Episode 132: Architecture, And: Ownership, Mergers, and Tech Startups

How do you utilize technology to make good design efficient and accessible for everyone?

On this episode of Practice Disrupted, we sit down with Alma Lopez, Head of Creative at CANOA, and Elizabeth (Liz) Wert, Head of Brand at CANOA, an AI-assisted collaborative online tool for designers, to learn about their journey from business owners to company mergers, how a tech startup forces efficiency, and the ways CANOA serves as an inspiration point for both its users and an evolving industry.

First, we hear how Alma and Liz decided to start their business, ADITIONS, together in 2021 from a human-centric approach to leverage community as a way to locally source design pieces. They illustrate how the merger with CANOA gave them an opportunity to use technology to make good design accessible to everyone. 

“Do we stay and go the traditional route and scale our studio, and keep working with the 1% that can actually afford our services? Or do we go and build software with an amazing team that actually helps the interior design industry do better through technology? It was kind of like a no-brainer. We got to help everyone.” - Liz Wert

Then, we dive into CANOA: its impact in the design and tech startup world, how it challenges the industry to be more efficient, and why it serves as a reminder that design is never done alone. We ask Alma and Liz to share their specific roles and the ways that their background and skill sets overlap to support each other and the business. Plus, we learn about CANOA’s current user base and the possibility of international reach. 

To wrap up the episode, Alma and Liz share why their love for problem-solving is essential for building and growing a startup, and how diversity in the profession will support the future of CANOA (and the architecture and design industry) as a place for discovery, education, building community, and promoting sustainability.   

Tune in next week for a conversation with AIA National Award winner and recipient of the 2023 Whitney M. Young Jr. Award, Robert L Easter, FAIA NOMAC.

Guests:

Alma Lopez is Head of Creative at CANOA. Originally hailing from Texas, Alma landed in the Bay Area studying Interior Architecture and Design at Academy of Art University. Alma co-founded experience design studio, ADITIONS, in 2021, which merged with CANOA in 2022. There, she is focused on bringing to market a diverse curation of brands, products, and ready-to-use design templates that bias sustainable solutions and share carbon data. By doing so, she aims to create better access to healthier solutions for people and our planet. Alma’s work has been recognized in Architectural Digest, Wallpaper, The New York Times, Interior Design Magazine, Inc. World’s Coolest Offices, Fast Company, and won the Good Design Award in furniture.

Elizabeth (Liz) Wert is Head of Brand at CANOA. Liz spent 14 years in the interior design industry having a diverse range of roles and commercial interior design and branding and marketing. She has worked with major furniture manufacturers and global furniture dealerships, and co-founded her own design and strategy studio, ADITIONS, with Alma in 2021. At CANOA, Liz focuses on brand design and development and go-to-market strategies to grow CANOA’s interior design user base. Liz has been featured at Milan Design Week, the New York Times Architectural Digest and Sight Unseen, to name a few. 

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Learn more about CANOA

📚 Past Episodes Referenced:

PD #67: Architecture, And: The Future of Workplace

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