Design Voice Podcast

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 People for Urban Progress, a non-profit known for salvaging used leather from Amtrak's Acela seats and turning it into fashionable bags sold to fund urban equity projects. Donna received a Bachelor of Architecture from University of Arizona and a Master of Architecture from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Donna is also one of the hosts of the Archinect Sessions podcast.

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 degree from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). Most recently, in 2012, Evelyn finished a dual MPA (Masters Public Administration)/MBA (Masters Business Administration) in Sustainable Management from the Presidio Graduate School.

She is widely published, wrote a monthly column for Contract magazine for over 3 years, and now is a frequent contributor to Architect Magazine. Evelyn has received numerous industry awards including the 2016 40 Under 40 award for Building Design + Construction and the 2014 AIA National Young Architects Award. She currently serves as the first ever female Treasurer to the AIA National Board.

Evelyn has been a featured Keynote Speaker, Invited Guest, Panelist, and Moderator at national design and architecture conferences including AIA National Convention, Dwell on Design, and Women in Green. Her topics focus on developing knowledge leadership, organizational change management, capacity building, stakeholder engagement, and strategic approaches to put design thinking into practice.

Evelyn has over 15 years working with individuals, organizations, and companies who are interested in applying design thinking to their decision-making process.

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.

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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 projects from the aesthetically minimal, highly technical development of the glass structures for Apple's original high-profile retail stores, Pixar Animation Studios, and notable institutions of higher learning including LEED NC Gold–certified Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business at Mills College, Multiple UC Davis, CSU and Community Colleges to redefine design relevance for student success.

As Founder of Equity by Design and AIA SF President in 2018 , Rosa led 3 nationally acclaimed Equity in Architecture Survey research projects, co-authored AIA National Resolution 15-1 in 2015 for Equity in Architecture, and served on the Equity and the Future of Architecture (EQIA) Committee in 2016, '17 and '18. She has presented on" Why Equity Matters for Everyone", in many cities nationally and overseas. Her work has been featured in Architect Magazine, Architectural Record, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times including talks at Harvard GSD, Stanford, SxSW, TEDxPhiladelphia, KQED/NPR and Cannes Lions Festival. Rosa was honored in 2019 as a Metropolis Game Changer.

Rosa joined SmithGroup in October 2017 as a Principal in the San Francisco office. She is the Higher Education Studio Leader and Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion for interdisciplinary project pursuits that tap her expertise in strategic planning, programming, and project leadership for high performing teams.

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 the past 34 years. The example set by her steadfast mentoring of young professionals has become an essential part of firm culture, resulting in high rates of licensure. She encourages entrepreneurship and proudly acknowledges the successes of alumni of the firm. Her volunteer work includes past service on the boards of the Los Angeles Conservancy and the Santa Monica Westside YWCA.

KFA provides architecture, design, and master planning services for projects throughout the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area using a collaborative approach with each project. The firm's expertise encompasses transit-oriented developments; mixed-use housing, retail, and office projects; affordable, senior, family, and special-needs housing; hotels and restaurants; educational facilities; and adaptive reuse projects. KFA reshapes Los Angeles by designing great places where people flourish, and is proud to have contributed to the fabric of the city for over 40 years.

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, Mid-Atlantic Regional Associate Director, and Strategic Council Associate Representative. She co-founded the Latin American Interior Designers, Engineers, and Architects (LA.IDEA) DC Committee and founded "Women Inspiring Emerging Leaders in Design" (WIELD), which received the 2019 AIA Diversity Program Recognition Award. Yiselle is a storyteller, a 2015 Christopher Kelley Leadership Development Program Scholar, and a recipient of the 2018 AIA Associate Award.

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 architectural practice.

She has demonstrated continued and significant service to AIA, including leading the national diversity and inclusion conversation as chair of the Equity in Architecture Commission. For more than a decade of her career, Emily has advocated for emerging professionals: conducting original research on professional development, chairing the AIA Continuing Education Committee, and serving as 2014 president of the Boston Society of Architects/AIA.

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.

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 out similar relationships on projects, such as the Wilderness Cabin, Quintessa Residence, and Big Wood River Residence since joining Walker Warner Architects in 1995.

As a Principal at Walker Warner, Kathy leads the design on several of the firm's projects, and mentors teams in the use of good processes to achieve the highest quality of work. She ensures that all projects are successful in balancing clients' goals in terms of budget, schedule and design. Kathy believes that architecture has the capacity to elevate our daily lives, and that the best work results when designs evolve in a thoroughly considered and deliberate manner.

In this episode, Kathy talks about her experience of staying with the same firm for over 24 years, and what it was like being employee number 3 to now being one of 4 principals at the 60 person office. Kathy shares what she loves about residential projects and designing houses and how architects sometimes have to be client whisperers. Kathy also talks about her experiences of being a working mother, the advice she gives expectant parents, and why firms should offer flexibility and help employees make it work at all stages of their lives.

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 national industry conferences for several years. PJ has been previously recognized in the "40 Under 40" program of Building Design and Construction as well as by the Houston Business Journal's "40 Under 40" and Engineering News-Record's "20 Under 40" for the Texas and Louisiana Region. Her passion & strength lies in creating strong programs based on volume analysis and actualizing them into creative & operationally efficient planning solutions.

In this episode, PJ talks about her experience of immigrating to the U.S. from India to get her Masters of Architecture degree from the University of Houston, how she ended up becoming a healthcare planner and designer, and what she loves most about working in that field. She discusses one of the biggest trends she's seeing in healthcare design, and has some great advice for how to tackle really complex projects or problems. PJ also shares why we should call it work-life integration, instead of work-life balance.

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 improvements and homes. She excels at managing complex projects with large numbers of consultants and multiple decision makers, and continually looks for new ways to apply sustainable principles and methods in all of her projects.

In this episode Phoebe talks about how she made the transition from project management into an operations role at her firm, and how her life approach influences the way she views her works. We discuss the pressures of thinking you need to act or be a certain way in the profession or out on a job site, and how to get over it and just focus your energy on your work instead. Phoebe also shares some great insight into how you should embrace the fact that your career is never static and reveals what she looks for when hiring potential employees. Whether you're fresh out of school or have years of experience, she has great advice for job seekers.