Vanessa Kassabian is a Cultural+Performing Arts design leader based out of DLR Group 's New York office. She works closely with teams across the firm to facilitate design discussions and provide critical guidance on considerations around site, programming, massing, aesthetics, and execution. Vanessa has extensive experience designing for significant cultural programs throughout the United States, as well as in Canada and Mexico. As a strong proponent of collaboration and an integrated design app...
Mar 02, 2021•29 min•Ep. 50
She Builds Podcast is a show featuring the seldom told stories of women who build; women whose worth is not taught in architecture school, but who have shaped the industries of architecture, construction, and development throughout history. The podcast was started by Jessica Rogers, Lizi Raar and Norgerie Rivas, three friends who, after graduating from Syracuse University School of Architecture together, wanted to fill in the gaps in their education and share those with others. Episodes have fea...
Feb 17, 2021•34 min•Ep. 49
Joann Lui is an architect and founder of the Facebook community Women Architects Collective . With over 2700 members and counting, the Women Architects Collective has grown into an active community where women architects find support, build their networks, and celebrate their accomplishments. Joann is also a personal brand strategist and helps architects and designers build an unforgettable online presence and get noticed in their careers and businesses. In this episode we talk about what inspir...
Feb 03, 2021•32 min•Ep. 48
Julia Nagele is the Director of Architectural Design at HEWITT Seattle. She believes the success of today’s projects rely on the expertise of many, and is dedicated to creating an inclusive environment that promotes participation from a broad range of diverse thinkers. Julia helps enforce these values at HEWITT, as the team strives to address complex urban conditions in a straightforward and elegant manner. Her experience as an Assistant Affiliate Professor at the University of Washington reinfo...
Jan 20, 2021•39 min•Ep. 47
Winka Dubbeldam is the Chair and Miller Professor of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design , where she has gathered an international network of innovative research and design professionals. She has also taught advanced architectural design studios at Columbia, Cornell, and Harvard University, among other prestigious institutions. Winka was named one of the DesignIntelligence 30 Most Admired Educators 2015, and has been a juror at the Prix de Rome, severa...
Nov 18, 2020•34 min•Ep. 46
Katie Swenson is a nationally recognized design leader, researcher, writer, and educator. She is a Senior Principal of MASS Design Group , an international non-profit architecture firm whose mission is to research, build, and advocate for architecture that promotes justice and human dignity. Before joining MASS in early 2020, Swenson was vice president of Design & Sustainability at Enterprise Community Partners , Inc., a national nonprofit that invested over $43.6 billion in community develo...
Nov 09, 2020•30 min•Ep. 45
Bonnie Bridges is the founder and Principal of Studio BBA in San Francisco. A strategic, clear thinker, perceptive listener and creative dynamo, Bonnie leads Studio BBA with adaptability, energy and fearless optimism. Drawing on deep expertise in the skilled facilitation of decisions and processes, and an intuitive, analytic nature, she guides the studio’s atelier of designers in creating beautiful, enriching, successful spaces and buildings for their clients. Bonnie brings a keen awareness of p...
Oct 21, 2020•32 min•Ep. 44
June Grant is an architect, designer and researcher committed to the craft of buildings, their potential to enhance cities and develop socially responsible solutions to complex real-world problems. June is the founding Principal of blink!LAB architecture, a boutique, research-based architecture practice focused on adaptive and transformative sustainable development. Her design approach rests on an avid belief in cultural empathy, data research, and new technologies as integral to design futures ...
Oct 07, 2020•43 min•Ep. 43
Alyssum Skjeie is a museum professional focused on presenting multi-faceted stories related to architecture and history. She is the new Director of El Pueblo History Museum in Pueblo, CO. In her new role she is eager to learn more about the Southern Colorado region in order to create collaborative exhibitions with the community. Prior to moving to Pueblo last December she lived and worked in Pittsburgh, PA for 8+ years. In her time there she was part of the Heinz Architectural Center at Carnegie...
Sep 19, 2020•29 min•Ep. 42
Mani Farhadi is a Senior Facilities Planner at Stanford University School of Medicine in the Office of Facilities, Planning and Management. A global thinker and creative thought leader, Mani has three decades of experience in planning and architecture, and in collaborating with both public and private institutions. She enjoys combining her passion for education with her extensive planning skills to bring about stakeholder consensus and thoughtful solutions. Mani’s leadership extends into volunte...
Sep 02, 2020•29 min•Ep. 41
Shalini Agrawal brings over 25 years of experience in community engagement, and has dedicated her career to bringing diversity and equity in design, art and architecture. She is co-director of Pathways to Equity , a leadership experience for responsible community-engaged design, and founder and principal of Public Design for Equity , an equity-driven practice for equity-driven outcomes. Shalini is on the board of Architects Designers and Planners for Social Responsibility, and Association for Co...
Aug 19, 2020•37 min•Ep. 40
For the first time in the history of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, there are four Native American students enrolled at the same time. They are Elsa Hoover, Zoe Toledo, Heidi Brandow, and Jaz Bonnin, and together, they have formed the Harvard Indigenous Design Collective. Their aim is to support the education and work of Indigenous architects, planners, designers, scholars, allies, and alumni of the Harvard Graduate School of Design. In this episode, I speak with Elsa, Zoe, Heidi and Jaz...
Aug 05, 2020•37 min•Ep. 39
Siboney is Enterprise Rose Fellow in the Boston area. She works to understand how architecture and design can best serve communities. She is licensed as an architect in the state of Texas. From 2015-2017 Siboney served as Zoning Commissioner for District 1 in San Antonio. Most recently she helped complete a 63,000 square foot new construction facility for ChildSafe, a non-profit children's advocacy center while at Overland Partners. In San Antonio, Siboney dedicated her time to various non-profi...
Jul 15, 2020•31 min•Ep. 38
Meghana Joshi is a Senior Project Manager at Little Diversified, Newport Beach. Her projects have been honored with multiple SAGE Gold, PCBC Gold Nugget, SoCal, Argentum, & NAHB awards. She received 2019 AIA Orange County’s “Service Award”, 2018 AIA California’s “Associate” award and “Presidential Citation” honoring her commitment to the profession. She is a board member of the AIA Orange County Chapter, and Director for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. She founded and chaired the Women in A...
Jul 01, 2020•24 min•Ep. 37
Bethany Borel, WELL AP is a Senior Associate at COOKFOX Architects in New York City. Since joining COOKFOX in 2012, Bethany’s combined knowledge of architecture and interior design has been a valuable asset to a variety of New York City projects. Currently, Bethany is spearheading the transformative design of the Solaire building in Battery Park City and the International WELL Building Institute headquarters at 220 Fifth Avenue. Bethany also designed and orchestrated the design of COOKFOX’s new,...
Jun 17, 2020•28 min•Ep. 36
Melissa R. Daniel is an architectural designer in Washington D.C., with a broad range of project experience including multi-family housing, public housing, retail, embassies, federal buildings, and mission critical facility projects. Since 2013, Daniel has ensured that women in architecture have an established platform to tell their stories. She founded a Women in Architecture lecture series for the D.C. metro area, developed fluency with social media and web platforms to boost her storytelling ...
Jun 10, 2020•32 min•Ep. 35
Mia Scharphie is a career and business strategist, and the founder of Build Yourself . She helps women in design, tech and innovation move from managing the work to setting the agenda. She helps women move past bias and make their industries and workplaces better places for women's talent. Mia has trained national industry groups like the American Institute of Architects and Americans for the Arts, and works with leadership and staff at global design and innovation companies such as Stantec, Gen...
May 15, 2020•24 min•Ep. 34
Donna Sink, AIA is a registered architect who is committed to good design for everyone in the community. She has worked on urban design, cultural institution, and art exhibition design projects for the last 25 years and has previously lived in Philadelphia, Detroit, Portland, and Phoenix. Donna now lives in Indianapolis and works at Rowland Design , an architecture and interior design firm doing cultural, educational, and residential projects across the country. Locally, Donna is Board Chair for...
May 09, 2020•21 min•Ep. 33
Evelyn Lee, AIA, is the first ever Senior Experience Designer at Slack Technologies . Evelyn seamlessly integrates her business and architecture background with a qualitative and quantitative focus to build a better workplace experience for Slack Employees, visitors, and guests. Evelyn received her Bachelor of Architecture degree with honors in 2002 from Drury University where she minored in Global Studies while playing on the Women’s Soccer Team. In 2003 she received her Masters of Architecture...
May 01, 2020•16 min•Ep. 32
For the next few weeks/months, join Design Voice Podcast as we check in with people in the architecture and design professions to hear how they are living, working, and coping during this pandemic. -- Rosa Sheng is a Designer, Architect, Thought Leader who is known for innovating Architecture with over 26 years experience. When asked "What type of Architecture do you do?" Her answer is "The kind that hasn't been done before." She has led a variety of award-winning and internationally acclaimed p...
Apr 24, 2020•19 min•Ep. 31
As a founding partner of KFA, Barbara Flammang, FAIA, has overseen the design and construction of housing and community projects for nearly 40 years, from the adaptive reuse of historic buildings in downtown Los Angeles to the recently completed Los Angeles LGBT Center Anita May Rosenstein Campus in Hollywood. Her inclusive management practices have tenaciously advanced gender equity and diversity. She has championed her firm’s achievement of 45-55% female architectural staff, consistently, for ...
Mar 12, 2020•31 min•Ep. 30
Yiselle Santos Rivera, Associate AIA, is a medical planner and the Global Director of Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion at HKS, Inc . With national and international experience on a broad range of healthcare, residential, institutional, and commercial/mixed-use projects, she thrives on building equitable practices, empowering the next generation of leaders, and creating inclusive platforms for engagement. She has served the AIA in local and national roles, including DC Chapter Board Director, M...
Feb 19, 2020•31 min•Ep. 29
Emily Grandstaff-Rice, FAIA, is senior associate at Arrowstreet, a Boston-based architecture and design firm. She has experience with a broad range of academic, hospitality, institutional, and commercial projects, and her innovative design work reinforces that a building is more than its shell; it is an experience. As a frequent speaker and writer on the future of architectural practice, Emily is fascinated by how technology, the social economy, and environmental urgency are addressed in archite...
Jan 18, 2020•35 min•Ep. 28
Design Voice Podcast is back! To start off Season 2 of the show, I thought I would do something a little different – share my own story. I speak with Julia Gamolina of Madame Architect on why I became an architect, how this podcast came to be, and my thoughts on adjusting to life and work so far as a new mother.
Nov 09, 2019•28 min•Ep. 27
Kathy Scott is a Principal at Walker Warner Architects . After growing up on Long Island, Kathy was awakened to architecture's potential during her time at Rice University where she earned a Bachelor of Architecture in 1993. During her years in Houston, Kathy regularly visited Renzo Piano's Menil Collection, drawn by the building's quiet contextualism, simplicity and inventive use of natural light. Kathy was equally impressed by Piano's collaborative approach with master craftsmen and has sought...
Mar 06, 2019•34 min•Ep. 26
PJ Glasco is a Principal at Cannon Design . She is a healthcare planner and designer who has worked with many of the nation’s top healthcare institutions to create landmark facilities. Her designs have enhanced the campuses of several institutions, including Texas Children’s Hospital, Harris Health System, the University of Texas Medical Branch and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. PJ is a past chair of the Houston chapter of the AIA Committee on Architecture for Health and has presented at n...
Feb 12, 2019•31 min•Ep. 25
Phoebe Lam is the Director of Operations and a Project Manager at William Duff Architects in San Francisco. Along with managing the studio’s operations, planning, and hiring, she also works on projects in the single-family residential and commercial sectors. Drawing on experience creating conceptual designs and site plans for 1,000,000 sq. ft. outdoor retail centers, as well as multi-building and multi-block programs and parking layouts, Phoebe also enjoys more intimate, small scale tenant impro...
Feb 06, 2019•32 min•Ep. 24
Dana Getman is an Associate Principal at SHoP Architects in New York City, leading some of the firm’s most complex and dynamic projects. Dana received a Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University and a Master of Architecture II from Yale University. She recently completed project management of 111 West 57th Street, a 1,400 foot tall terracotta and bronze super tall residential tower located adjacent to the original Steinway showroom overlooking Central Park. Among other projects, she also ...
Jan 23, 2019•32 min•Ep. 23
Taryn Kinney is a Principal, and K-12 Education Studio Leader at DLR Group . Taryn is a native Texan who has successfully led the strategy, visioning, planning, and design of more than two million square feet of learning space, both nationally and internationally. She enjoys sharing her knowledge from her experiences and creating connections to implement exceptional learning environments. During her 15 years of developing facilities to support new educational models she has seen her clients face...
Jan 09, 2019•28 min•Ep. 22
Natalie Tse is a California licensed Structural Engineer and Project Manager at Tipping Structural Engineers in Berkeley, California with a broad range of design experience in educational, commercial/retail, residential, science and technology sectors. Her portfolio includes the structural design, assessment, and seismic retrofit of over 35 school campuses, a mission critical laboratory and office building, and the design of a new wood-framed cathedral over concrete post-tensioned podium. Natali...
Dec 19, 2018•30 min•Ep. 21
