Practice Disrupted by Practice of Architecture

Episode 090: Madame Architect: Work, Family, and Everything In BetweenWho are the leaders behind Madame Architect?In our season 4 finale, we invited senior editor Amy Stone to join us in an interview. This week we invite Amy back to learn more about her career, her MBA studies, and her work at Madame Architect.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.Guest: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.📍 Show Links:  Follow Amy at @_amystone📚 Continue Learning:Madame ArchitectFollow us at @madamearchitect📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social:Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter

Episode 089: Entrepreneurship in Practice: Taking Risks to Create ValueWhat does it take to launch, build, and grow an architecture firm?This week we interview the founding principal of brick. Rob Zirkle and the managing director of business management, Lynn Chock. Founded in 2010, brick. has been on a trajectory of growth since its inception. A nimble team grounded in the belief that design, technology, and service are indelibly linked, we discuss the company’s growth from launch to the present day.  “Friendly, unconventional, can-do architects”, Bricksters are guided by their mission to: outsmart convention. create value. design like you mean it. Learn more about how they are redesigning the business model of architecture.Guests:Rob Zirkle founding principal at brick brings a strong record of successful and recognized design excellence to a wide variety of project types in both architecture, interiors, and urban design. Rob brings a sensitivity to the details of design that make memorable architecture transcend the everyday, but he is also laser focused on creating value for clients, the cities where he works and for the many stakeholders whose experiences are shaped by the firm’s designs.As managing director of business management, Lynn Chock knows that quality + efficiency + happiness = an awesome bottom line. She leverages her extensive experience in HR, accounting, and business management to help brick and its talented staff thrive. For Lynn, a successful firm maximizes value for its clients and the people who live, work, and learn in the buildings they design. Over the last nine years Lynn has worked with brick behind the scenes, constantly improving financial performance and business workflows; finding ways to increase overall productivity and boost the happiness quotient for brick’s most valuable asset: its people. 📍 Show Links:  brick.👉 Follow brick. on social:IG: @brick.incLinkedIn: brick.Twitter: @brick_arch📚 Continue Learning:PD 069: A Case Study on Leadership: Expanding Established Design Practices to New Locationsbrick: Redesigning The Studio Through Communication (w/ Lynn Chock, Je'Nen Chastain)📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social:Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter

Episode 088: Latina Voices in Practice“Why is it that the largest community of color within the US still makes up such a small percentage of the profession?” ~ACSA Hispanic & Latinx in ArchitectureFour leaders in the profession share their 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 Hispanic & Latinx in Architecture.Guest:Venesa Alicea-Chuqui, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP, an Architect, Educator and Advocate, is Founding Principal of NYVARCH Architecture, a NYC based collaborative Architectural Practice focused on building community and equity through design.  With over 15 years of experience designing multi-family sustainable affordable, and supportive housing developments and civic projects, she is committed to working with local communities to develop good design, both sustainable and socially conscious. She’s the Vice Chair of Outreach to the AIA Small Firm Exchange and President of the Architecture Alumni Group of the Alumni Association of the City College of New York, her alma mater (B.Arch ‘05), where she has also taught the Coop Internship and Professional Practice classes. Committed to design justice in the built environment, she’s an active contributor to Dark Matter University, Design as Protest, and a former co-chair to the AIANY Diversity & Inclusion and Emerging New York Architects committees. She is past chair of the AIANY Puerto Rico Resiliency task force, an active member of the AIANY Planning and Urban Design Committee, and a 2019 Fellow of the Association for Community Design.Siboney Diaz-Sánchez is an affordable housing advocate and the community engagement administrator for the City of San Antonio's Neighborhood and Housing Services Department. She serves as a NOMA Empowerment Committee Co-Chair, organizes with Design As Protest Planning and Policy Committee, and is proud to teach Community Practice at The Boston Architectural College. In 2021 she joined the Association for Community Design board of directors.  Prior to returning to San Antonio Siboney was an Enterprise Rose Fellow and project/design manager at Opportunities Communities in the Boston area working for two non-profit community development corporations, The Neighborhood Developers and Nuestra Comunidad.  While in Boston she developed design standards for affordable housing, helped secure funding for a low income housing tax credit housing development, led a community engagement process for a public arts park and served on the Boston Society of Architects board of directors. Siboney insists creative fields are viable vehicles for social change and believes in just redistribution of systemic power through design. She is committed to prioritizing community voices in design processes.She is a licensed architect in the state of Texas and holds her Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University.  Vanessa Smith Torres is a Puerto Rican born Architect based in Miami, FL. Vanessa received a Bachelors from Northeastern University and a Master of Architecture from Tulane University.  She has worked on award winning projects in various market sectors - from Hospitality to Education. Vanessa is a Project Architect at Perkins&Will and Adjunct Instructor at Florida Atlantic University. Committed to building a more equitable profession, Vanessa has served on the National Organization of Minority Architects Chapter boards in South Florida (SoFloNOMA) and Louisiana (NOMALA). She is the Immediate Past President of SoFloNOMA and currently serves as Chapter Director of AIA Miami and co-chair of the Women in Architecture Committee.Alicia Ponce is the Founder and Principal of APMonarch, a Chicago based Female and Latina owned Architecture firm.Under Alicia’s direction, the firm provides architectural services, community engagement and sustainability consulting for projects throughout the Midwest and Mexico. Her expertise and passion to design healthy buildings and equitable communities support many clients in creating architecture that is ambitious, thoughtful and healthy. APMonarch provides these services to a diverse group of sectors that includes Commercial, Higher-Education, Civic, Healthcare, and Non-Profits.Alicia refers to APMonarch as the pollinator of the built environment designing healthy environments that look good, feel good and perform great. The firm’s promise is to build zero carbon architecture. Demonstrating that promise is Alicia’s recent architecture commission to design Centro Amazing, a civic youth center located in Aguascalientes, Mexico which is to be constructed from rammed earth.A registered architect in Illinois and Wisconsin, Alicia has over 20 years of architecture and sustainability experience. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and studied at the Ecole d’Architecture in Versailles, France.Alicia currently serves on the Chicago Landmarks Commission and the United Way Metro Chicago Executive Board. Creator of the award-winning book Latinas in Architecture – raising the 1% one Latina a time, she is the founder and chair of Arquitina, a national non-profit organization with a mission to raise the number of licensed Latina architects in the U.S. 📍 Show Links: AIA MiamiAIA New York Diversity and InclusionAIA New York Emerging ArchitectsAIA Small Firm ExchangeAPMonarchArquitinaAssociation for Community DesignBoston Society of ArchitectsChicago Landmarks CommissionCity College of New YorkCornell AAPDark Matter UniversityDesign as ProtestFlorida Atlantic UniversityThe Neighborhood DevelopersNOMANOMA LouisianaNOMA South FloridaNortheastern UniversityNuestra ComunidadNYARCH ArchitectureOpportunities CommunitiesPerkins&WillTulane UniversityUnited Way Metro Chicago📚 Continue Learning:Latinas in Architecture: Stories of raising the 1% one Latina at a timeWhere are my People? Hispanic & Latinx in Architecture📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social:Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter

Episode 087: Designing New Workplace PoliciesIf 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:  Saam Architecture📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social:Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter

Episode 086: A Large Firm Perspective on Innovation & Transformation: CannonDesignHow do large firms think about innovation and transformation within the industry, and where are they investing next? Within the last four years, CannonDesign:grew their consulting practice through the strategic acquisition of Blue Cottage Consultingbrought new software tools to market, and launched a pre-fab design and fabrication facility in the middle of a pandemicIn 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:  CannonDesign📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social:Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter

Episode 085: A Case Study for Practice: Latent DesignHow 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:  Latent DesignDesign Trust Chicago📚 Continue Learning:Mapped!Boombox Chicago Innovation Award videoBoombox SXSW Place by Design Award video📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social:Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter

Episode 084: Understanding the Architecture Labor MovementWho 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 WebsiteAWU FAQ PageAWU How to UnionizeAWU InstagramAWU TwitterAWU Contact: architectural.workers.united@gmail.com📚 Continue Learning:Labor ResourcesDPE Data SheetEPI Productivity-Pay GapEPI Union Density-Top 10% IncomeDOL Employee RightsNLRB WebsiteNational Labor Relations ActNYC Central Labor CouncilArchitecture Labor ResourcesThe Architecture Lobby Union Pamphlet (downloadable pamphlet)Architecture and Anti-Trust ArticleWhy Don’t Architects Have Unions? (by Jess Myers)Architecture and Labor (review of book by Peggy Deamer)NCARB DemographicsAIA Bias ReportFAECT Article (by Mardges Bacon)Press about AWU (selected)New York Times ArticleCurbed ArticleNew York Review of Architecture ArticleArchitectural Record ArticleArchitect’s Newspaper ArticlePress about Overwork/Burnout/StressHarvard Business Review Article (about long hours)Salon Article (about 40 hour work week)Gallup Union Support PollCNBC 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 EastVOX Media Union (est. 2018) - WGA EastThe New Yorker Union (est. 2018) - News GuildNew York Magazine Union (est. 2018) - News GuildWirecutter Union - (est. 2019) - News GuildNew Museum Union - (est. 2019) - UAWWhitney Museum Union - (est. 2020) - UAWGuggenheim Union - (est. 2021) - UAWACLU Lawyers - (est. 2021) - IFTPE📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social:Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter

Episode 083: Lessons from Practice Disrupted on Navigating ChangeAfter 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.Top 10 Episodes as of July 2022 (these stats change weekly)#1 - 001: Practice Shifts#2 - 067: Architecture And: The Future of Workplace#3 - 068: 2022 AIA Whitney M. Young Jr. Honor Award Winners: Riding the Vortex#4 - 010: Organizational Design, Process, and Innovation#5 - 002: The Next Generation of Practice#6 - 065: Training Confidence in Technical Detailing#7 - 047: Talent Development in Practice#8 - 029: Taking the Leap from Architecture into Tech#9 - 058: A Case Study for Practice: RIOS#10 - 051: Designing a Culture of MentorshipChanging: Studio Culture051: Designing a Culture of Mentorship047: Talent Development in Practice042: Building a Great Place to Work031: Balancing Operations Management & Firm Culture027: Techniques for Effective People Management022: Reimagining Work in the New Digital-First Workplace017: Building Culture008: Studio CultureChanging: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion068: Riding the Vortex079: Increasing Black Women in Architecture070: She Builds Crossover in Three Acts059: Building the Pipeline Through K-12 Education057: Southeast Asian American Architects054: Architecture, And: EDI+J053: Immigrant Architects048: Architecture, Identity, & Culture035: Asian American Architects016: Voices from the Future of the Profession (LGBTQIA+ Architects)009: Voices from the Future of the Profession (Black Architects)Changing: Management Systems:076: Practice Applications Digital Architecture, Blockchain, and NFTs074: Exploring the Evolution of Computational Design056: Leading with Finance & Entrepreneurship052: Managing a Virtual Practice049: The Ultimate Building Configurator046: Building a Social Audience044: Leveraging Tech to Solve Challenges in AEC038: Designing a Service-Based Practice033: Building & Running a Successful Hybrid Practice032: Designing a Technology-First Architecture Practice031: Balancing Operations Management & Firm Culture028: Building a Digital Marketing Strategy026: Climate Action Through Entrepreneurship024: Managing Knowledge & Data for Continuous Improvement023: Finding a New Value Proposition Through Tech012: Communication Strategy010: Organizational Design, Process, and Innovation005: Coaching is the New Mentoring002: Technology & ChangeChanging: Firm Leadership:078:Leading on Climate Action for a Positive Future071: A Case Study for Practice: Shepley Bulfinch069: Expanding Established Design Practices064: A Case Study for Practice: Stayner Architects062: 2022 AIA Gold Medal Winners: Brooks + Scarpa058: A Case Study for Practice: RIOS032: Designing a Technology-First Architecture Practice027: Techniques for Effective People Management014: Training the Next Generation of Leaders006: Retaining the Next Generation of Leaders002: The Next Generation of PracticeChanging: Your Focus:080: Season 4 Finale with Madame Architect072: Finding Your Voice as a Leader069: Expanding Established Design Practices063: DAC Leadership Series: From Team Member to Office Leader050: TRXL Crossover: Calling on Architects to Embrace Change037: Lessons from the Class of 2020030: Getting Your Work Published029: Taking the Leap from Architecture to Tech007: [Re] Creating Your Career in ArchitectureChanging: Your Career:082: Career Pivots080: Season 4 Finale with Madame Architect073: Architecture, And: Civic Leadership067: Architecture, And: The Future of Workplace066: Architecture, And: Technology055: Architecture, And: MBA054: Architecture, And: EDI+J045: Architecture, And: Publishing043: Architecture, And: Nonprofit Design Education039: Architecture, And: Customer Success036: Architecture, And: Robotics025: Architecture, And: Tech019: Architecture, And: Film015: Architecture, And: Social Impact013: Architecture, And: Entrepreneurship007: [Re] Creating Your Career in ArchitecturePivoting Into: Entrepreneurship:077: Urban Intervention with Groundcycle075: Growing an AEC Startup / The Evolution of a Company061: Leading Change Through Entrepreneurship056: Leading with Finance & Entrepreneurship034: Investing in What’s Next, the Spatial Syndicate026: Climate Action Through Entrepreneurship013: Architecture, And: Entrepreneurship011: New Service Lines - Building a Multidisciplinary Practice004: Purpose Driven Practice002: The Next Generation of Practice📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on...

Episode 082: Career PivotsHow 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:Meaningful career transitionsIdentifying and following your strengthsUnderstand where you are passionateThe importance of mentorship and listening to othersAnd how to continue to explore creativity in different mediums. 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:  Death by ArchitectureTenillebwrites.com📚 Continue Learning:📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social:Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter

Episode 081: S5 Launch: AIA Conference on Architecture RecapWelcome 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:  aia.orgconferenceonarchitecture.com📚 Continue Learning:AIA CEO Lakisha Woods says "her success is tied to their success" at A’22 kickoffPresident Barack Obama appears at the AIA Conference on Architecture 2022A’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