wide range of sizes, types and delivery methods executed for private and public clients within diverse practice environments. Her academic leadership includes teaching experience in sustainable design. As an award-winning strategic thinker and planner, she is also a leader in regulatory issues and professional ethics. Kathryn is skilled at growing staff into leaders. Kathy Denise Dixon was born in Baltimore and grew up in Harford County, Maryland. She is a graduate of Howard University School of Architecture and attended UCLA matriculating with a Master's degree in Urban Planning in 1993. Kathy has been a licensed architect since 1998 and started the firm K Dixon Architecture, PLLC in 2003. She acquired legacy firm Walton Madden Cooper Robinson Poness in 2016. Kathy is a past president of the National Organization of Minority Architects and was elevated to Fellow in the American Institute of Architects in 2017. She is also the co-author of the book titled “The Business of Architecture: Your Guide to a Financially Successful Firm” published in December 2017. Katherine Williams, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP is a licensed architect in Northern Virginia and currently a Senior Project Manager at a DC university. Her career path includes work in traditional architecture firms, community development, and managing commercial construction for a general contractor. Katherine has written extensively about the architecture profession, diversity in the industry, and community development. She has served as editor for multiple publications and was the NOMA magazine editor from 2009-2014. She writes at katherinerw.com and is publisher/editor for archstories.com. Melissa R. Daniel is an architectural designer in Maryland, and the creator and host of the Architecture is Political, a podcast where Black and Brown folks have a conversation about architecture. She served as executive co-chair of the 2017 AIA Women’s Leadership Summit, and was a recipient of a 2018 AIA Associates Award. 📍 Show Links:
📚 Continue Learning:
💻 Learn about our podcast partners: March 8th - 10th, Monograph is hosting Section Cut, a virtual conference and career fair dedicated to firm owners and operation leaders. Hear from leaders at Cottage, Krueck Sexton, Verdant Studio, and more! Register today to reserve a seat by visiting https://sectioncut.com/ 👉 ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit http://getarchit.com/pd to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 👉 NCARB: Shape the Future of Architecture. You have the power to influence future updates to how architects are educated, trained, and licensed. Visit ncarb.org/AOP to take NCARB’s profession-wide Analysis of Practice survey and ensure your voice is heard. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 157: The Skills Required for a Technology Driven Future | 06 Jun 2024 | 00:40:06 | |
Episode 157: The Skills Required for a Technology Driven Future What skills do architects need to succeed in a technology-driven future? On this episode of Practice Disrupted, we've invited Andy Robert and Mercedes Carriquiry back on the show to talk about the skills architects need to succeed in a technology-driven future. Andy and Mercedes are the co-founders of slantis, where they partner with architecture firms to provide services such as architecture & production coordination, high-end visualization, workflow automation, and architecture for the metaverse to support teams and empower them to incorporate smart tech into their projects. First, Andy and Mercedes discuss slantis' mission and why they felt the need to create this company as licensed architects to transform the industry. They touch on how they've shifted their offerings in the era of AI to align with the significant changes they see within the industry. Then, we explore the importance of a collaborative culture within architecture firms to foster innovation, highlighting the importance of a strong culture and employees willing to tackle tech-driven challenges. They explain how the offerings at slantis help to solve these issues within firms, keeping them up to date with technological advances, communicating effectively, and enhancing team and client collaboration and interactions. We've experienced firsthand how technology can really improve the quality of life of architects, impact the buildings we are designing, and the people that are using and operating those buildings. So if we can figure out how technology can speed it up and make architects happier, then I think we kind of checked the box. Technology is a huge game changer and biggest enabler. We want to accomplish a better quality of life for our profession which can translate into designing better buildings in the end - Andy Robert To wrap up the conversation, Andy and Mercedes share their vision for the future of slantis, advice on connecting with people from various industries to stay ahead of the technology, and tips for young leaders who have the desire for change within their firms. Tune in next week for an episode about the expanding roles of architects within the built environment. Guests: Andy Robert Andy Robert is a professional architect from ORT University in Uruguay. She lived in Germany and pursued graduate studies in Dessau, where the former Bauhaus was located. Today she is CEO of /slantis, co-founded in 2016 with her lifelong friend Mercedes Carriquiry, and willing to disrupt the way architecture Very energetic, curious, and entrepreneurial, she is actively involved in events that advocate for women as leaders.She’s Beltrán and Jaime’s mum, a vegan and a life-long learner. Mercedes Carriquiry Mercedes Carriquiry is a licensed architect and entrepreneur specializing in innovation and technology. She received her degree from the Faculty of Architecture UDELAR in Uruguay and also studied at the ENSAG in Grenoble, France. Additionally, she graduated in digital fabrication from MIT Fabacademy. After working at Jean Nouvel's studio in Paris and leading multiple developments in Montevideo, she co-founded /slantis in 2016 with her lifelong friend Andy, where leads innovation, operations and strategy. When she's not working, she enjoys art, skating, and spending time with her family. 📍 Show Links: Connect with Andy on Linkedin Connect with Mercedes on Linkedin Check out slantis 📚Continue Learning: The Fall of the Human Intellect by A. Parthasarathy The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel Jack: Straight from the Gut by Jack Welch 📚Past Related Episodes: PD #92: /slantis, Enabling Technology in Practice 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 067: Architecture And: The Future of Workplace | 24 Feb 2022 | 01:02:31 | |
Episode 067: Architecture And: The Future of Workplace How can technology simplify workflows for both clients and designers? As CEO of CANOA, Federico Negro is building the first end-to-end platform for designing, procuring, and managing low-carbon, reconfigurable interiors in the workplace. What does that mean in simple terms? Clients and designers can design, purchase, and completely furnish the office space without touching CAD or going through a dealer. Even though CANOA is a technology platform, they are reimagining the supply chain and procurement process for everything that, “falls out of a building when you turn it upside down.” And did we mention they are doing so in the most climate-friendly way possible? CANOA is on its way to being certified as a B Corp and is not the first company that Federico Negro founded. We talked with him about everything from building company culture, launching a workplace-focused company just before the pandemic, and building a business from the ground up, having learned from his first successful company, Case (which was acquired by WeWork). Guest: Federico Negro is the founder and CEO of CANOA, a new workplace design tool with an embedded marketplace of furniture, prefabricated and modular structures, and more. CANOA’s mission is to decarbonize commercial real estate and they're doing so by reinventing the way businesses shop for the office. Learn more at https://www.canoa.supply 📍 Show Links: 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Monograph: March 8th - 10th, Monograph is hosting Section Cut, a virtual conference and career fair dedicated to firm owners and operation leaders. Hear from leaders at Cottage, Krueck Sexton, Verdant Studio, and more! Register today to reserve a seat by visiting https://sectioncut.com/ 💻 Learn about our podcast partner ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit http://getarchit.com/pd to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social:Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter | |||
| 066: Architecture, And: Technology | 17 Feb 2022 | 00:42:08 | |
Episode 066: Architecture, And: Technology How are individuals using their training in architecture to explore diverse career paths? Our ongoing series “Architecture, And:” follows the careers of professionals using their education and training in architecture to expand their current role in practice or apply their skills in an entirely new field. These interviews help us understand how an architectural education prepares people for diverse career opportunities. Past interviews include: [055] – Architecture, And: MBA [054] – Architecture, And: EDI+J [045] – Architecture, And: Publishing [043] – Architecture, And: Nonprofit Design Education [039] – Architecture, And: Customer Success [036] – Architecture, And: Robotics [025] – Architecture, And: Tech [019] – Architecture, And: Film [015] – Architecture, And: Social Impact [013] – Architecture, And: Entrepreneurship This week, we revisit our conversation on tech, diving further into the career of someone who has dedicated their career and craft to technology. In our conversation with Libo Li, we discuss his current role as a Chief Technology Officer at KatalystDI, and ask him about technology as a driver for change. We also revisit the presentation he gave at Section Cut in 2021 and ask him about his observations bridging between technology and culture. Learn what makes an adaptive organization. Guests: Libo Li is Chief Technology Officer at KatalystDI, where he works with a growing team to minimize the friction from integration to insights across the construction supply chain. A graduate of Rice University, Libo worked in architecture before making the transition into technology at WeWork. He has been called a Project Integrator, Design Technologist, and Senior Data Solutions Architect. Prior to joining KatalystDI, Libo worked as Chief Operating Officer at Voyansi where he designed, developed, and implemented company-wide end-to-end infrastructure and processes. 📍 Show Links: 📚 Continue Learning: "Organizing Work Towards Adaptive Organizations" w/ Libo Li @ Section Cut 2021 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Monograph: March 8th - 10th, Monograph is hosting Section Cut, a virtual conference and career fair dedicated to firm owners and operation leaders. Hear from leaders at Cottage, Krueck Sexton, Verdant Studio, and more! Register today to reserve a seat by visiting https://sectioncut.com/ 💻 Learn about our podcast partner ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit http://getarchit.com/pd to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 065: Training Confidence in Technical Detailing | 10 Feb 2022 | 01:04:00 | |
Episode 065: Training Confidence in Technical Detailing How do you teach technical foundations in architecture to boost career confidence? Many emerging professionals struggle to find their confidence in the more technical aspects of practice. There is limited onboarding toward the advanced skills architects aspire to master in building envelopes and systems. This week, we sit down and have a candid conversation with Christine Williamson, founder of the Building Science Fight Club. Her mission is to teach architects about building science and construction through teaching and consulting. Building science is where architectural design meets the practical realities of intelligent construction. Learning the fundamentals can provide architects and designers with the foundation they need to design buildings that are as durable, efficient, and comfortable as they are beautiful. About ten years into professional practice as a building scientist, Christine noticed that her classmates from architecture school — talented men and women whom she knew to be intelligent, creative, and attentive — lacked confidence on the job site. Learn how this lead her towards designing a business and creating a robust curriculum of on-demand training videos. Building Science Fight Club includes a five-part series covering the fundamentals, walls, roofs, foundations, windows, and doors, qualifies for over 10 LU|HSW. Guest: Christine Williamson has spent her career in building science forensics, discovering why buildings fail, and working with owners, architects, and builders to remedy the problems. Her new construction consulting helps architects use building science not only to mitigate the risk of failure but also to help them make their projects as energy-efficient as they are beautiful. She is the founder of the Instagram account @BuildingScienceFightClub, an educational project that teaches architects about building science and construction. She graduated from Princeton University and studied at Boston Architectural College before completing her Master's of Architecture at NewSchool of Architecture + Design. She is a member and past chair of ASHRAE Technical Committee 1.12, Moisture Management in Buildings. Christine is a frequent lecturer on building science at universities, conferences, and professional associations, in addition to serving as a guest critic for architecture school studio reviews. 📍 Show Links: 📚 Continue Learning: Christine on The Young Architect Podcast Christine on Life of an Architect Podcast 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Monograph: March 8th - 10th, Monograph is hosting Section Cut, a virtual conference and career fair dedicated to firm owners and operation leaders. Hear from leaders at Cottage, Krueck Sexton, Verdant Studio, and more! Register today to reserve a seat by visiting https://sectioncut.com/ 💻 Learn about our podcast partner ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit http://getarchit.com/pd to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter | |||
| 064: A Case Study for Practice: Stayner Architects | 03 Feb 2022 | 00:46:21 | |
Episode 064: A Case Study for Practice: Stayner Architects How can architects redesign the practice model of architecture? In this week's episode, we interview Christian Stayner to learn more about his process for designing his projects and the business model for his firm. Stayner Architects is a case study firm bridging the role of the architect, developer, designer, builder, strategist, and even expanding into the role of operator. Stayner Architects, a practice based in Los Angeles, is focused on architecture for food systems – the spaces where food is produced, consumed, grown, and distributed – specifically for nonprofit educational and cultural institutions. Additionally, the practice is unique in that it acts as developers and operators of roughly half of the projects in the office at a given time – much of this in food and hospitality. Sometimes this also involves the construction of projects under their general contractor license. The practice has been working to consolidate its food systems knowledge into an online resource called Tools & Utensils, which launches in February and provides educational and cultural institutions strategies for approaching issues such as sustainability, STEM learning, labor equity, and public health/nutrition. Guest: Christian Stayner, AIA, NCARB, Managing Partner of Stayner Architects, is a licensed architect in California, Hawaii, Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, and a general contractor in California. He received his undergraduate degree in International Development from Harvard College and his professional degree from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. His undergraduate and graduate research focused on temporary settlement patterns due to forced migration resulting from war and colonialism, specifically two long-term refugee settlements in southern and central Somalia. Christian has fifteen years of experience in architectural design, project and construction management, and development. His expertise includes designing and managing projects from conception through ongoing operations, and works across scales, from campus master planning to single-family homes. He has consulted for governmental and non-governmental agencies, academic and cultural institutions, and private corporations. Christian has held academic appointments at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College, Woodbury University’s School of Architecture, and at Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Art and Design. His research focuses on geographies of architectural materials including production networks, infrastructures, and logistics. Christian’s work has been exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale, California College of the Arts, the University of Virginia, Woodbury University, and the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art. Before taking on his current role at Stayner Architects, he worked as an architect in Rotterdam and New York City for firms including the Office for Metropolitan Architecture and Thomas Phifer & Partners. 📍 Show Links: 📚 Continue Learning: > Tila project overview > shop: Tilda > Bacetti project overview > visit: Bacetti > Desert Wave House project overview > visit: Desert Wave House Food Systems Architecture (Stayner Architects' new research tools and utensils site) 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Monograph: March 8th - 10th, Monograph is hosting Section Cut, a virtual conference and career fair dedicated to firm owners and operation leaders. Hear from leaders at Cottage, Krueck Sexton, Verdant Studio, and more! Register today to reserve a seat by visiting https://sectioncut.com/. 💻 Learn about our podcast partner ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit http://getarchit.com/pd to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 063: Podcast Live: DAC Leadership Series: From Team Member to Office Leader | 27 Jan 2022 | 00:53:56 | |
Episode 063: Podcast Live: DAC Leadership Series: From Team Member to Office Leader How can midcareer architects successfully transition from project work into more senior roles dealing with staffing and operations? Traditional architectural training does not often prepare us with the business leadership and people management skills required to successfully lead an office. On top of that, office leadership comes with a variety of challenges that differ from everyday project leadership. Practice Disrupted co-hosts Evelyn Lee and Je’Nen interview firm leaders Amy Perenchio, AIA, NCARB, and Megan Bowles, AIA to explore the following topics:
Guests: Amy Perenchio, AIA, NCARB is a Principal at ZGF Architects and joined us in season 3 on episode [047] – Talent Development in Practice (a top 10 episode on Practice Disrupted). In addition to her role at ZGF, Amy has held leadership positions on the National AIAS and NAAB boards and served on various committees and task forces for NCARB. Dedicated to the professional growth and development of the design staff at ZGF, Amy oversees the staffing and recruiting efforts for a group of 130+ designers and architects and works at the intersection of people and practice. Megan Bowles, AIA is a Principal at LS3P based out of their Raleigh office. She's also a board member with AIA North Carolina, and active with ACE Mentoring and Diversify Architecture. She successfully navigated her career growth from architect into an operations role. Early in her career, she was a project manager and became the Raleigh Operations and Finance Manager. Currently, she co-leads with the Raleigh Office Leader for LS3P. Her focus on firm management and operations makes her a key point person in conversations related to finance, legal considerations, people management, and technology. Co-hosts: Evelyn Lee, FAIA, MBA, MPA | Founder, Practice of Architecture Je’Nen Chastain, MBA, Assoc. AIA | Founder, Apostrophe Consulting Special thanks to: Alison Pavilonis, AIA, LEED AP BD+C | Associate, Gensler Derek Roberts | Senior Design Manager, Architect of the Capitol Katie Spencer | Program Director, AIA DC 📍 Show Links: ZGF Architects (@zgfarchitects) 📚 Continue Learning: Practice Disrupted [047] – Talent Development in Practice DAC Leadership Series: From Team Member to Office Leader | AIA|DC (aiadc.com) 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter | |||
| 062: 2022 AIA Gold Medal Winners: Brooks + Scarpa | 20 Jan 2022 | 00:58:52 | |
Episode 062: 2022 AIA Gold Medal Winners: Brooks + Scarpa What lessons on architecture, practice, and change can we learn from AIA Gold Medal winners Angela Brooks and Lawrence Scarpa? In this episode, we welcome Angela Brooks, FAIA and Lawrence Scarpa, FAIA of Brooks + Scarpa to talk about their careers together from undergrad to the 2022 AIA Gold Medal. Their firm, Brooks + Scarpa is known for globally award-winning designs across a variety of project types, often elevating the ordinary into something that is truly extraordinary. In our conversation, we diver deeper into the lesser-known aspects that inform their practice, including mentorship and scholarship, as well as environmental stewardship and advocacy. Larry and Angie are redefining the role of the architect in the best way possible. Guests: Angela Brooks, FAIA is a recognized leader in the field of environmental and social-equity design and is responsible for her firm’s development in the area of housing and policy, leading initiatives and overall design staff management. Angie believes that it is not enough to create great buildings and has worked to create complete neighborhoods- she co-founded a non-profit to promote good policy, density and livable communities, lectures extensively on these topics and was 2018 Chair of the National AIA’s Committee on the Environment (COTE), developing programs and advocating for policy changes at the Federal level-promoting design that achieves high levels of performance. In 2020 Angie received the AIA National and Local Citizen Architect Award and the AIA State of California Maybeck Award (the first woman ever to do so) for exemplary achievement in architectural design and ‘a different kind of legacy’ as an advocate for issues that extend beyond buildings. Ms. Brook’s firm BROOKS + SCARPA has received over fifty major design awards including five AIA COTE ‘Top Ten Green Building’ Awards. In 2009 Ms. Brooks received the National American Institute of Architects ‘Young Architect’ Award and in 2010 she received the USA Network ‘Character Approved’ Award for her innovative work in the field of architecture and her firm was awarded the National and State Architecture Firm Award from the American Institute of Architects. In 2014, her firm was awarded the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award in Architecture. Lawrence Scarpa, FAIA has garnered international acclaim for the creative use of conventional materials in unique and unexpected ways. He is also considered a pioneer and leader in the field of sustainable design. Mr. Scarpa has received more than 200 major design awards including twenty-two National AIA Awards, Architect Magazine’s Progressive Architecture and R+D awards, the HIVE 50 Innovator Award, National AIA Collaborative Achievement Award, AIA Los Angeles Chapter Gold Medal, Architect Magazine’s Top 50 Architecture Firms (ranked 2nd, 4th and 9th respectively), AIA California Council Lifetime Achievement Award, Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Award, Record Houses, Record Interiors, Rudy Bruner Prize, six AIA COTE “Top Ten Green Building” Awards and was a finalist for the World Habitat Award, one of ten firms selected worldwide. His work has been exhibited internationally including the National Building Museum in Washington, DC, MOCA Los Angeles, A+D Museum, and the Smithsonian Museum. He has been featured in NEWSWEEK and appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show. In addition, Interior Design Magazine honored him with their Lifetime Achievement Award. And his firm Brooks + Scarpa was awarded the National and State of California Architecture Firm Award from the American Institute of Architects. Most recently he was the winner of the $4.5 mil Housing Innovation Challenge sponsored by Los Angeles County. He is currently on the faculty at the University of Southern California and has taught and lectured at the university level for more than two decades. Some of those institutions include Harvard University, UCLA, SCI-arc, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Florida, University of Michigan, University of Southern California and the University of California at Berkeley. He is a co-founder of the A+D Museum, Los Angeles, Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute, and Livable Places, Inc.; a nonprofit development and public policy organization dedicated to building mixed-use housing and helping develop more sustainable and livable communities. 📍 Show Links: 📚 Continue Learning: M E M O R Y F R A M E - The Work of Brooks + Scarpa Brooks Scarpa on Affordable Housing Community by Design Brooks + Scarpa A single-family home in the Chicago area, designed by Brooks+Scarpa Animo South Los Angeles High School by Brooks + Scarpa Brooks Scarpa CAM Museum Raleigh, NC 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 061: S4 Launch: Leading Change Through Entrepreneurship | 13 Jan 2022 | 00:50:39 | |
Episode 061: S4 Launch: Leading Change Through Entrepreneurship How can architects lead change through a blended career of entrepreneurship and architecture? Welcome to the fourth season of Practice Disrupted, a podcast where we explore the evolution of architecture practice from many different angles! Mark R. LePage, AIA, NCARB joins us to share his story of becoming an architect and entrepreneur through the creation of EntreArchitect and Gābl Media. EntreArchitect is a community of architects building profitable architecture firms to better serve the world. EntreArchitect Podcast has produced over 450 episodes and has been downloaded over 2 million times. Through his career as an entrepreneur, Mark has brought together a community of inspiring, passionate people who share their knowledge and expertise to help small firm entrepreneur architects succeed. Mark helped launch Gābl Media, the largest, most engaged AEC multimedia network on the planet. Guest: Mark R. LePage, AIA, NCARB is a residential architect/developer based in Charlotte, North Carolina and the founder of EntreArchitect, a global online platform launched in 2012 to provide resources, training and community for small firm entrepreneur architects. In January 2020 Mark partnered with architect and founder of SPACES Podcast, Dimitrius Lynch, Jr. to launch Gābl Media. As President and CEO of Gābl Media, Inc., Mark leads the multimedia network, empowering global leaders in the architecture, engineering, and construction industries. Gābl Media creates and distributes industry leading podcast series, including EntreArchitect Podcast, Archispeak Podcast, SPACES Podcast, Build Your Brand Podcast, Practice Disrupted, TRXL, Build Smart, She Builds Podcast, and more. The mission at Gābl Media is to create content that informs and entertains an audience dedicated to building a better world. Co-Hosts: Evelyn M. Lee, FAIA, MBA, MPA is a licensed architect in the state of California, with over 15 years of experience working with individuals and companies that are looking to reshape their future. She is the founder of Practice of Architecture, the first-ever Senior Experience Designer at Slack Technologies, and the first female Treasurer to AIA National‘s Board of Directors. Je’Nen M. Chastain, MBA, Assoc. AIA is the founder of Apostrophe Consulting, a purpose-driven, woman-owned management consulting practice dedicated to helping architects transform their companies. With expertise in talent development, change management, and business strategy, Je’Nen helps her clients navigate growth in a changing world. 📍 Show Links: Check out EntreArchitect Join the EntreArchitect Community Gābl Tech Network for Architects 📚 Continue Learning: | |||
| 060: Disruption and the Season 3 Finale | 18 Nov 2021 | 00:48:17 | |
Episode 060: Disruption and the Season 3 Finale How has Practice Disrupted grown and evolved over 60 episodes? This week show creators regroup to celebrate 60 episodes. Dimitrius Lynch, Chief Creative Officer at Gābl Media, rejoins Practice Disrupted co-hosts Evelyn Lee and Je’Nen Chastain to reflect on the 20 new conversations that happened during season 3. What began as an idea to start a podcast has grown into a timely series on change in the industry, featuring conversations with over 70+ disruptors. Evelyn and Je’Nen take a moment to reflect on what they’ve observed and their experiences through this process. If you’ve been following the growth of the show -- thank you for your ongoing support! The team is planning for season 4, which will launch in January 2022. Co-Hosts: Evelyn M. Lee, FAIA, MBA, MPA is a licensed architect in the state of California, with over 15 years of experience working with individuals and companies that are looking to reshape their future. She is the founder of Practice of Architecture, the first-ever Senior Experience Designer at Slack Technologies, and the first female Treasurer to AIA National‘s Board of Directors. Je’Nen M. Chastain, MBA, Assoc. AIA is the founder of Apostrophe Consulting, a purpose-driven, woman-owned management consulting practice dedicated to helping architects transform their companies. With expertise in talent development, change management, and business strategy, Je’Nen helps her clients navigate growth in a changing world. Moderator: Dimitrius Lynch, NCARB, LEED BD+C, Well AP is the founder and principal architect of LYNES, and a licensed architect in the state of California. He has practiced both domestically and internationally in various building types with a focus in residential and specialty retail. Dimitrius also created and hosts SPACES Podcast, a show dedicated to detailing the spaces that we occupy everyday. To expand on this endeavour, he co-founded and is the Chief Creative Officer of Gābl Media, a multimedia network that empowers global thought leaders in the architecture, engineering, and construction industries to entertain, inspire and share their knowledge with an audience dedicated to building a better world. 📚 Continue Learning: The PoA Lab is a community of like-minded disruptors that collaborate virtually across the country. Join by visiting: practiceofarchitecture.com/lab Show Links: Listen to SPACES Podcast Check out Gābl Podcasts 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Monograph: Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool. Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not. Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now. 💻 Learn about our podcast partner ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit https://getarchit.com/pd/ to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 059: Building the Pipeline Through K-12 Education | 11 Nov 2021 | 01:00:55 | |
Episode 059: Building the Pipeline Through K-12 Education How are architects increasing representation in architecture through early educational outreach? Project Pipeline was born at the 2002 NOMA conference. Then-president Paul Taylor asked Drake Dillard and David Kirk to research and establish a plan for the camp that would introduce minority students with a focus on black students to architecture with the ultimate goal of creating more licensed black architects. The first camp was held in 2006 in Cincinnati. Since then dozens of camps have been held in more than twenty cities. This week we interview Prescott Reavis, one of the co-founders of the SFNOMA Project Pipeline Architecture Summer Camp. Designed for students in grades 6th-8th, the camp teaches minority youth about environmental and community based design while developing STEAM skills through the discipline of architecture. As one of the few national initiatives in the nation connecting youth and architecture, the program helps K-12 students gain an understanding of the essential elements of architecture. Working alongside mentors, students work both individually and collaboratively to address community-focused issues through creativity and design innovation with a real project site. Project Pipeline Summer Camp is only possible through the continued support of members and friends. Please consider donating towards their annual summer camp through SFNOMA. To learn about other local camps across the country visit: Project Pipeline – National Organization of Minority Architects – NOMA. Guest: Prescott Reavis, NOMA, NCARB, LEED AP, SEED is an Oakland-based Spatial Activist, architect, planner, and award-winning educator who has merged over 20+ years of experiences in architecture, planning, and education to develop and construct inclusive communities internationally with a focus on equitable design and planning justice. He is the Founder and Director of Kulima, a community design, planning, and teaching practice, empowering everyday citizens of all ages to use their collective knowledge and voices to shape the physical environment to their visions by engaging them in their spaces for nonprofits, small business, community based and governmental organizations. Prescott is also an experienced youth educator with 15 years of practice from elementary school through university students on architecture, planning, culture, and sustainability. Read more about Prescott and his work at Kulima. Show Links: 📍 KULIMA 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Monograph: Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool. Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not. Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now. 💻 Learn about our podcast partner ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit https://getarchit.com/pd/ to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 058: A Case Study for Practice: RIOS | 04 Nov 2021 | 01:00:38 | |
Episode 058: A Case Study for Practice: RIOS How do you build an entrepreneurially forward-thinking firm? The Practice of Architecture was founded on the basis that for architects to remain relevant, we must seek opportunities to increase our careers and firms beyond traditional services, fully embracing entrepreneurship and constantly pursuing new opportunities. Rios is a firm that is doing just that, collectively working beyond boundaries and not only seeking out but diving head-first when it comes to embracing the moment to try and pursue something new. Founded in 1985 as a multi-disciplinary design firm, the design studio has evolved to meet the changing needs of a changing world. Their success is underpinned by the unique culture of their firm and an agile operating model that not only helps them adapt during a pandemic but also leaves them free to pursue ideas, projects, and products. We hope our conversation with RIOS' dynamic co-CEOs, Jessamyn Davis and Andy Lantz, leaves you with the same optimism it gave us regarding the profession's future. Guests: Jessamyn Davis is the Co-CEO of RIOS based in LA. As Co-CEO, Jessamyn is responsible for RIOS’ growth and financial vitality. She oversees the health of finance and business operations and the realization of strategic planning goals. After joining the firm in 2015 as the first CFO, she created infrastructure to catalyze sustainable and scalable growth among the studio’s many disciplines. She drives the creation of processes and procedures that direct and support overall firm operations. Jessamyn’s diverse background spans biotech to renewable energy to extreme sports, which strengthens the entrepreneurial drive behind RIOS. In addition to her role within the practice, she serves as CFO of notNeutral, a sister company focused on tabletop products. Her passion for design amplifies her talent for creating operational clarity to scaffold the bold, transdisciplinary design RIOS is known for. She received her Bachelor of Science from the University of California at Berkeley, and her Master of Business Administration from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. Andy Lantz is the Creative Director and Co-CEO of RIOS based in LA. Andy Lantz is an Architect and visionary leader directing groundbreaking design solutions as Creative Director at RIOS. His depth of experience is all-encompassing of multidisciplinary design as he influences teams across the firm with his perspectives and point of view for achieving dynamic experiences through design. For over a decade, Andy’s work has served an impressive roster of clients and projects – from competition-winning places that enhance the public realm along the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood and along the banks of Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas, to notable music institutions and content production facilities in Los Angeles, to leading the industry in envisioning the future of work with market-ready products and forward thinking design approaches that reframe potential in workplace design. Andy reimagines creative office environments informed by science, culture, and the importance of the human experience. Each project’s location and cultural vibe help to determine unique solutions. Notably, he led the design of the Austin-based Vrbo headquarters that explores a data-driven process to manifest thoughtful programming and experiential design. Additionally, he produced a mission-driven experience that blends aesthetics and wellness at the GoodRx Headquarters in Santa Monica. Andy has also worked to create a flexible and dynamic workplace laboratory at RIOS’ Los Angeles HQ as a means to address the swift change in the market that goes beyond pandemic-thinking and fully embraces the work-from-anywhere revolution. From industry panels to national broadcast segments, Andy’s thought-leadership continues to impact and engage. Show Links: 📍 RIOS 📍 RIOS: Silver Linings, Audacity and Joy - The New Practice Playbook w/Jessaymn Davis & Andy Lantz 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Monograph: Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool. Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not. Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now. 💻 Learn about our podcast partner ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit https://getarchit.com/pd/ to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 156: Architecture, And: The Anti-Racist Hotdog | 30 May 2024 | 00:43:12 | |
Episode 156: Architecture, And: The Anti-Racist Hotdog How can innovative initiatives in the architecture design field and social entrepreneurship foster racial equity, inclusion, and all-encompassing systemic change? On this episode of Practice Disrupted, we chat with Wandile Mthyiyane, an architect known for his work in social entrepreneurship and his innovative initiatives to promote equity, diversity, and inclusive practices that drive meaningful change within the field and beyond. Wandile is an Obama Leader and TEDx Fellow, the founder and CEO of Ubuntu Design Group (UDG), The Anti-Racist Hotdog, and the creator of the new peer-to-peer inclusion rating platform, GrindTea.com. First, Wandile discusses his architectural design background and his motivation to become an architect. He views the practice as an opportunity to address social issues, challenge the conventional view of architecture, and use it as a tool for a better future for everyone. Wandile also shares an in-depth explanation of his various initiatives rooted in justice and equality. I didn't choose to be an architect so that I could be a chair or do skyscrapers and stuff, I could care less. I chose to do architecture because I see it as a vehicle to solve a very real problem that I grew up with – the lack of dignified housing because of racial injustice systems. - Wandile Mthiyane Then, Wandile shares his personal experiences with racism and how those specifically inspired his work. He highlights his passion for food, music, and constructive dialogue and explains how each of these mediums can bridge cultural divides and promote inclusion. Plus, we unpack his perspective on using AI in the architecture space and how these tools can make architecture more accessible to a broader group of people. To wrap up the conversation, Wandile offers advice and wisdom to young architects who aspire to be voices of change in their workplaces and aim to promote inclusive and equitable practices in a wide array of industries, even beyond architecture. Tune in next week for an episode about the skills required for a technology-driven future. Guest: Wandile Mthiyane Wandile Mthiyane is an Obama Leader, TedxFellow, architectural designer, social entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Ubuntu Design Group (UDG) and The Anti-Racist Hotdog. He is proud to introduce The Tea, a peer-to-peer inclusion rating platform. 📍 Show Links: Connect with Wandile on Linkedin Check out Ubuntu Design Group Check out grindtea.com Check out The Anti-racist Hot Dog 📚Continue Learning: Wandile is the founder of Anti-Racist Hot Dog and GrindTea.com Reject or Reclaim: Untangling the Tension Between Classical Architecture and Black Identity Spill The Tea: How Architects Can Transform Workplace Culture and Call Out Toxic Office Environments 📚Past Related Episodes: PD #151: Built Environment Futures Council 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 057: Southeast Asian American Architects | 28 Oct 2021 | 01:06:57 | |
Episode 057: Southeast Asian American Architects Leaders of the profession share diverse perspectives on race, equity, and architecture. Practice Disrupted is committed to elevating conversations on justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion to teach, empower, and build greater awareness across the industry. Building from prior diversity conversations, this week we learn about Southeast Asian Architects. Guests: Meghana Joshi, AIA, NOMA is a strong proponent of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Justice in the architecture profession. At SoCal NOMA, she is a Director of Outreach and Recruitment for Project Pipeline and works towards increasing minority representation in architecture through summer camps for middle and high school students. She founded AIA Orange County’s Women in Architecture Committee in 2015 to give a platform for Orange County firms to meaningfully contribute towards the improvement of professional conditions for women in architecture. She joined AIA Orange County’s Board of Directors in 2019 and founded EDI+J Committee to increase minority representation through mentorship in leadership. She founded “Project Amplify” to amplify voices and works of minority architects in the AEC industry. She is an active member of ULI-OC/IE’s Office and Commercial Product Council. She is currently engaged in bringing ULI’s Urban Plan program to educate underrepresented demographics and communities. She is also an active member and advocate for “Belong at Little” – Little’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Task Force. 📍Follow Meghana on Instagram or on Twitter Suyama Bodhinayake, Assoc. AIA diverse experience in architecture spans three continents, shaping his commitment to design excellence, sustainability and service. He currently resides and works in Southern California. Throughout his career, Suyama appreciates the opportunities to contribute to international and national award-winning projects, as well as the opportunities to serve the profession through a variety of leadership roles within the AIA. Since 2018, he has been a member of the AIA Orange County (AIA OC) Committee on the Environment (COTE) and a founding member of the COTE Southern California Coalition in 2019. In 2020, he joined the AIA OC’s Board of Directors and has since served as the chapter’s Director of Sustainability and the Chair of COTE, leading a multi-faceted approach to promoting sustainability. As a member of the AIA California COTE Advocacy Task Force, he advocates for building decarbonization policies at a local and state level. Suyama is committed to sustainability as part of design excellence. As a member of AIA OC’s Design Awards committee, he guided the process of how every AIA OC design awards submission must now comply with the AIA’s Framework for Design Excellence. Additionally, Suyama advocates for architects to be recognized as stewards of the built environment. He was nominated, and currently serves as AIA Orange County’s first Director of Advocacy. He has advanced AIA’s role as a leader in sustainability within communities around Orange County, California. He has been supporting education in architecture since 2016, serving on the Advisory Board for the Architectural Technology Program at Orange Coast College. As a champion of causes that impact our future, Suyama firmly believe in the Native American saying, “we do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” Farah Naz Ahmad is an Architect and LEED Accredited Professional based in New York City, specializing in building sustainability and green building standards. Her public sector experience in city government agencies includes sustainable design review of projects, assessment and development of technical standards and energy code compliance. Additionally, Farah is engaged in green building journalism, spreading awareness on environmental policy and current events. Farah also shares her experience in sustainability through social media, documenting eco-travel and lifestyle, as well as best practices on energy efficiency. Farah previously served as a building energy code official at the New York City Department of Buildings and is now working on green school projects for The City of New York. 📍You can find more of her work on: www.farahnazahmad.com or on Instagram Show Links: 📍 Little Diversified Architectural Consulting Practice Disrupted Diversity Series: Episode 009: Voices from the Future of the Profession (Black Architects) Episode 016: Voices from the Future of the Profession (LGBTQIA+ Architects) Episode 035: Asian American Architects Episode 048: Architecture, Identity, & Culture Episode 053: Immigrant Architects Episode 054: Architecture, And: EDI+J Stay tuned for upcoming episodes on this series! 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Monograph: Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool. Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not. Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now. 💻 Learn about our podcast partner ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit https://getarchit.com/pd/ to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 056: Leading with Finance & Entrepreneurship | 21 Oct 2021 | 00:59:42 | |
Episode 056: Leading with Finance & Entrepreneurship How can architecture firms focus on elevating their financial management? This week we explore our love/hate relationship with numbers and discover tips and tricks that help keep projects and their budgets financially sound. Bolanle Williams-Olley is a CFO and partner at Mancini, but also an incredible entrepreneur managing multiple businesses in various stages of growth all at the same time. Our conversation with her will help you reframe your approach to accounting and bookkeeping tasks and leave you asking yourself what type of business you want to build next. You will also get a first look at her BOLD framework from her new book, Build Boldly launching early next month focused on how individuals can spark courageous action for grow and become leaders that inspire others to rise and be their best. Guest: Bolanle Williams-Olley sets a new standard of expectations for financial professionals. As Chief Financial Officer for Mancini, Bolanle brings a unique vision to the firm’s leadership team and thrives on building relationships between finance and management teams to ensure the overall financial success of projects and her firm. At 36-years-old, she is a true multi-hyphenate. In addition to her C-suite role, she is also a mom of two and a dynamic leader in the built industry as the founder of several impact organizations for improving education in a low-income school in Nigeria (where she was raised), empowering women in the A/E/C industry and at small design firms, as well as creating awareness about NGOs across Nigeria. Show Links: 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Monograph: Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool. Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not. Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now.
💻 Learn about our podcast partner ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit https://getarchit.com/pd/ to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 055: Architecture, And: MBA | 14 Oct 2021 | 01:16:31 | |
Episode 055: Architecture, And: MBA What is the value of an MBA paired with an education in architecture? This week’s episode is a group discussion between our co-hosts and two fellow MBAs in the profession. Each participant has a foundation in architecture education and training, and is at a different stage in the process of pursuing an MBA. Three of our guests are licensed architects, with the last guest through IDP. Together they’ll demystify the MBA and discuss how they pursued and use their business education in their careers. Learn from these personal experiences to better understand what they’ve gained, what they wish they knew, and their recommendations to others who are considering going to school for business. We also discuss how architects can leverage the talents of someone with an MBA to improve their business operations and performance. Guests: Korey White is driven by her zest for the built environment, bringing open-mindedness and creativity to her role as an architect and urban planner. She applies her dual master’s degrees in architecture and urban and regional planning to an interdisciplinary approach that creates impactful outcomes for her clients and the community. Korey currently works for DLR Group in the Chicago office, focused primarily on educational facility master planning for K-12 school districts. Korey is recognized for her leadership within architecture by her recent election to the AIA Strategic Council as 2022 Moderator-elect and has been awarded the AIA Young Architects Award, the BD+C 40 under 40 and the AIA Colorado Leadership Award. She is currently enrolled at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the iMBA program. She is a Forte Fellow and will graduate with her MBA in Fall 2022. Keith Kato is an architect and MBA based in Honolulu, Hawai’i. He’s worked on a variety of project types including small & large custom homes, K-12, and higher education. Keith is interested in how business innovations can expand the market for architecture and how our communities can grow stronger by unleashing hidden potential. While in school, he was fortunate to participate and then lead the AIAS club Freedom by Design that delivered projects that served seniors and houseless individuals. Keith is currently participating in the great resignation and exploring possibilities aligned with his values. Show Links: 📍 For more information on University of Illinois’ iMBA program, visit: https://onlinemba.illinois.edu/get-info/ 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Monograph: Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool. Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not. Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now.
💻 Learn about our podcast partner ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit https://getarchit.com/pd/ to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 054: Architecture, And: EDI+J | 07 Oct 2021 | 00:53:57 | |
Episode 054: Architecture, And: EDI+J What is the role of a firm leader focused on equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice? As we continue to expand our exploration of diversity in practice, we’ve invited Yiselle Santos Rivera back to the podcast so she can share what she’s learned after two years of serving HKS as their Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, & Justice. What does it mean to position someone in a firmwide leadership role dedicated to increasing diversity within an architecture studio? What lessons can firms learn from the adoption of a leadership position of this scale? And what are some of the challenges in driving change in this capacity? Yiselle will help us explore this conversation in depth with personal stories from her leadership experience, as well as lessons learned along the way. Guest: Yiselle Santos Rivera, AIA, NOMA, LLSSYB, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP is a medical planner and Global Director of Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion at HKS. With national and international experience on a broad range of healthcare, sports, residential, institutional, and commercial/mixed-use projects, she thrives on designing for inclusive communities, building belonging through equitable practices, and empowering the next generation of leaders in the architecture, design, and construction industry. Yiselle is a published author, national speaker, has been featured on various podcasts, and is the founder of “We Inspiring Emerging Leaders in Design” (WIELD), recipient of the 2019 AIA Diversity Program Recognition Award. She is a storyteller, a 2015 Christopher Kelley Leadership Development Program Scholar, and a recipient of the 2018 AIA Associate Award. Show Links: 📍 HKS Practice Disrupted Diversity Series: Episode 009: Voices from the Future of the Profession (Black Architects) Episode 016: Voices from the Future of the Profession (LGBTQIA+ Architects) Episode 035: Asian American Architects Episode 048: Architecture, Identity, & Culture Episode 053: Immigrant Architects Stay tuned for upcoming episodes on this series! 📚 Continue Learning: AIA Guides for Equitable Practice 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Monograph: Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool. Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not. Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now.
💻 Learn about our podcast partner ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers complete IT solutions for architecture, design, and engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit https://getarchit.com/pd/ to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 053: Immigrant Architects | 30 Sep 2021 | 01:02:51 | |
Episode 053: Immigrant Architects Leaders of the profession share diverse perspectives on equity and architecture. Expanding our diversity series, this week we learn about the lived experiences of individuals who immigrated to the United States. Guests: Originally from Colombia, Graciela Carrillo, AIA, LEED AP, immigrated to the United States in 2003. She recently joined Nassau BOCES Facilities Services as a Senior Manager where she is managing school operational and capital projects. Graciela has committed a decade of volunteer leadership service to the AIA. Currently she is serving as the President 2020-2021 as well as the Chapter’s Women In Architecture Co-Founder and Co-Chair. Graciela was the past 2017-2018 NY Regional Director (YARD) for the Young Architects Forum (YAF). She is also the Co-Founder of the Immigrant Architects Coalition, a group committed to helping and providing resources for immigrant architects to achieve a prosperous career in the US. In 2019, Graciela was the recipient of the AIA NYS Young Architect Award. Gloria Kloter, AIA, NCARB, CODIA, is founder and CEO of Glow Architects. A practicing architect both in her home country of the Dominican Republic and in the US, she has dedicated her career to helping other young architects grow. She is the founder of the Foreign Architects, a private community in Facebook where she mentors young and aspiring immigrant architects on how to obtain their architect license in the United States. Gloria also serves as the Architect Licensing Advisor of the State of Florida through AIA Florida. She is a part of the Board of Directors of the AIA Tampa Bay where she is the chairperson of the Women in Architecture committee. She was also honored for the 2019 Sho-Ping Ching Women’s Leadership Summit Scholarship, a recognition to mid-career women architects who are advancing toward leadership roles and are making a positive impact within their communities. Shahad Sadeq, Assoc. AIA is an Iraqi immigrant architectural designer at Smithgroup. She is an active member of the AIA in her local chapter in Dallas, Texas. Shahad is passionate about amplifying diverse voices in the profession and developing sustainable workplace culture. She currently is co-leading the immigrant architect coalition and sits on the J.E.D.I. committee board of Smithgroup. She previously helped found an Equity in Architecture effort through the AIA Kansas City Chapter. Yu-Ngok Lo, FAIA, CDT, LEED AP is the founding principal of YNL Architects, Inc. His work received numerous design awards such as the NAHB Best of American Living Awards, Gold Nugget Awards, Aurora Awards, American Residential Design Awards, and various AIA Design Awards. The projects of his firm have been published in ArchDaily, Hinge Magazine, CONDE, CommArch Magazine, and Hospitality-Interiors Magazine. Yu-Ngok is a past recipient of the AIBD Designer of the Year, AIA Presidential Citation, AIA National Young Architects Award, BD+C 40 Under 40, 2015 ENR 20 Under 40, and the AIACC Young Architect Award. He was elevated to the AIA College of Fellows in 2020. Show Links: 📍 Immigrant Architects Coalition 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Monograph: Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool. Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not. Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now. 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Twinmotion: Twinmotion is a real-time rendering solution used by architecture, engineering, and construction professionals to create high-quality imagery, client presentations, and interactive experiences that help communicate your BIM data and design ideas, fast. 👉 Visit twinmotion.link/disrupted and try Twinmotion for free. 💻 Learn about our podcast partner ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers complete IT solutions for architecture, design, and engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit https://getarchit.com/pd/ to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 052: Managing a Virtual Practice | 23 Sep 2021 | 01:05:48 | |
Episode 052: Managing a Virtual Practice What does it take to manage an architecture studio virtually? The pandemic has revealed three options for managing an architecture studio: 1. an entirely in-person operation; 2. the new and improved hybrid practice; 3. the entirely virtual operation We speak with two firm owners who have been managing their design studios in a 100% virtual capacity since before the pandemic hit. Leah Bayer returns to Practice Disrupted and is joined by Jennifer Kretschmer. Both firm owners are originally based out of Silicon Valley. In this discussion Leah and Jennifer outline the complexity and argument for virtual practice in a changing world. They are currently developing a curriculum for the Practice of Architecture to help business owners understand the operational constraints and considerations necessary to ensure the success of managing a virtual practice. This course will be available in the upcoming months. Guests: Jennifer Kretschmer founded J. Kretschmer Architect in 2003, specializing in single-family and multi-family residential projects under 10,000 square feet. Her firm has been a virtual office since 2008 which she has operated primarily from her home in the Silicon Valley area of California with workers located all over the United States. She was a speaker at the AIA’19 Conference on Architecture and 2019 CRAN Symposium bringing valued information, inspiration and training to architects on operating a virtual office with remote workers. Awarded AIA National Associate Member of the Year, 2002, she is also the the founding CRAN chairperson of the AIA Silicon Valley (2016-2019) and the 2021 AIASVC President. Leah Alissa Bayer is an award-winning architect licensed in California, Hawaii, and Washington with an endless curiosity, forward-focus, and passion for improving quality of life. She is President at OJK Architecture + Planning, a 100% virtual, woman-owned and led firm. Overseeing Operations & Culture with the studio, her big-picture visioning and integrated approach to architecture stems from her multi-discipline background. She joined OJK with a background in creative business design and management focused on transparency and equity, most recently having founded EVIA Studio, a highly collaborative, women-led, and virtual architecture practice. Show Links: 📍 Check out J.Kretschmer Architect 📍 Check out OJK Architecture + Planning 🎧Revisit Practice Disrupted episode [018] - Remote Practice 📚 Continue Learning: PoA curriculum: practiceofarchitecture.com/virtualpractice 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Monograph: Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool. Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not. Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now. 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Twinmotion: Twinmotion is a real-time rendering solution used by architecture, engineering, and construction professionals to create high-quality imagery, client presentations, and interactive experiences that help communicate your BIM data and design ideas, fast. 👉 Visit twinmotion.link/disrupted and try Twinmotion for free. 💻 Learn about our podcast partner ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers complete IT solutions for architecture, design, and engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit https://getarchit.com/pd/ to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 051: Designing a Culture of Mentorship | 16 Sep 2021 | 00:48:26 | |
Episode 051: Designing a Culture of Mentorship How can architects rethink studio culture through conversations on mentorship? In this week’s episode Evelyn Lee interviews Practice Disrupted co-host Je’Nen Chastain to learn more about her work on mentorship and leadership development at Apostrophe Consulting. Je’Nen shares her vision for helping her clients assess and redesign their talent development strategies. She explains why this is critical at the individual level to support better project work. As architect leaders continue to seek out ways to improve their firm operations, Je’Nen believes mentorship is an underutilized pathway towards strengthening creative teams from the inside out. Over the past decade she has studied leaders and leadership in architecture, yielding the creation of training programs and resources in support of architects and emerging professionals. Her work has become increasingly focused on organizational behavior, specifically in support of helping emerging architect leaders grow and reimagine their studio environments. Tune in to learn more about her work, her observations, and key skills leaders can work on today to enhance mentorship conversations in practice. Interested in working with Je’Nen? Check out Apostrophe Consulting Guest: Je’Nen Chastain is a consultant trained in architecture and business management with a decade of experience working with award-winning architects. She founded Apostrophe Consulting to help architecture firms win more work, build a culture of leadership and trust within the studio, and create a pipeline for emerging leaders to grow. She is the co-host of Practice Disrupted, a podcast that addresses how technology, cultural shifts, and emerging best practices in business are prompting industry disruption and transformation. A recipient of the 2017 AIA Associates Award, Je’Nen holds both a B.Arch and an MBA. She specializes in facilitating conversations that engage multi-generational teams and has designed, developed, and presented dozens of professional development training programs that inspire next-gen leaders. Show Links: 📚 Continue Learning: WorkLife with Adam Grant, season 4, episode 20: Is it Safe to Speak Up at Work? (Transcript) 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Monograph: Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool. Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not. Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now. 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Twinmotion: Twinmotion is a real-time rendering solution used by architecture, engineering, and construction professionals to create high-quality imagery, client presentations, and interactive experiences that help communicate your BIM data and design ideas, fast. 👉 Visit twinmotion.link/disrupted and try Twinmotion for free. 💻 Learn about our podcast partner ArchIT: Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit https://getarchit.com/pd/ to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 050: TRXL Crossover: Calling on Architects to Embrace Change | 09 Sep 2021 | 01:04:16 | |
Episode 050: TRXL Crossover: Calling on Architects to Embrace Change Why is change necessary in the practice of architecture? To celebrate our 50th episode of Practice Disrupted we’ve teamed up with fellow podcaster and Gābl Media content creator Evan Troxel to bring you a special crossover episode. Evan is an industry-leading design and technology expert and licensed architect in California. Since launching his newest podcast TRXL in 2020, he has interviewed over 50 thought leaders to discuss how technology is changing our profession. From the very start of this podcast, we identified technology as one external force disrupting the practice of architecture. This pivotal moment in time has redefined the way architects practice including the way they draft, model, communicate, and build. Today we’re talking about change and our collective work across two podcasts to move the profession forward. We’re asking architects to embrace change and we’ll focus on technology as a driver of change, the limitations of architecture studios to implement change, and our shared desire to see this industry evolve. Guest: Evan Troxel is a licensed architect in California and Tect's architectural community director. With over 25 years of architectural design and project experience, he strives to better the architectural community in meaningful ways. Evan is the author of A.R.E. Hacks and also co-hosts a widely recognized architecture and design podcast called Archispeak. In 2020 he launched a new podcast called TRXL where he is joined by guests from the “architechie” community. When not pushing the profession forward, he’s likely out in the mountains recharging his batteries. An avid mountain biker, rock climber, photography enthusiast, and general adventurer, he’s always searching for his next outdoor experience. Show Links: 🎧 Listen to TRXL 🎧 Listen to ArchiSpeak 📍 Check out Tect 🔍 Learn about Gābl Media 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Monograph: Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool. Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not. Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now. 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Twinmotion: Twinmotion is a real-time rendering solution used by architecture, engineering, and construction professionals to create high-quality imagery, client presentations, and interactive experiences that help communicate your BIM data and design ideas, fast. 👉 Visit twinmotion.link/disrupted and try Twinmotion for free. 💻 Learn about our podcast partner ArchIT: ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms. Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? Visit www.getarchit.com and schedule your free consultation. Technology is your competitive advantage. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 049: The Ultimate Building Configurator | 02 Sep 2021 | 01:06:34 | |
Episode 049: The Ultimate Building Configurator How are architects leveraging new technology to expedite the design process? This week we interview Clifton Harness, a former University of Texas at Austin architecture student turned CEO. Together with his college roommate, Clifton Harness and Ryan Griege co-founded TestFit in 2017. The team has been on a trajectory of growth ever since. TestFit’s powerful algorithms allow architects to produce buildings in seconds; not weeks. Embracing a data-driven approach to smart urban planning, TestFit’s algorithms and co-creation tools help solve site plans for multifamily, hotel, parking or garden apartments quickly. Through this new generative design tool architects are empowered to iterate instantly, expediting the process of developing feasibility studies and securing new work. Guest: Clifton Harness loves to build - buildings and now new companies. He graduated from UT Austin with a BArch. Soon after joining a real estate development company, Clifton started working with his college roommate, Ryan Griege after-hours to innovate deal processes. This work grew into TestFit. Show Links: Read Clifton’s Crash Course in Test Fitting 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Monograph: Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool. Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not. Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now. 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Twinmotion: Twinmotion is a real-time rendering solution used by architecture, engineering, and construction professionals to create high-quality imagery, client presentations, and interactive experiences that help communicate your BIM data and design ideas, fast. 👉 Visit twinmotion.link/disrupted and try Twinmotion for free. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 048: Architecture, Identity, & Culture | 26 Aug 2021 | 01:06:54 | |
Episode 048: Architecture, Identity, & Culture How are architects exploring identity and culture through practice? An architect at Vines Architecture, Vershaé has dedicated her career to the exploration of culture in the built environment. A rising design leader in the southeast, Vershaé has contributed to major cultural projects including the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Motown Museum Renovation and Addition in Detroit, the Martin Luther King Jr. Central Branch Public Library in Washington, DC, the Gregg Museum of Art and Design Expansion at North Carolina State University, and leads both the Emily Krzyzewski Center Expansion in Durham, NC and Henrietta Lacks Building in Baltimore, MD. Vershaé helps her clients navigate and design in response to cultural narrative. Through research, storytelling, service, and advocacy she is raising the visibility and representation of historically underrepresented voices. In addition to her project leadership, she contributes to advancing the profession through volunteer service with AIA and NOMA. Guest: Vershaé Hite, AIA, NOMA is a licensed architect and Associate at Vines Architecture. Since 2004, Vershaé’s academic and professional career have exposed her to a range of unique experiences throughout the United States, China, Israel and Palestine that have carefully constructed her crafted, compassionate perspectives on the relationship between design and the human condition. Her role as an architect and project leader is founded on her theoretical interests regarding the interconnectedness of culture, community, and art to architecture. For Vershaé, this emerges from a unique framework that she developed while obtaining her master's degree in London. The deeply rooted meanings in her work are extensions of well-crafted, honest stories - are a direct result of both her sensitivity to diverse social and cultural landscapes and an investigative process that looks to film, literature, and experimental art. As such, her professional portfolio is characterized by complex cultural projects, historic renovations, libraries and higher education projects. As an Architect with award-winning firms like The Freelon Group, Perkins+Will, Andre Johnson Architect, and Vines Architecture, she is well versed in working with complex cultural matters through architectural design and execution. Show Links: National Museum of African American History & Culture 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Monograph: Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool. Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not. Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now. 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Twinmotion: Twinmotion is a real-time rendering solution used by architecture, engineering, and construction professionals to create high-quality imagery, client presentations, and interactive experiences that help communicate your BIM data and design ideas, fast. 👉 Visit twinmotion.link/disrupted and try Twinmotion for free. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 155: The Evolution of Architecture Education at the Boston Architectural College | 23 May 2024 | 00:49:24 | |
Episode 155: The Evolution of Architecture Education at the Boston Architectural College How can architectural education evolve to better prepare students and non-licensed professionals for the challenges and opportunities of the profession? On this episode of Practice Disrupted, we have an insightful conversation with Beth Lundell Garver, AIA, NOMA Dean and Founding Director of Gateway Office (GO), a community-based design center at the Boston Architectural College (BAC). Today, we discuss the future of architectural education, the need to bridge the gap between academia and the real-world application of architecture, and how BAC is working towards positive change in the field. First, Beth reflects on balancing work and motherhood and advocates for recognizing women's unique challenges in the profession. She then explains her concept of "architectural advocates," that highlights the crucial role of non-licensed professionals in advancing design and social justice in the architectural field. Then, we dive into the importance of empowering architectural advocates to broaden the definition of architecture beyond building design and into relationships and community engagement. Beth touches on the landscape of architectural education and emphasizes the need for more hands-on experience and career support for students. Empower people to support and recommend policies that inform the built environment and acknowledge the critical nature of that. Architecture cannot just be about new construction anymore…really urgently has to start being more about redesigning spaces, taking pieces apart, and reusing them in ways that are different. Architectural advocates can help us a lot with that. - Beth Lundell Garver To wrap up the conversation, Beth addresses the everyday stresses on young architects, such as design studio culture, the state of helplessness, and the lack of salary data. She shares how we can work towards change in these areas by prioritizing diversity and inclusion and fostering a sense of connection within the field to help pave the way for the future. Tune in next week for an episode with returning guest Wandlie Mithiyane to learn more about his two most recent endeavors, The Anti-Racist Hotdog and The Tea. Guest: Beth Lundell Garver, AIA, NOMA Bethany Lundell Garver, AIA, NOMA, is Dean and Faculty of Practice and Founding Director of Gateway Office (GO), the community-based design uncenter at the Boston Architectural College. She leads college-wide efforts to connect education with practice through distinguished reflective assessment and experiential learning initiatives. Her research and teaching focus on community engagement, professional practice, construction administration, and urban design. 📍 Show Links: Connect with Beth on Linkedin 📚Continue Learning: American Institute of Architecture Students Building a High-Development Culture Through Your Employee Engagement Strategy 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 047: Talent Development in Practice | 19 Aug 2021 | 01:00:47 | |
Episode 047: Talent Development in Practice How are architects successfully bringing talent development into practice? Guest: Amy Perenchio, AIA, NCARB is a Principal at ZGF Architects and licensed architect in Portland, Oregon. Dedicated to the professional growth and development of the design staff at ZGF, Amy oversees the staffing and recruiting efforts for a group of 130+ designers and architects and works at the intersection of people and practice. Amy previously held director positions on the National AIAS and NAAB boards, and various committees and task forces for NCARB. She is passionate about teaching and growing the next generation of architects and has been a course instructor at University of Oregon since 2017 and adjunct professor for the Global Track program at the University of Hawaii and Tongji University. 🔗Show Links: ZGF Architects (@zgfarchitects) 📚 Continue Learning: ‘Architecture Needs More Emotionally Intelligent Leaders’ by Evelyn Lee Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success by Adam Grant Brené Brown: The Call to Courage on Netflix 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Monograph: Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool. Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not. Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now.
💻 Learn about our podcast partner Twinmotion: Twinmotion is a real-time rendering solution used by architecture, engineering, and construction professionals to create high-quality imagery, client presentations, and interactive experiences that help communicate your BIM data and design ideas, fast. 👉 Visit twinmotion.link/disrupted and try Twinmotion for free. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 046: Building a Social Audience | 12 Aug 2021 | 01:00:15 | |
Episode 046: Building a Social Audience How do you create a community using social media? This week content creator Sana Tabassum joins us to discuss her growing social community for architecture students and emerging professionals :scale (to-scale). Behind :scale is a growing group of creators that are all about sharing resources, ideas and techniques with the archi-community. The group has produced a range of digital resources across social media platforms aimed at sharing and growing together. Guest: Sana Tabassum is a content creator and Part 1 Architectural Assistant based in London. Since graduating from the University of Greenwich, she founded :scale (to-scale), an architecture blog and platform for students and young designers. Since beginning her content-creating journey, Sana has led a team to self-publish an architecture magazine, curated a virtual architecture convention for students and most recently taught a cohort-based course to help architecture students build skills during the summer. Show Links: 📍 Follow :scale on social: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Discord 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Monograph: Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool. Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not. Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now. Section Cut by Monograph On August 12, Monograph is hosting Section Cut, a virtual conference dedicated to firm owners and operation leaders. Hear from leaders at Lake|Flato, SOM, Workshop/APD, Colloqate, and more! Reserve a seat today by visiting sectioncut.com. 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Twinmotion: Twinmotion is a real-time rendering solution used by architecture, engineering, and construction professionals to create high-quality imagery, client presentations, and interactive experiences that help communicate your BIM data and design ideas, fast. 👉 Visit twinmotion.link/disrupted and try Twinmotion for free. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||
| 045: Architecture, And: Publishing | 05 Aug 2021 | 00:57:01 | |
Episode 045: Architecture, And: Publishing How are individuals using their training in architecture to explore diverse career paths? This week we speak with Architect Lora Teagarden, the author of #AREsketches and The Little Architect’s Alphabet. Lora shares her story on what inspired her to create these educational books, as well as tips she’s learned from self publishing. Learn more about her process, including tips and tricks she recommends for new authors. We’ll also learn what publication she’s working on next. Lora’s career is centered on architecture and her pursuit of lifelong learning. Through writing and sketching, Lora has been able to expand her knowledge of the practice of architecture. Her publications are a way for her to share her passion for architecture and inspire the next generation of architects. Guest: Lora Teagarden is an Architect at RATIO, headquartered in Indianapolis, and the founder of L² Design, LLC. A published author and creator of #AREsketches and The Little Architect’s Alphabet, her passion for the profession drives her to mentor young professionals and volunteer in her community. She is a 2017 Young Architect Award winner, a past Chair of the Young Architects Forum, Past President of AIA Indianapolis, and was recently elected as an At-Large Representative on the AIA National Strategic Council. Her website and blog offer unique insights into professional practice, together with inspiration and tips for young architects. Show Links: The Little Architect’s Alphabet AREsketches Volume 1 & Volume 2 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Monograph: Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool. Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not. Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now. Section Cut by Monograph On August 12, Monograph is hosting Section Cut, a virtual conference dedicated to firm owners and operation leaders. Hear from leaders at Lake|Flato, SOM, Workshop/APD, Colloqate, and more! Reserve a seat today by visiting sectioncut.com. 💻 Learn about our podcast partner Twinmotion: Twinmotion is a real-time rendering solution used by architecture, engineering, and construction professionals to create high-quality imagery, client presentations, and interactive experiences that help communicate your BIM data and design ideas, fast. 👉 Visit twinmotion.link/disrupted and try Twinmotion for free. 📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social: | |||