CE Center Podcasts

Ben Dozier, father of 4 and entrepreneur joins the podcast to share their non-traditional path to growing Roots Design into a stable and successful small firm. Starting with a degree in recreational business, then opening a coffee shop, Dozier took an adventurous path to design and discovered the importance of connection, storytelling, and one-page contracts. A television show with HGTV and 20,000,000+ viewers helped bring Root Design into the mainstream, and Dozier shares how having firm boundaries between business and family, trends and integrity helped keep the firm healthy and fun.

Learning Objectives:

1.    Describe the path Dozier followed to express their passion for design.

2.    Discuss how signing a contract with HGTV impacted the practical work of Root Design.

3.    List the important features and building materials Dozier incorporates into their more rural and rustic design.

4.    Explain how Dozier maintains core values related to family and community to keep a health balance between business and family.,

Credits: 0.5 AIA LU/HSW

Speaker: Aaron Prinz

Jess Field, half of the father-and-son team that lead FIELD Architecture joins the podcast to talk about their unique approach to design. Along with their father Stan Field, the firm has a strong passion for designing in natural terrain and letting the topography of the site generate the flow of the house. Field discusses their approach to some of their more unique projects like the madrone Ridge house and The Big Sur House that incorporates a bridge over a ravine to connect two buildings. The Field family brings a very specific, nature-based perspective to architecture, born out of multi-generations of designers and a love of surfing.

Learning Objectives:

1.    Describe the relationship Field searches for between landscape and residential architecture by identifying key site-specific factors that influence design choices, such as topography and climate.

2.    Discuss the pavilion-style residential layout Field employs and explain how breaking up spaces into smaller, functional units impacts both aesthetics and user experience compared to open floor plans.

3.    Evaluate the impact of natural elements, such as sunlight, wind, and water, on architectural design by assessing how these factors inform building placement and material choices in the Madrone Ridge and Big Sur projects.

4.    List the principles of environmentally responsive design supported by Field and how these impact the occupants and surrounding community.

Credits: 0.5 AIA LU/HSW

Speaker: Aaron Prinz

Aidan Anderson joins the Design Ed Podcast to discuss The Local Project, a digital, print and video media outlet that works to connect local designers and furniture crafts people with those interested in their work. Founded in 2016 The Local Project has amassed over 1.5 million Instagram follower and one hundred million video plays on their YouTube channel. The project has been recognized as becoming Australia, New Zealand and Asia-Pacific’s fastest growing design publication. Most recently, in April 2023, The Local Project broadened its scope to cover North America. This conversation with Aaron and Aidan looks at the history of The Local Project and explores the impact it has had on Anderson, the local design market, and how alternative media paths can engage architects and designers.

Learning Objectives:

1. Discuss the motivation for Anderson to begin the Local Project as a way to connect the design community.
2. Describe the transition the Local Project made to engage manufacturers in a commercial manner.
3. Explain the strategy Anderson developed to approach smaller architecture firms as a way of relationship building.
4. List how Anderson looks for the “hook” of a house as a way to convey the core elements of design and appeal.

Credits: 0.5 AIA LU/HSW

Speaker: Aaron Prinz

This time on the Design ED podcast Aaron sits down with Emily Abruzzo and Geral Bodziak from Abruzzo Bodziak Architecture (ABA). ABA is an award-winning New York-based architectural practice founded known for its thoughtful and innovative approach to design, often characterized by a focus on simplicity, form, and the engaging use of materials. Their work spans a wide range of scales and typologies, including residential, commercial, cultural, and public projects. The firm has received several accolades, including being named to Architectural Record’s Design Vanguard. They are also recognized for their contributions to architectural education, with Emily Abruzzo teaching at Yale University.

Learning Objectives:

1. Discuss the importance of shifting the focus modern architecture to encourage firms to engage their local community and serve them.
2. Explain how the 'Stick House Brick Gardens' project grew from a very small project to an expansive design piece.
3. Describe the importance of creating a shared vision between the architect and the client.
4. List how the nature of architectural education is changing to better support student needs.

Credits: 0.5 AIA LU/HSW

Speaker: Aaron Prinz

L35 Architects is a firm with a truly global perspective. With 12 branches, almost 1,000 projects completed in 43 countries, with 38 partners and over 200 professionals, L35 has delivered world-class designs since 1967. In this podcast, Aaron chats with CEO and Senior Partner Tristán López-Chicheri about bringing young architects aboard, the challenges of designing large projects like the Santiago Bernabéu stadium renovation and integrating environmental objectives into the design process.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe why L35 CEO Tristán López-Chicheri believes young architects can provide important balance to a firm.
2. Explain the key design goals L35 pursued when working on the Santiago Bernabéu stadium.
3. Discuss how L35 can maintain the ability to simultaneously design large stadium size projects as well as small residential projects.
4. List the challenges and solutions L35 brings to local government administrations to create a more agile working relationship and garner project approval.

Wendy Evans Joseph joins the podcast to discuss designing for exhibitions, reframing context through design, and her studio’s concept for the Folger Shakespeare Library. This conversation is a departure from designing for large civic projects and a focus on different and smaller scales. Studio Joseph relies heavily on community engagement and actual input during the research phase to help shape the final designs, bringing social justice, contemporary issues, and intimate settings into focus as part of the design process.

Learning Objectives:

1. Discuss the importance of including community involvement and suggestions into the design process.
2. Explain how Studio Joseph strives to define the vision of a project before beginning the design of a space.
3. Describe the “storytelling” aspect that Studio Joseph brings to projects.
4. List the ways embedding a narrative into the design proves to be a successful approach for Studio Joseph.

Credits: 0.5 AIA LU/HSW

Speaker: Aaron Prinz

Design ED EP. 166 – Duvall Decker

Founded in 1998 by Anne Marie Duvall Decker, FAIA and Roy T. Decker, FAIA, Duvall Decker is part architects, part planners, and part community organizers. With a strong footing in social justice Duvall Decker exemplifies the concept that all architecture is a public work. This podcast is a deep dive into the role that architects can play in creating healthy, functional, and beautiful designs that serve the community regardless of income, budget, or location.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe what motivated Duvall Decker to be establish the firm in Mississippi.
2. Explain how Duvall Decker approach design projects that may not be profitable for the firm.
3. Discuss how planning and efficient work processes can create more design time within projects.
4. List the ways that Duvall Decker help create trust and set expectations with communities prior to the design process.

Credits: 0.5 AIA LU/HSW

Speaker: Aaron Prinz

In 1998, co-founders Joshua Aidlin and David Darling joined forces in a small woodshop studio crafting furniture. As that partnership grew, they took their approach to sensible and functional design to their work-a-day jobs as architects. Eventually joining forces and launching their own design firm, Aidlin Darling Design in San Francisco, they found a way to take their ethos and approach to custom furniture design to large scale projects. This podcast excavates the many layers and nuances Aidlin and Darling employ to integrate biophilic design, all the human senses and sustainable design into high-profile projects. Their approach to each project is client and site specific, and includes open communication among clients, consultants, fabricators, and builders to achieve innovative, unexpected results.

From projects like the AIA Center for Design in San Francisco, to the University of Virginia Contemplative Sciences Center, Aidlin and Darling practice an architecture of restraint that has a focus on nature, coupled with sensorial engagement of occupants.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe the inspirational approach to design of Aidlin and Darling.
2. Explain how Aidlin and Darling reached out to the local art community to elevate the AIA Center for Design project.
3. Discuss the deliberate intention of incorporating biophilic design into the UVA Contemplative Sciences Center.
4. List the ways that Aidlin and Darling believe the next wave of architects can be cultivated and encouraged to pursue a career in design.

Credits: 0.5 AIA LU/HSW

Speaker: Aaron Prinz

A completely remote team is an oddity for architecture firms. However, even before the lock-downs of Covid, the architecture firm The Ranch Mine, based in Arizona, embraced the concept to build a dream team of designers. Cavin Costello joins the podcast this time to discuss developing the First Phoenix Green Construction Code project, designing for visionary real estate developers, and creating unique homes for trailblazing homeowners across the U.S. Winners of six national awards including the HGTV Designer of the Year contest in 2019 and 2023, The Ranch Mine continues to expand the reach of their firm domestically and globally through a spirit of entrepreneurism and single-minded customer relationships.

Learning Objectives:



1.    Examine some of the challenges and best practices of having a fully remote architecture firm.

2.    Discuss the process of creating custom homes on unique sites that satisfy both the client’s needs and the architect’s vision.

3.    Describe the approach The Ranch Mine takes to understand the unique building processes, budgets, and schedules when working in different regions in the U.S.

4.    Describe how the spirit of entrepreneurism has helped The Ranch Mine grow as a business while maintaining creative integrity.

Credits: 0.5 AIA LU/HSW

Speaker: Aaron Prinz

UP Studio architect and founding partner John Patrick Wineberry joins the podcast to discuss the gentle and comfortable approach UP Studio employs to guide clients to an understanding of complex design theories. While high profile projects like the house from the Netflix feature film “Leave The World Behind” may draw attention to Up Studio, their minimalist designs and close working relationships with clients are the bedrock inspiration for this successful studio.

Learning Objectives:



1. Describe the overall philosophy that Wineberry incorporated into the creation of Up Studio.
2. Explain the how integrating natural environment, specifically the following the path of the Sun, helped create client satisfaction in the Open Corner House.
3. Discuss the process of with working with Netflix during the production of the film “Leave The World Behind”.
4. Describe the overall experience Wineberry navigated as an architect seeing their project featured in a major motion picture.

Credits: 0.5 AIA LU/HSW

Speaker: Aaron Prinz