In between a glimmering inland sea and blocks of steel, concrete, and glass, Lake Shore Drive in Chicago endures as a reward for harnessing one of the Great Lakes. Throughout American history, Lake Michigan has powered the national economy by connecting resources from the hinterland with foreign markets and labor. To accommodate this growth, a group of leading architects under the Chicago School moniker designed innovative steel-frame commercial buildings that would go on to dictate international style. By midcentury, a growing modernist aesthetic driven by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe led to the popularity of a Second Chicago School, leaving a lasting impact throughout the Lake Michigan basin.
Following the winds off of the Great Plains, I set out from Chicago to circumnavigate Lake Michigan, exploring public architecture—with a focus on modernism—along the Lake Michigan Circle Tour. I traveled along the designated scenic road system counterclockwise through Indiana’s brief northern shore, western Michigan, the Upper Peninsula, eastern Wisconsin, and back to Chicago.
Sprawling past state boundaries and time zones, there are few constraints on Chicagoland’s insatiable need for space—other than Lake Michigan’s shores. Indiana’s coastal counties pile with legacy-heavy industry as evidenced by the cooling tower looming over the confusingly-named Michigan City, Indiana. In the center of town is Michigan City Public Library, a square-shaped building assembled from a series of neatly arranged sawtooths. The sawtooth’s striking form permits long clearstory windows to run the length of the building and allows natural light into the reading spaces. Designed by Helmut Jahn in 1974, Michigan City Public Library was intended as an urban renewal scheme but was maligned by the public for disconnecting Franklin Street (Michigan City’s main street) from the lake front. Jahn is considered the eight member of the Chicago Seven, a group of architects who vocally responded to the over-popularization of van der Rohe and instead sought to challenge strict adherence to rectilinear structures.
Soon after leaving Michigan City, I found myself across state lines in Michigan where I made a quick stop in Holland to see the spring tulips and Big Red (the Holland Harbor Light) before following the Gerald R. Ford Freeway to Grand Rapids. A trading post turning manufacturing metropolis, Grand Rapids grew to fame as the “furniture city” at the turn of the last century until shifting economic fortunes saw factories relocate. Large parts of downtown were condemned and demolished to make way for new developments like the International-style Grand Rapids City Hall and Kent County Administration Building. The dark steel structures, clad in brown Canadian granite and bronze, are ten stories (City Hall) and three stories (Administration Building) tall and are joined by an Alexander Calder sculpture “La Grand Vitesse” on a windswept plaza. The complex was designed by Skidmore, Owens & Merrill and is instantly recognizable as a variation of van der Rohe’s famed Loop Station US Post Office in downtown Chicago.
Further north and a few lighthouses later, I found myself at the Straits of Mackinac, where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron meet. Historically an important trade route and barrier between the resource-rich Upper Peninsula and railroad connections in the Lower Peninsula, the Straits have been tamed by the Mackinac Bridge, or Mighty Mac. Elegantly hovering over a hydrological convergence, the 26,372 ft long suspension bridge was designed by the engineer David B. Steinman and completed in 1957 after many years of planning and failed funding. Perhaps it was the bald eagle I saw earlier in the day, but Mighty Mac felt like a stately piece of infrastructure representative of America as it connects two shores. With limited built landmarks in the Upper Peninsula, I veered off my initial course to view Lake Superior from the Painted Rocks National Lakeshore.
Passing into Wisconsin and back to Central Time Zone, I continued to trace the Lake Michigan coast down around Green Bay, up the Door Peninsula, and on to Milwaukee. East of downtown, the Quadracci Pavilion at the Milwaukee Art Museum lands on the lakefront and has become an emblem of the city. Designed in 2001, the Pavilion features the skeletal characteristics of architect Santiago Calatrava. More spectacle than program, the entrance atrium is undeniably stunning, but the long connection to the galleries was a puzzling experience.
The long hallway links to the older parts of the museum including its original lakeside home, the Milwaukee County War Memorial. Designed by Eero Saarinen and completed in 1957, the War Memorial’s cantilevered blocky structure contrasts Calatrava’s corporeal spine. The War Memorial is dedicated to county residents lost in World War II and the Korean War offers access to a large promontory over the galleries with views of the lake and city.
My 900 mile circuit had taken me through the crossroads of America, a pair of Michigan peninsulas, and America’s dairyland, yet I chose to extend my drive by taking local roads back to Chicago to thoroughly observe the only Great Lake entirely within the United States. With Lake Michigan an enduring presence on my side, I wondered what role it would play in propelling the next century of development.
Read more about my other Public Architecture tour here.
WRNS Studio is proud to announce that Founding Partner, Sam Nunes, has been elevated to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) College of Fellows. The College of Fellows honors members who have made significant contributions to the profession of architecture and society on a national level.
Sam Nunes developed and implemented a non-hierarchical, sociocratic governance structure for WRNS Studio that empowers and synthesizes diverse interests toward common purpose. Sociocratic governance is atypical within architecture as it emphasizes and empowers a plurality of perspectives and voices rather than a singular creative vision. This creative management model attracts self-determined employees at all levels of experience who are encouraged and expected to use their voices, explore their interests, and assume personal responsibility for the success of the studio.
One of Sam’s key early accomplishments was the development of a growth and transition plan that has allowed for WRNS Studio’s partners to remain hands-on with their projects and to create smooth leadership transitions as the firm grows. Founding partners have retired and talented staff have grown into the next generation of firm leadership. As a result of this decentralized authority and the transition plan, WRNS Studio has experienced an average year-over-year growth of 26% since its founding. While only seventeen years old, WRNS Studio has twice been named top firm in the U.S. by Architect magazine and was recognized as a Fast Company 2020 Most Innovative design firm.
In addition, Sam led the WRNS Studio team that delivered on and documented their commitment to diversity, equity, safety, worker and local benefit which garnered their first International Living Futures Institute – Just Label certification in 2017, as well as two subsequent successful recertifications. This “nutrition label” for socially just and equitable organizations allows organizations to disclose—and in doing so, deliver upon—their commitments to diversity, equity, safety, worker and local benefit.
Sam extends his collaborative “lead-around-the-table” approach outside the studio where he is known to create an environment in which traditional boundaries between owner, architect, engineer, builder, and trade specialists are blurred intentionally. This process creates a culture of trust and calculated risk-taking to push the envelope on what’s possible in the design and construction industry. Award-winning projects include the Tahoe Transit Center, Microsoft’s Silicon Valley Campus, and Adobe’s Utah Campus.
Sam demonstrates an extraordinary combination of expertise and empathy and he cares deeply about advancing the practice of architecture. His work inspires others to follow the same path. He is licensed in multiple states and earned his BArch degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Our new Senior Associates and Associates share their thoughts on sustainability, what makes a good leader, and what they look forward to most about returning to the studio.
WRNS Studio defines its work as being about beauty, sustainability, and a positive contribution to the public realm. What do these concepts mean to you?
Tim Jonas: I hope these last 18 months have made us think more about our need for real sustainability and a beautiful public realm. I think architects have a responsibility to guide our clients, sometimes through lots of digging and iteration, to achieve high marks in these things. For the former, we cannot simply accept a project won’t be WELL or LEED certified, so therefore it need not be sustainable. If it is a project then it will be as sustainable as we can make it, whether it’s for certification or not. It’s not a “this or that” proposition, it’s a “this and” proposition. For the latter, we have the unique ability to give beautiful design, and sometimes real spaces to the public realm with just the stroke of a pen. I think it’s important for the initial concept and gesture of a building, even if it is a private building, to offer the public realm something meaningful. Oftentimes, this is to the benefit of the public as well as the owners and tenants of the building. Especially now with the public/private divide blurrier than ever, and social space constantly redefining, I hope we have seen how much we need real sustainability and a quality public realm.
Jon Kershner: Ultimately these are more than concepts or guiding principles for our work; these are mandates for the architectural community at large. What is worth creating if it is not beautiful? What is worth building if it is not sustainable? And what place is worth creating if it doesn’t improve our public spaces? My ultimate hope is that WRNS Studio can be leaders in the architecture community by example. When we strive for these goals, we set the bar higher. Further, these ideas are fundamental to our success not just as architects, but as citizens, as humans, shaping our world and creating better futures. We owe it to future generations to create a better planet earth because that is all we have.
Emily Jones: I am constantly challenging myself to think about, and consider, beauty beyond my own subjective (or even what I may consider to be “objective”) definitions of spatial or experiential beauty. I firmly believe that it is our obligation as designers to do so, both for our clients and their users, but also for the public at large. I am grateful that WRNS Studio’s stated goals – to achieve beauty, design sustainably and otherwise contribute to the public realm – require each of us to consider, and then re-consider, functional and experiential beauty in architecture. So for me, these concepts “mean” and translate into a firm culture that allows us all to constantly expand our understanding of great design in order to elevate not only our individual practices, but also the quality of our firm’s projects and the impact our projects have on our clients and the world.
Arman Hadilou: I think Architecture is a process of discovery that is never preempted by some image of a photogenic product. Each project should embody the client’s original aspirations but also, through the very process, recognize the possible contributions that architecture can make to the social contract, to the making of places conducive to participation and reverie.
What are you excited about in architecture right now?
Christopher Hunter: Architecture is exciting now because technology can allow us to capture the spontaneity and vision of an initial sketch and bring it to reality. The ability to quickly iterate ideas both physically and graphically makes architecture more accessible to the client and easier to share with our teams. I’m especially excited about new advancements in construction and fabrication, allowing us to use materials in new and surprising ways. Architecture can now be more responsive both environmentally and spatially.
Jeremy Shiman: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not.” These prescient words carry more weight today than they did when The Lorax was published 50 years ago. The implications of the climate crisis become clearer with each passing year and we are no longer able to ignore the global consequences of our collective decisions. As architects and designers, we are uniquely positioned to influence so many different fields and people due to the nature of our work. The profession as a whole is stepping up– demanding more transparency from manufacturers and fewer toxic chemicals in products, asking for and making better tools to understand the environmental impacts of buildings across their whole lifespan, banding together with other architects, engineers, and builders to influence local, national, and international policy, and still making beautiful buildings. Climate change is not a small problem and can leave even the staunchest climate optimist feeling more than a little dispirited at times, but I am heartened and excited by the knowledge, passion, and resolve being brought to bear by architects all around the world who, like me, care a whole awful lot.
What do you think makes a good leader?
Branden Harrell: Good leaders are empathetic and patient while also showing strength and conviction. They show a great understanding of challenges, current and looking ahead, and continue to learn through experience and exposure. A good leader also empowers teammates at all levels and encourages a collaborative environment where growth for the team is inevitable.
Rudy Letsche: A good leader does the right thing, even if it is hard. As architects we negotiate the public and private realms and to know what is right we have to understand where different stakeholders are coming from. We are at our best when we carefully consider those various interests and find creative solutions that are uplifting and even surprising for everyone involved, including ourselves.
Ninoshka Henriques: A good leader collaborates, listens and empowers their team. To ensure a successful creative process, engaging diverse perspectives and expertise is critical. Architecture is not a solo sport, it is a multidisciplinary field and requires us to make space for ideas, dialogue and critique between disciplines so we can design better.
Lily Weeks: Vision & empathy. Knowing where to lead your team and having clarity of mind to find a path to achieve our creative goals to make great spaces and keep our clients excited about our work. Being connected to the design team to assure everyone feels invested and has ownership over the work, then we are all moving together as a unit.
Natalie Kittner: Good leaders are good listeners who approach challenges with tenacity, curiosity, and a little bit of levity. They guide with care, but also provide space for the team to take ownership and learn through their own process.
How do you hope to make an impact within WRNS Studio in the years ahead?
Dale Diener: As I continue to grow as an architect I realize more and more how lucky I am to have found a career that I enjoy so much. Architecture demands so much of us and is at the same time so extraordinarily rewarding. It insists that we continually hone our skills and never stop learning. As a younger architect I was fortunate to have been mentored by many accomplished and creative senior architects. To that end, in the years ahead of me, I’d like to pay it forward by taking some of the inherited experience and knowledge that I’ve gained and share it with younger staff.
Branden Harrell: In the years ahead, I hope that my leadership is impactful on many different levels. I also hope to continue to grow through my own work experience as well as learning from others. In my career I’ve been lucky to have worked with a number of very smart people who’ve been extremely patient with me, investing their time in my development. I hope to be able to provide the same kind of support as a mentor to teammates as well as through the recent programs and initiatives that we’ve established at WRNS Studio, pushing the needle to grow representation of those who are underrepresented in the profession of architecture.
Milena Kim: I hope to make an impact through fostering curiosity in the studio. Curiosity in life results in happiness, when applied to architecture it results in finding joy in one’s work, translating into beautiful buildings. As a leader it is critical that I not only continue to be curious but to encourage the younger colleagues to pursue their curiosity. What is that unexpected element of surprise that we allow our pen to make, to bend where it has repeatedly been straight? How do we leverage the latest technology to make beautiful drawings or conversely the simplicity of an exacto and museum board? How do we make our buildings more sustainable than they already are? Walking through the studio, one can frequently overhear the phrase “What if…” during meetings. The beginning of that sentence holds the power of possibility. Our what if’s hold the power to shape our environment and require us to continuously make them bolder than they’ve been.
How do you connect what you do with broader social issues?
Christopher Pfiffner: There is this idea that post-pandemic and post-recession we will need to “build back better.” I think that as architects, we are uniquely prepared to lead conversations about what “building back better” might really be. Modern architectural concepts of Gesamtkunstwerk, Baukunst, Metabolism, Structural Expressionism, and the more recent imperative of Sustainable Design are essentially different flavors of a holistic approach to architectural design. When architects think of buildings and sites holistically as integrated and adaptable systems, it is then possible for components of that system to be further tweaked, refined, or upgraded over time so that these environments will continue to be truly functional and engaging for users for many years to come. So in the broadest sense, architects have always been advocates for resiliency. And resiliency will be critical for our recovery as an economy and as a society. I am looking forward to working with our clients and design partners to develop successful projects that will also elevate our cities and communities.
John Schlueter: We are fortunate to be both listeners and storytellers who connect architecture to the greater social good through our projects and partnerships. I am excited, humbled and energized by our opportunities to build community, support sustainable action and develop healthier and more equitable places.
ArmanHadilou: I think of architecture as a living, breathing organism that plays a significant role in how we interact with the world. I believe that architecture needs to be understood as a social act, as a tool with which we can connect to politics, economics and aesthetics, and to ideas around smart growth. In this way, it can promote social equity, human interaction, and cultural evolution.
What are you most looking forward to about returning to the studio?
Lily Weeks: I am most looking forward to the energy of the studio. Feeling connected to one another, walking past a drawing, a sample, a reference image and having an impromptu conversation that leads to new ideas and thoughts.
Kayleen Kulesza: I am most looking forward to the vibrancy of the office–face-to-face interaction and the passive sharing in all the ongoing work by nature of “office osmosis.” Not to mention, the real-time celebration of studio wins, colleague achievements, and project milestones!
Ben Mickus: After working from home for this long, I’ve realized that in-person collaboration can’t be taken for granted. Coming back to the studio won’t be a return to the way things used to be, but rather a change to reexamine how we work “together” and take advantage of different modes of working that are only possible when we are face-to-face.
WRNS Studio has named fourteen senior associates and twenty-one associates to expand leadership and grow capabilities across offices in San Francisco, Seattle, Honolulu, and New York. The promotions represent talent in a variety of disciplines, recognizing leadership and expertise in projects for schools, colleges and universities, civic and cultural institutions, high-tech workplaces, healthcare providers, and the scientific community, among others. The new leaders help create a thriving studio culture and deliver architecture that serves the greater good.
“The elevation of these architects and interior designers demonstrates our commitment to empowering employees from all of our offices and at all levels of experience to assume personal responsibility for the success of the studio,” says partner Sam Nunes. “These new leaders help WRNS Studio stay nimble, creative, and design-forward amid market uncertainty.”
The promotions expand the firm’s leadership to twenty-three senior associates and thirty-five associates, under fourteen partners. They reflect the firm’s non-hierarchical, sociocratic governance structure, which distributes authority and decision making across an evolving ownership team and empowers leaders within our studio to personally guide and make decisions about each project, initiative, and core business function. As a result, WRNS Studio is a team of incentivized, incredibly creative, nimble and innovative leaders, with an average year-over-year growth of 26% since its founding.
Dale Diener, David Gutzler, Tim Jonas, Emily Jones, Jonas Kellner, Jon Kershner, Natalie Kittner, Crispin Lazarit, Rodney Leach, Ben Mickus, John Schlueter, Laura Stedman, Susanne Susheelan, and Lily Weeks have been named senior associates.
The twenty-one new associates include Melissa Babb, Mel Figueroa, Arman Hadilou, Branden Harrell, Audrey Harris, Ninoshka Henriques, Christopher Hunter, Michael Jak, Milena Kim, Kayleen Kulesza, Mee Lee, Rudy Letsche, Eli Linger, Brian Mulder, Andrea Nickisch, Chris Niewiarowski, Christopher Pfiffner, Andrew Reynolds, Jeremy Shiman, Meinani Villareal, and Terra Wegner.
“These new associates advance our nationally recognized thought leadership in equity, sustainability and collaborative delivery methods,” says partner and director of human resources, Melinda Rosenberg. “In the new associates we see the future of WRNS.”
WRNS Studio has twice been named Top Firm in the U.S. in Architect magazine’s annual ranking of firms across design, sustainability, and business and the firm was recognized as a 2020 Fast Company Most Innovative Company. Notable projects include the Sonoma Academy Durgin Guild and Commons and Microsoft’s new campus in Silicon Valley, both of which were recognized with AIA COTE awards.
Higher education within the United States is in the midst of an evolutionary change. But colleges and universities were having their moment of reckoning long before COVID-19 disrupted life and accelerated change. In the fall of 2020, SCUP’s Pacific Region held five sessions over eight weeks to explore the core topics shaping higher education as colleges and universities adapted in response to the pandemic. This publication offers key insights, findings, and questions from this Virtual Pacific Region Fall Series.
To read Five Ways to Advance Higher Education for Future Viability in its entirety, click here.
Eight Strategies For Successful Public-Private Partnerships explores ways to evolve the P3 delivery method. This content is an outcome of engagement with industry leaders and within the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP), as presented at the 2018 Pacific Region Conference and the 2019 National Conference. This paper articulates knowledge that was shared at the conferences, as gained from three recent projects: the University of California, Merced 2020 Project, and the Student Housing West and Family Student Housing projects at University of California, Santa Cruz.
As increasing enrollment, fiscal constraints, aging infrastructure, deferred maintenance, and decades of underinvestment challenge universities and colleges throughout North America, many institutions look to Public-Private Partnerships (P3) to deliver capital projects. A P3 is a contract between the public sector (in this case, the University) and the private sector (a Developer) that outlines the provision of assets and the delivery of services. Under traditional delivery models, the entire capital costs of the project are typically paid over the design and construction period, with no linked funding for ongoing Operations and Maintenance (O&M).
The P3 contractual structure can be tailored to best address the institution’s needs and organizational framework. Contractional options range and depend on each party’s level of engagement, available resources, and the allocation of responsibility across the different functions: design, build, finance, operate, maintain, transfer, and own. The most comprehensive P3 model, for perspective, is Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Maintain (DBFOM), in which capital costs are not paid by the University until the asset is operational; likewise, the contract may include funding for O&M services for 30 to 40 years.
Depending on the terms of the P3 contract, some key advantages to the University may include the ability to:
Renew existing facilities and provide new facilities
Build large-scale projects
Spread payments for the facility over a 30 to 40 year period
Leverage debt service
Guarantee that all occupants benefit from a building that is at full operational efficiency
Ensure that buildings are in good turn-back condition beyond turn-over
Count on a predictable financial model
In some cases, in which a University needs to expand or renew its physical assets but lacks the financial capacity to do so, P3 can provide an alternative financing structure to achieve these goals.
During the past 10 years, as universities have undertaken P3 projects of all scales and types, this delivery option evolved from a transaction-based model focused on the financial bottom line to one in which social and environmental values are given higher priority. Recent examples of University P3 projects include housing, classrooms, teaching and research laboratories, dining halls, academic offices, health and recreation facilities, conference centers, student services facilities, and amenities. Several of these program types are not revenue-generating. These projects offer insights for evolving P3 to deliver the highest social, economic, and environmental value. Following are eight strategies for successful P3’s that turn transaction into transformation on University campuses.
To read Eight Strategies For Successful Public-Private Partnerships in available in its entirety here.
A Conversation with Rosa Sheng, Lilian Asperin, Annelise Pitts, Julia Mandell and Saskia Dennis-van Dijl
We sat down with EQxD Founding Chair Rosa Sheng, Co-Chair Lilian Asperin, Research Chair Annelise Pitts, Symposium Chair Julia Mandell, and Industry Outreach Liaison Saskia Dennis-van Dijl, to talk about this year’s theme and how the movement has evolved to encompass the broader topic of equality in the workplace.
How did you get involved with EQxD and what does the movement mean to you?
ROSA: In 2014, I founded the organization as a way to raise awareness of the gender disparity in the industry. It’s exciting to see what started off as a conversation shift into a movement with actual results.
JULIA: I’m the newest member of the core team, and I’ve been involved with EQxD for two years. I heard about the organization after the 2014 survey was published, and I knew I wanted to be part of the movement.
LILIAN: January of 2014, my father’s passing was the first time in my career that my professional and personal trajectories massively collided. My involvement with Equity by Design was meaningful during this period of personal grieving and upheaval because I was experiencing a particularly difficult pinch point. Crafting the Mission statement energized me. We shared an interest in being of service to our talent, with a capital “T”. It resonated with me that so many of us agreed that people’s wellness is directly related to a thriving profession in Architecture.
SASKIA: I asked Rosa (as a favor!) to be on a panel for the Missing 32% conference to talk about Communication and Negotiation. I knew Rosa through my work with BCJ — I don’t think either of us necessarily had the issue of women in architecture on our radar. That conference really galvanized me, and I quickly got involved in the Equity by Design research project and the resulting conference in 2014.
Explain the name The Missing 32% and how it transformed into the movement that is known as Equity by Design.
ROSA: The Missing 32% resulted from an incubator event conceived and produced in 2011 by the AIA SF Communications Committee. It is a jarring reminder that nearly one-third of women with professional degrees in architecture do not become licensed architects, AIA members, or senior leaders in the profession. Over the years, the phrase has evolved to encompass a broader conversation of equitable practice for everyone, which is reflected in the current name, Equity by Design.
SASKIA: The term Equity by Design is very intentional. Equity is about everyone and not only women. And we are design thinkers and design professionals. Our goal is to gain knowledge and share best practices…to achieve Equity by and through Design!
What is the significance of this year’s symposium theme “Equity by Design: Metrics, Meaning, and Matrices”
ROSA: The theme builds upon the last five years of advocacy and sets an exciting path for our committee’s next “chapter”. Equity is for everyone. We are approaching design holistically and we’re not just looking at a small scale. We’re looking at a scale beyond our industry — equity for architects, design collaborators, clients, and our communities.
ANNELISE: We must leverage metrics to track progress on how the gender dynamics are shifting. If we want the ratios within our profession to change, we need benchmarks for comparison and time to review, discuss, and adjust our course of action based on the findings.
LILIAN: In terms of meaning, we seek meaning at different intervals in our careers and in the connections we make. Oftentimes, we end up feeling like we have to make a choice between personal and professional growth, but by focusing on “the bigger meaning,” we are inspiring changes that will provide work-life synergies. Many of us are drawn to architecture because we are filled with excitement about how we can change the world — we are drawn to meaningful careers, and when we see the impact and influence possible through our work, we raise awareness of architecture’s true value within our society while simultaneously realizing personal and job satisfaction.
JULIA: The last component, matrices, well, we can adopt matrices to inspire advocacy and action. By nature, we are makers, problem solvers, and creators. Matrices enable us to become originators of new approaches and frameworks so that we can create more equitable environments within architectural practice and the places we design.
The 2014 Equity in Architecture Survey put hard numbers to what many of us have experienced in architecture. How have the metrics helped you affect change? Why is this survey unique and what do you hope to accomplish with the 2016 survey?
ROSA: In 2014, we asked many questions geared toward working parents but when we reviewed the data, we recognized the need to expand the questions to encompass caregiving and other career pinch points. So for the 2016 survey we asked more questions about non-parent caregivers and people with a broader spectrum of families. This evolution in the survey questions and data is helping us affect tangible action because we are attempting to reach people individually. We are taking the time to understand what matters on a personal level versus using a blanket approach.
LILIAN: We’re trying to use the survey to spur constructive conversations about what’s happening. The data makes equity issues irrefutable. We can now say, “Here’s a pattern. What are we going to do about it?”
ANNELISE: The Equity in Architecture Survey is so useful because we ask questions in a very objective way. We do not lead questions with a biased statement, such as “do you feel this?” We ask specific questions. For example, we asked: “Are you an architect?” “Did you graduate from architecture school?” “Do you have friends in your current firm?” “We then cross-tabulated these objective responses with questions about their work load.
SASKIA: The 2014 survey and the widespread publicity that resulted caused many firms large and small around the country to take a deeper look at their own cultures, policies and behaviors. It provided both leaders of practice and staff with a language and a series of benchmarks by which to better understand their own challenges. Whether it is in revamping their performance review process or better integrating not only flexible policies but flexible culture, architectural firms are slowly but surely making significant changes! I am particularly interested in how this impacts people in practice and have focused on that rather than broader policy questions.
What has been a consistent topic over the years? What’s emergent?
ROSA: The topic of success and how it is defined is on the forefront. We’re learning that success is not merely scaling your business and making the most money. Although there is value in growing the business, we are finding that that more people value success in work-life integration — a swinging pendulum between professional and personal growth.
ANNELISE: Work-life integration is an emerging key phrase in many industries and we are looking at the ways in which the architecture industry is acknowledging this need and making it a reality. Professional growth — getting promoted, working on various projects, leading groups, and thriving in the work environment help achieve equity. But nurturing personal growth — supporting family needs, individual goals and giving meaning to work are just as important. with monetary recognition and increased responsibility. They go hand in hand.
LILIAN: Adding to the topic of success — it is about being able to curate the life you want. For example, we crossed paths with a woman who was an artist, and while she doesn’t have children, she values work-life integration. She wanted a four-day work week with Fridays off to devote to work different from her day to day, which was for her, a wellspring of inspiration. She discussed her needs and made them clear to her employer and team. After a while, because her colleagues saw her coming back to work refreshed and energized, they behaved in ways that were protective and encouraging of her schedule. By communicating what was important to her, this talented designer was able to structure her week in a way that was more focused on being present and joyful.
SASKIA: Flexibility is a consistent topic. There is no doubt that men and women are looking to develop work and life integration that isn’t just about being able to juggle or “time manage” more effectively. Whether you’re a parent or have a strong passion outside of architecture, you want to be able to do it all, and I think there are some amazing examples of people and firms figuring out how to make that happen! And as an evolution of the thinking about flexibility and integration, we are all increasingly cognizant that this is not solely an issue around caretaking. It is instead about people having multifaceted passions and interests that have value to themselves and their employers.
I have seen an increasing awareness and focus on the importance of thinking through the promotion process in a much more rigorous way. I’d like to think the Equity by Design 2014 research had a hand in helping to raise awareness of developing a transparent and consistent promotion process reliant less on relationships and more on assessment of actual performance and achievements.
I also know that many larger firms are grappling with issues of mentorship and sponsorship. Many have had programs in place that haven’t always been effective for a diverse audience in the long term. And so how can we not only encourage mentorship, but create systems of sponsorship for women, for people of color, and allow everyone to benefit from those relationships?
How do you foster equity within leadership + within the EQxD symposium itself?
ANNELISE: At the symposium, we will present the early findings of the 2016 survey through a series of panel discussions throughout the day. In between these sessions, we’ve designed a series of diverse and interactive breakout workshops with a framework that encourages participants to engage in a dialogue of what is meaningful in their career experiences.
JULIA: We can foster equity within leadership by encouraging others in our industry to communicate their needs, take initiative and action, and learn to negotiate. We can encourage people to fight their fears and speak up. We can also begin to think of everyone as a thought leader — from the person who has 5, 10, 15 or 25+ years of experience.
ROSA: Architects can be averse to negotiation, both within their direct work environment and when pitching a new business project. We’re trying to foster equity by providing skills to overcome —one-day negotiation sessions, for instance, to empower people and give them the right tools to negotiate confidently and succinctly.
LILIAN: We can encourage our Talented colleagues to adopt a “just do it” attitude. If something is not happening that needs to be happening, and a person steps up and takes on that role, that person is contributing in ways that foster equity and meritocracy.
Ultimately, this is the way leadership works, at any level of experience. It’s leading from any and every chair. You start taking action and say: this is what I think will make a difference. This is the future I want to be part of.
This was originally published on Equity by Design’swebsite here.
I visited Lisbon recently and was quite taken with this hillside city that overlooks the Atlantic—its sidewalk cafes, narrow stone-lined streets, colorful palette and especially its distinct layering of tiles. Azulejos—painted ceramics date back to the 13th century when the Moors occupied what is now Portugal—are embedded in the culture, history, aesthetic, and overall experience of this place. From institution to infrastructure, they cover Lisbon, inside and out—museums, churches, homes, walls, benches, and subways. From simple geometries in blues and whites to highly ornamental, multi-color arrangements, azulejos create a distinct sense of place rooted in craft and art.
History by Tile
If cultural institutions help define a city’s values and tell its stories, Lisbon’s National Tile Museum, or Museu Nacional do Azulejo, puts tile front and center. Housed in a former convent and church founded in 1509, the National Tile Museum showcases Portuguese ceramics from the 16th century to present day. The museum is solely dedicated to tile and it holds one of the world’s largest and most impressive ceramics collections.
Walking through this ancient space offers a sense of how deeply intertwined ceramics and storytelling are in Portugal’s history, culture, and everyday life. Geometric patterns and a simple palette marked the early style introduced by King Manuel I after an influential trip to Seville. The exhibits become more narrative and sweeping, from religious scenes to striking landscapes, in the spaces featuring ceramic work from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Portugal’s azulejo heritage has influenced many contemporary artists and several spaces within the museum are dedicated to their work.
Everyday Art
Given the preponderance of azulejos in Lisbon’s public realm, it is fitting and distinctly “of Lisbon” that the City’s underground subway stations are covered in them. The Portuguese modern artist Maria Keil designed tile art for 19 of the City’s 50 stations between 1959-1982. Her installations, large scale ceramic murals, appear to be one with their stations, several of which were designed by her architect-husband. Keil’s work—playful geometries and studies in color—is attributed with helping to revive the nation’s interest in azulejos, which had fallen out of favor during the 19th and 20th centuries. In the late 1980’s new artists were chosen to decorate the remainder of the stations.
Pulling into each new station, the azulejos become visible through the train windows, marking each stop with distinction. A mesh of art, wayfinding, and neighborhood identity, azulejos offer a colorful and very specific transition into the next experience of the day.
I’m always struck by the feeling of stepping into an everyday public space that pulls my eyes to its ceiling, like Grand Central, or sparks my curiosity like the plentiful steps that connect hillside streets in my own neighborhood in San Francisco. Great civic spaces like these can imbue an upcoming journey, or simply another day at work, with a sense of care for the human experience and pride in place. The Azulejos in Lisbon’s metro stations offer this same kind of care and pride while helping to embed Portugal’s artistic and cultural heritage in the everyday act of riding the subway, signaling that these things of beauty or curiosity or storytelling are for everyone.
Neighborhood
By the end of my 8-day trip, I could tell I was “home,” by the tiles that had become familiar throughout the week. That courtyard café surrounded by tiled buildings just around the corner, that light green tiled house that marked the end of a busy commercial neighborhood and the beginning of the residential neighborhood where we stayed, the stairway with the perfect balance of ceramic and graffiti—these artistic “signposts” became my wayfinding devices, familiar and welcoming.
One of the neighborhood restaurants had a tile wall that you could write on. It was our last meal, and the experience felt very much in the spirit of our adventure by azulejo. It was difficult to find space but we in our small way we took part in the story of tile in Lisbon.
Our new Senior Associates and Associates share their thoughts on leadership and what makes WRNS an incredible place to work.
WRNS defines its work as being about beauty, sustainability, and a positive contribution to the public realm. What do these concepts mean to you?
Alexander Key: Beauty in architecture is not an abstract notion; it is inherently tethered to the material and the experiential. Scale, reflection, tactility, framing, weight, form, sequence: these are the tools at the architect’s disposal. Beauty engages the inhabitant and the visitor. It is—it must be—a moment of pause, of beholding. Beauty is sensing, perceiving, taking in. It is, above all, presence of mind and being. In an increasingly digital and often distracted age, I find solace and grounding in being part of a practice which grapples with the questions of beauty and seeks to manifest it in the material world.
Stewart Green: Making architecture is an essential act of solving our needs with grace and efficiency. Our future demands much of our talents, as we rise to tough challenges. Our work reveals an optimism that our problems are solvable, our cities are vital, and builds a vibrant, decent future, while meeting immediate needs. Beauty and sustainability are integral to good architecture, as a source for inspiration, advocacy and knowledge, for a better public realm.
Abdel Qader Tarabieh: Architecture has and still is being perceived not only as the interaction of all the above mentioned but also as a holistic entity. Coming from a region of ancient civilizations, I always relate to design from a perspective of nomads & natives. They built intuitively, accompanied by a profound sensibility to context and nature. Buildings like the Roman theater of Jerash are still standing and act in harmony with light and nature. It is still a prime inspiration source for architects and people. As the contemporary world has become flat, countless opportunities emerge from learning about other cultures while staying rooted to its direct context.
Goetz Frank: It becomes clearer each year that we are on the brink of grave ecological challenges. These will put unprecedented strains on our societies but also on us as individuals. With its multifaceted field of contextual relationships, architecture is uniquely positioned to address climate change in a variety of ways. With the large footprint that construction has on the environment, better, greener buildings can make a real impact. But more so, creating architecture and building cities is an immensely engaging and productive human experience and the outcome, in an ideal case, can be enlightening and empowering to all involved. The process and result of creating architecture can be a powerful force in helping our society to master the challenges ahead.
What do you think makes a good leader?
Rochelle Nagata-Wu: A good leader leads by example, gets involved and knows their trade. They respect their team members for their individuality and strengths and treat everyone how they want to be treated in return. They are good listeners. They inspire and make their team feel valued. They teach and provide guidance while allowing freedom to learn and grow. They inspire others and push others to be better. They take responsibility. They accept criticism and use it to make better themselves.
Stewart Green: A good leader draws on a diverse set of skills, but ultimately acts to serve others. It starts with inspiring people with a shared vision and interests, developing knowledge, motivating people to achieve their best work, and realizing beautiful and essential designs. Strong leadership is an act of sharing goals, knowledge, responsibility, and making a better future. By leading with empathy and discipline, we realize our strengths and limitations, we support joy in creativity and ultimately our best designs.
Edwin Halim: A good leader should be able to elevate the quality of work of everyone around them and to provide a good foundation for everyone in the team to grow and to be available to support others.
Prairna Gupta Garg: A good leader wears many hats, all at once. Here’s a few key attributes to successful leadership in my opinion:
Inspiration: Creating a vision and being able to motivate a team to meet that goal. Being inspired and able to follow others.
Strategic Planning: Thinking at different scales—long term/ short term—to develop a workable plan.
Scalability: Being able to zoom-in & out/ think in multiple contexts at the same time.
Story-teller/ Public Speaker: Being able to articulate ideas into words in a tactful manner.
Empathy: Understanding the opportunities & constraints to connect at a deeper level.
Trust/ Responsibility: Trusting yourself/your team and taking ownership of not only your work but of your team’s work.
Self-Awareness: We are not all perfect. Understanding your limitations and asking for help as required!
Adaptability: Learning how to deal with tough situations and coming out stronger.
Mentorship: Sharing knowledge/ expertise and sponsoring opportunities for growth/ development of younger staff.
What are you excited about in architecture right now?
Jason Halaby: I find recent developments in mass timber to be inspiring. Wood is such a beautiful material and the fact that it is now starting to become a viable replacement for steel and concrete gives me hope for a low-carbon future.
Prairna Gupta Garg: Architects are creative problem solvers and architecture is not about buildings/ objects in space, it’s about people and how they interact with each other and their environment. With the growing trend towards sustainable, parametric, and community-based design, I’m excited about ‘Architecture as a means of Social Innovation’ that ties it all together. It’s not just about form and function any longer, but about data-driven beautiful design that is a catalyst for change, creating opportunities for public realm, cross-cultural initiatives, environmental awareness, non-institutional education and economic independence.
Abdel Qader Tarabieh: The interrelationship between nature, light and architecture as well as distilling its basic principles. I’ve been traveling during the last couple of years to examine these notions in person. It’s a profound feeling to experience the interaction between great buildings and people in different cultures, from the Alhambra of Granada to the Rothko Chapel in Houston. Beyond the idea that architecture is a source of shelter, it defines its status as a poetic pocket for inspiration and sentimental.
Goetz Frank: Green building standards have raised the consciousness for potential health hazards of building materials. With this shifted focus came a renewed appreciation for natural authentic materials. I am excited about our increased use of wood as structural material and also how we expose natural materials like wood, steel, natural fabrics and stone/ceramics in our interior designs.
How do you hope to make an impact within WRNS in the years ahead?
Kelly Shaw: Mentorship. When I joined WRNS 4 years ago there were only about 90 people in the office. Since then we’ve tripled head count and added offices in Seattle and New York. Without the mentorship of other leaders and friends within this office I never would have grown professionally or found fun in what we do as a studio. I believe that motivation and dedication to our practice comes from feeling that not only are you working on a project you find meaningful but also in feeling that you are a valued asset to your team. As WRNS continues to expand, I hope to be able to offer the same support and guidance I have been lucky enough to receive to other colleagues and future WRNS employees.
Susanne Susheelan: Through nourishing curiosity for the process! Technology, deadlines, and budgets too often narrow vision. I hope to encourage a search of how we can translate and make the human experience a crucial part of our work, to instill calmness, to create an identity, before balancing real-world constraints.
Goetz Frank: I would like to foster the relationship between our Studio and the Academics. Inviting WRNS members to design reviews and having desk crits for students in our studio can foster a lively and engaging architectural discourse in our Studio culture.
If you weren’t in the studio, where would you be?
Kelly Shaw: If I wasn’t in studio I would be traveling. Outside of continuing to see projects developed and realized, travel makes me a better a designer. It makes me more open-minded, reinvigorates creativity and helps me to better understand the world we’re designing for.
Rochelle Nagata-Wu: I would be spending time with my family. Having kids and aging parents has made me value my family time more than ever.
Goetz Frank: Out on the bay on the boat with my wife and dog Jako, or in the wood shop tinkering…
Prairna Gupta Garg: If I wasn’t in this studio, I’d have my own studio.
Alexander Key: My toddler has lots of books with happy animals around. This upsets me. We need to stop lying to our children. If I were not in the studio, I would write and illustrate a children’s tragedy called “Where did the animals go?” on extinction and the impact of the human species on the rest of life. The book would contain neither animals nor pathos.
Edwin Halim: Home with my family. Try to do my best to maintain the work/life balance. And reading Alex’s book called “Where did the animals go?” to my kids once it gets published.
Barcelona’s narrow streets and fourteenth century stone walls contour numerous literary works, from Cervantes’ Don Quixote to Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia and Goytisolo’s Marks of Identity. More recently Barcelona winds through gothic thriller Shadow of the Wind and the misfit’s dream, Call Me Zebra. There are also ample bookish spots—the Biblioteca de Catalunya, the 300+ bookstores, the Sant Antoni street book market, and the many cafes where people go to read. One of the world’s editorial capitals, Barcelona hosts numerous literary festivals and has a thriving independent publishing scene.
In 2015, Barcelona became the seventeenth UNESCO City of Literature. In its mission to build peace through international cooperation across education, culture, and the sciences, UNESCO recognizes cities that make creativity a core premise of sustainable urban development and policy. The qualifications to become a City of Literature include a strong and diverse publishing industry and municipal investment in events, programs, and places that support literary arts and commerce.
“Urban areas are today’s principal breeding grounds for the development of new strategies, policies and initiatives aimed at making culture and creativity a driving force for sustainable development and urban regeneration.”- UNESCO Creative Cities Network
With its ramblas, public squares, multi-modal infrastructure, and ample street space dedicated to walking, Barcelona is a place where people enjoy shared civic spaces. Curious to understand what contributes to Barcelona’s distinct sense of place, I explored how being a City of Literature informs the public realm.
BIBLIOTECA DE CATALUNYA
The Biblioteca de Catalunya, one of 40 libraries within Barcelona, is located within the Raval, which for me had the organic feel of a well-worn local’s neighborhood just outside of the tourist fray. The meals were inexpensive, the bookstores radical. It was a place of stickers, exhaust fumes, and stubbed toes. With people socializing, studying, working, or enjoying a reprieve from the busy city street, the Biblioteca de Catalunya felt very much a part of the neighborhood’s everyday use.
Biblioteca de Catalunya Photo: Pep Herrero
With its soft, curved arches, unadorned stone, and rawness, the Library recalls its 14th century neighbors in the Gotic district just down the street. “There is a rawness about some of the buildings, each single stone bears a different texture, has weathered in a different way. It is easy to get an idea of the stonemason at work, to see how each stone has been cut and placed,” writes Colm Tobin in Homage to Barcelona. “Barcelona is the only city in the world whose centre looks like this. It is the only city in the world which was powerful during the fourteenth century and not afterwards.”
The building complex is composed of a series of brick buildings constructed between the 15th and 18th centuries which originally housed and centralized six hospitals in the City. It is recognized as an exemplar of civic Gothic architecture and known for being the place where Gaudi died after being hit by a tram. The complex is grand yet intimate. The arched, covered walkways offer a delightful, organic transition from busy street to civic gathering space to the quiet interiors. Trees balance sunlight and shade and there is ample seating and informal social space.
Bottom Photo: Pep Herrero
Throughout Barcelona, red and yellow striped Catalan flags hang from windows and storefronts. Menus offer Catalan, Spanish, and English options. Aptly, it is at the Biblioteca de Catalunya—its mission is to conserve, collect, and disseminate Catalan linguistic and cultural heritage—where I pause and truly contemplate the concept of dual nationhoods. What does it feels like spatially, culturally, linguistically, personally? The Biblioteca de Catalunya is a place where people want to be—the cool air a reprieve from the Mediterranean sun, the many options for learning and being part of a community—and it holds the history, resources, and space for such questions.
THE BOOKSTORES
Fatbottom Bookstore in Raval
“Peace must be founded upon dialogue and mutual understanding. Peace must be built upon the intellectual and moral solidarity of humanity.” – excerpt, UNESCO Mission
For me, empathy happens during the act of reading as I gain new insights into what it might feel like to experience the life of another and then take that curiosity and openness out into the world. This journey always begins at the bookstore. I spend hours in them—the smell of old paper, the silence, the whispery heated conversations, and that fresh new voice that makes me question what I know. There is the unique display and organization of the books—politics might be up-front, the most disruptive ideas creating threshold into the space.
El Lokal Bookstore
Barcelona was an anarchist stronghold during the Spanish Revolution and a seat of resistance against Franco’s impending reign as a nationalist dictator. So the anarchist bookstore El Lokal rose to the top for a visit. The bookstore’s website describes it in Catalan as “a space in the center of Barcelona for the creation and experimentation of new projects, as a meeting point for struggles and resistance, and a means for the sale and distribution of alternative materials and libertarian culture.” I browsed the books, surreptitiously watching the women who worked there as they engaged with patrons, talking and laughing. In this sacred space of dissent and radical thought, I was struck, more so than in any other part of Barcelona, by the proximity of history, how it’s in the stonework and the air—and what it reveals as a distinct and very real possibility in our own time.
In my opinion, the best bookstores always hold something of their neighborhoods and cities—a specific kind of informality or order, an aesthetic and sensibility conveyed in the storefront, the ways in which people gather inside and out. In Barcelona, the bookstores were very much of their places—charmingly cramped and inhabited by locals in the old city Raval, neat and orderly in the more recently gridded Eixample—a kind of civic and cultural infrastructure that sets the tone as radical, provocative, artistic, political, mysterious, adventurous, but most of all: dialogic, antithetical to monoculturalism.
After a long day of bookstore hopping, I returned to the hotel with my kids. We’d picked up a children’s book along the way, which the man working at the front desk asked to see.
“It’s in Catalan,” he said with a big smile, somewhat surprised.
