Architectette inspires, elevates, and connects women+ in Architecture, Design, Engineering, and Construction.
Every other Monday, host Caitlin Brady features ...
(Replay) 001: Cynthia Muñoz: Strong Mentors Make Great Leaders
Replaying our episode with architect Cynthia Muñoz, principal at Stoecker and Northway Architects (Santa Clara, California) and Chair of the Board of Directors of the ACE Mentor Program of the San Francisco Bay Area.
We talk about:
- Cynthia's path to becoming an architect and other career paths she considered before she transferred to the architecture program at UC Berkeley.
- Her working experiences as an intern, designer, and eventually- principal.
- The significant impact of Cynthia's mentors (two female, senior architects) and the lessons they taught her.
- Why good design is important, but how you treat your team is crucial.
- Cynthia's experience during the 2008-2009 economic downturn and how she managed the "teenage years" of her career.
- How, as a leader, Cynthia managed projects during the pandemic and how mentorship has changed in a hybrid work format.
- What the ACE Mentor Program is, how it helps students, why you should get involved as a student or mentor!
More Episodes You Might Like:
045: Atelier Cho Thompson: Ming Thompson and Christina Cho Yoo on Diverse Strengths and Great Design
026: Angela Watson: Embracing Challenges, Fostering Connection as CEO
025: Yiselle Santos Rivera: Beyond her Role as Director of JEDI
024: Bolanle Williams-Olley: Leading Boldly as CFO
013: Erin Alley: Rising to Leadership in Architecture through Inquiry, Inclusivity, and Innovation
009: FIFTEEN: Ximena Valle, Mary Beth Di Figlia, and Jill Lavine on their Women-led Firm
003: Cynthia Kracauer: Speaking Up, Leading, and Connecting
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56:10
051: Ann Rolland: Architecture and Retirement: Reflecting on the Process, Designing the Next Phase
Today's guest is Ann (Annie) Rolland. Annie recently retired as a Partner from FXCollaborative where she was the Director of the firm’s Cultural and Educational practice. Annie’s work embraces the pragmatic and creative- cultivating new integrations of program and design. Her projects are practical, responsive, elegant, and enduring while respecting the essence of each client and place.
Annie is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, a registered architect in New York, and a Fellow of the AIA. She is active on the AIA New York Committee on Architecture for Education, Non-Traditional Employment for Women (NEW), and the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation (BWAF). In 2021, Annie was recognized as a Notable LGBTQ Leader by Crain’s New York.
We talk about:
- Annie’s career in architecture from high school through retirement. We focus on pivotal moments in her journey and the advice she would share with others who want to follow in her path.
- We next focus on Annie’s role as a firm leader. She advises on the importance of vocalizing your goals as you grow within a firm, how she optimized her role during economically uncertain times, and how she utilized adaptability and strategic planning as a firm leader.
- We also chat about her views on hybrid work environments, flexible schedules, and how architecture must evolve post-pandemic.
- Annie also emphasizes the importance of leaving a lasting impact through quality, mentorship, and socially responsible design. We highlight her volunteer efforts and discuss her overhaul of her firm’s material library to eliminate products that utilize forced labor.
- We end with a popular question- do architects ever really retire? We talk about her upcoming projects including a renovation and work with her local zoning board.
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Thank you to our sponsors:
Arcol is a collaborative building design tool built for modern teams. Arcol streamlines your design process by keeping your model, data and presentations in sync enabling your team to work together seamlessly.
- Website: Arcol.io
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arcol-tech
- Twitter/ X: https://x.com/ArcolTech
Layer is the workflow platform for buildings, empowering teams to capture field data & photos, connect it to their drawings & models, and create beautiful deliverables & reports.
Use Layer to build your own workflow to generate Room Data Sheets from Revit, manage your CA processes such as RFIs or Punch lists, conduct field surveys and much more. The best thing is, it’s all connected directly to Revit so you’ll never have to copy and paste data between windows again.
- Website: https://layer.team/architectette
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Links:
Connect with Annie:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-annie-rolland-faia-25b0079/
Read more about Annie:
Madame Architect: https://www.madamearchitect.org/interviews/2018/11/7/our-obligation-annie-rolland-on-finding-your-passion-and-failing-forward
CRAIN NY: https://www.crainsnewyork.com/awards/notable-lgbtq-2021-ann-rolland
AIA NY: https://www.aiany.org/news/featured-member-ann-rolland-faia-leed-ap/
American Building Podcast: https://www.americanbuildingpodcast.com/episodes-all/ann-rolland-of-fxcollaborative-hunters-point-campus-in-long-island-city-school-as-a-sanctuary
FX Collaborative: https://www.fxcollaborative.com
Design for Freedom: https://www.designforfreedom.org/
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Connect with Architectette:
- Website: www.architectette.com (Learn more)
- Instagram: @architectette (See more)
- Newsletter: www.architectette.com/newsletter (Behind the Scenes Content)
- LinkedIn: The Architectette Podcast Page and/or Caitlin Brady
Support Architectette:
- Leave us a rating and review!
- Patreon
Music by AlexGrohl from Pixabay.
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50:50
(Replay) 033 (1/2): Denise Scott Brown: Architectural Theories, Teaching, and Early Memories
Replaying our special episode featuring Denise Scott Brown. Denise Scott Brown is an architect; planner & urban designer; and a theorist, writer and educator whose projects, research, and writing have influenced designers and architects since the 1960s. Her writings have changed the practice of architecture as we know it and her built work spans several continents. Some of her notable writings include Learning from Las Vegas, Having Words, and Architecture as Signs and Systems. She was a long-standing principal of the firm Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates.
Many of the topics we cover are influenced from the recently published book, Denise Scott Brown in Other Eyes: Portraits of an Architect edited by Frida Grahn.
I had the pleasure of chatting with Denise for two and a half hours (please remember, Denise is in her 90s!) - so this conversation will be divided into two episodes.
In part 1 we talk about:
- We start with the iconic theory: Duck vs Decorated Shed. How did Denise come up with the idea? Why a duck? And did she anticipate her theories’ on academia?
- We next explore Denise’s early teaching days. She shares stories from Penn, UCLA, and Berkeley and we walk about late-night crits and ‘Functions of a Table’.
- We dive into the origin story of Learning from Las Vegas and then hear some stories you might not read in your history books: how Denise met Robert Venturi and started working with him and I also ask where she got her bold, graphic wedding dress (see an image in Grahn's book!)
- Next, we cover the political and social complexities of growing up as a Jewish immigrant in Africa and draw parallels to her teaching during the free speech movement and more recent eras of social reform.
- Denise expresses the importance of creativity in childhood and she shares her earliest memory- from age two!
- If you’re listening closely, you’ll also hear a few shoutouts to the Drexel Community- Paul Hirshorn and John Fry and more unexpectedly, Denise draws a few parallels to Trevor Noah.
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1:01:38
050: Angela Brooks: An Architect's Impact on Policy, Sustainability, and Community
On today’s episode we interview Angela Brooks. As managing principal at Brooks + Scarpa, Angie is responsible for growth in the firm’s housing and policy sectors, leading the firm’s sustainable initiatives, and overall firm management.
Angie Brooks was the first woman ever to receive the Maybeck Award in 2021. She was also awarded the AIA Young Architects Award in 2009. Her firm won the 2022 AIA Gold Medal, 20+ National AIA Awards, the State of California and National AIA Architecture Firm of the Year Award in 2010 and the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award in Architecture in 2014. Angie was also a co-founder and past President of Livable Places, Inc., a non-profit development company dedicated to building sustainable mixed-use housing in the city of Los Angeles.
We talk about:
- How Angie Brooks’ early career in community planning, zoning codes, and nonprofit development set the foundation for her current focus in architecture. She shares an anecdote about her bold job application strategy after grad school.
- We discuss how architects can influence policy and development, highlighting Brooks + Scarpa’s leadership with Livable Places, the Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute, and LA’s Small Lot Ordinance.
- Angie next shares insights into affordable housing. We cover funding and budgets, energy efficiency and sustainability, design theories, user outreach, and the awards that recognize Brooks + Scarpa’s outstanding work.
- Later, we unpack the complexities of getting affordable housing projects approved and Angie explains the realities of NIMBYism and BANANAS (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything).
- The episode wraps up with a look at the partnership of Angie Brooks and Larry Scarpa and the significance of receiving the AIA Gold Medal as a team.
____
Thank you to our sponsors:
Arcol is a collaborative building design tool built for modern teams. Arcol streamlines your design process by keeping your model, data and presentations in sync enabling your team to work together seamlessly.
- Website: Arcol.io
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arcol-tech
- Twitter/ X: https://x.com/ArcolTech
Layer is the workflow platform for buildings, empowering teams to capture field data & photos, connect it to their drawings & models, and create beautiful deliverables & reports.
Use Layer to build your own workflow to generate Room Data Sheets from Revit, manage your CA processes such as RFIs or Punch lists, conduct field surveys and much more. The best thing is, it’s all connected directly to Revit so you’ll never have to copy and paste data between windows again.
- Website: https://layer.team/architectette
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Links:
Brooks + Scarpa Website: www.brooksscarpa.com
Instagram: @brooks_scarpa
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brooksscarpa/
Denise Scott Brown Episode Mentioned: Listen Here
____
Connect with Architectette:
- Website: www.architectette.com (Learn more)
- Instagram: @architectette (See more)
- Newsletter: www.architectette.com/newsletter (Behind the Scenes Content)
- LinkedIn: The Architectette Podcast Page and/or Caitlin Brady
Support Architectette:
- Leave us a rating and review!
- Patreon
Music by AlexGrohl from Pixabay.
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52:27
(Replay) 005: Eva Baker: An Architect Specializing in Laboratory Planning
Replaying our interview with Eva Baker AIA, LEED AP BD+C. Eva is an architect who specializes in laboratory planning. She is currently a Senior Associate and Director of the Philadelphia Office of HERA Laboratory Planners.
We talk about:
- Eva's pairing of a Bachelor degree in Chemistry with a Master's degree in Architecture so that she could combine two of her passions.
- Whether she followed the advice of her mentors to focus on general architecture before diving into laboratory expertise.
- I ask Eva what are the important components to consider when designing a lab including structural modules, safety, flexibility, MEP, and equipment and then we also talk about emerging trends in laboratory design like the integration of automation.
- We discuss her long path to working at HERA and how consultancy functions differently than an architecture firm.
- We talk about her favorite types of projects, skills she looks for when hiring, and how long it takes (spoiler- two years!) to become a lab specialist.
- Eva also shares about the challenges she faced when she returned from maternity leave, had to balance office work and pumping, late nights working "parent hours", the constraints of childcare, and the societal and self-imposed stress of motherhood and career progression.
- We end by talking about the importance of sharing responsibilities at home so that she and her partner can pursue meaningful careers as well as a successful family life.
More Episodes You Might Like:
039: Morgan Chawaga: Burnout, Meditation, and Mental Health In Architecture
036: Jill Bergman: Specializing in Healthcare Architecture
19: Joann Lui: Mental Health, Architecture, and Building Community
(Bonus 009): Q&A with Architecture Graduates - Maithili Awasarikar
Architectette inspires, elevates, and connects women+ in Architecture, Design, Engineering, and Construction.
Every other Monday, host Caitlin Brady features a new podcast guest to share their unique stories and experiences as women in AEC. We encourage and inspire more women and minorities to become licensed architects, promoted to leadership positions, connected in a strong community, and champion equality and inclusion. This podcast is your mentor on-the-go!
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