Tangible Remnants

**EPISODE MAY CONTAIN EXPLICIT LANGUAGE**

This episode is a replay of the April 2022 Lessons from Legends interview at the University of Baltimore's Merrick School of Business and features a conversation with the Legendary architect Diane Cho. She shares what brought her to Baltimore in the 1970s, what it was like to be a minority woman practicing architecture, and her hopes for the future of the profession. (Please note: The audio is a little patchy at the beginning but we changed mics early on to improve the quality.)

Building Highlights: Tindeco Wharf, Brewer’s Hill, Clipper Mill and the American Brewery for Humanim. Check out the Tangible Remnants Instagram page for images.

 Links:

• Full Lessons from Legends Interview on Youtube
• American Brewery for Humanim
• Tangible Remnants on Instagram
• Tangible Remnants Website
• LinkedTr.ee for resources
• Gabl Media Network
• Sarah Gilberg's Music

Bio: Diane Cho is a founding principal of Cho Benn Holback (formerly Cho Wilks Benn), a women owned architectural firm noted for projects in the cultural, educational, and community realm where the focus has been on the creative re-use of aging, historic building stock. Cho and Barbara Wilks started their architecture firm in the late 1970’s having moved to Baltimore a few years earlier after graduating from Cornell University’s architecture school. Beginning with rowhouse renovations, they gradually expanded their portfolio to include larger buildings and added partners David Benn and George Holback to enhance the firm’s reach. An early focus on housing led to market rate warehouse renovations such as Tindeco Wharf and Canton Cove, and a number of affordable housing/historic school house renovations located in some of Baltimore’s most challenging neighborhoods.

Believing in the arts as a catalyst for community revitalization, Cho began to focus her projects primarily in the cultural realm where she has worked closely with clients to assure that architectural concepts reflect each institution’s mission. Her portfolio includes many award-winning projects such as the Baltimore School for the Arts, the Jim Rouse Center at the American Visionary Art Museum, the Everyman Theatre and Center Stage.

As an active leader and a patron for many cultural organizations, she has helped to position and celebrate the arts as a vital ingredient in the life of strong and vibrant cities. Diane currently serves on the Board of Trustees of MICA and has recently served on the boards of the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Everyman Theatre.

After 35 years of building the firm in Baltimore, she and her partners sold their architecture firm in 2017 to Quinn Evans, a national firm headquartered in Washington DC with five other branches throughout the mid-Atlantic and Midwest. She remains a principal with Quinn Evans and continues to spearhead projects within her area of expertise.

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Thank you to this Episode's Sponsor: BQE makes it easy to manage your projects and people, for maximum productivity and ultimate profitability. Start implementing powerful systems for the profitability you need and the freedom you want. Join Douglas Tieger, FAIA for the next Designing Your Business Masterclass, brought to you by BQE CORE. Every live masterclass session is free and includes AIA continuing education credit. Register now at bqe.com/masterclass.

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This podcast is sponsored by www.Smartsheet4architects.com, a better way to manage architecture projects.**

**EPISODE MAY CONTAIN EXPLICIT LANGUAGE**

This episode is another fun one and I really enjoyed getting to know fellow UVA alum, Dr. Kendall Nicholson, better in this episode.  We cover Race and Architecture, storytelling and empathy. We also touch on how to tap into your network to travel to another country, lessons he’s learned so far being a father and how adopting kids through the foster care system has helped him flex his empathy muscles. This is an expansive conversation where we really get into how all everything is connected and how his experiences in one aspect of his life inform all others. 

Building Highlight: Philadelphia Museum of Art. The final plan, adopted in March 1917, was a collaborative effort by the firm of Zantzinger, Borie, and Medary; Paul Cret; Horace Trumbauer; and various members of Trumbauer’s firm including Howell Lewis Shay and senior designer Julian Abele, the first African American graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's architecture program and one of the first African American architects to come to prominence in the United States.

Links:

• Kendall Nicholson's Instagram
• Julian Abele & the Philadelphia Museum of Art
• Julian Abele's Duke University legacy
• The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA)
• 1619 Project
• Tangible Remnants on Instagram
• Tangible Remnants Website
• LinkedTr.ee for resources
• Gabl Media Network
• Sarah Gilberg's Music

Bio: Dr. Kendall Nicholson is a licensed educator, trained architectural designer, and an avid researcher. He works as the Director of Research and Information at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and is currently furthering his research at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design with work focused on the confluence of race, architecture, and education. He has presented research internationally and his research interests surround equity, education, and curriculum within the discipline of architecture.

Nationally, his passion for equity and racial justice manifests in his role as the research consultant for the 2016 and 2018 Equity in Architecture Survey sponsored by AIA San Francisco and Equity by Design (EQxD). He also volunteers as a member of the AIA’s Equity and the Future of Architecture board committee and on the newly formed NOMA Research Comm.

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Thank you to this Episode's Sponsor:

BQE makes it easy to manage your projects and people, for maximum productivity and ultimate profitability. Start implementing powerful systems for the profitability you need and the freedom you want. Join Douglas Tieger, FAIA for the next Designing Your Business Masterclass, brought to you by BQE CORE. Every live masterclass session is free and includes AIA continuing education credit. Register now at bqe.com/masterclass.

**Some of the links above may be Amazon affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you.**

**This episode is sponsored by www.Smartsheet4architects.com, a better way to manage architecture projects.**

**EPISODE CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE**

This week’s conversation was a fun one for me b/c I got to have an in depth conversation with Tiara Hughes. We cover the impact of attending a PWI (predominantly white institution).  We also talk about how representation matters and how we both were impacted by having, or not having, black professors during our architecture studies. We discuss the different types of architectural degree programs and how different degrees impact when you can start taking your licensure exams. We touch on working through grief and how to create a support network so you can keep going.

Building Highlight: Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley House. Check out the Tangible Remnants on Instagram page to see photos of the building.

Links:

• Emmett Till Landmark designation
• First 500
• NOMA
• Black Women in Architecture Network
• Tangible Remnants on Instagram
• Tangible Remnants Website
• LinkedTr.ee for resources
• Gabl Media Network
• Sarah Gilberg's Music

Bio: Tiara Hughes , A St. Louis native, now based in Chicago, Tiara Hughes is a Senior Urban Designer at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), an adjunct professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology, a Commissioner with the City of Chicago Landmarks Commission, and a real estate professional.

She is a devoted activist, educator and advocate for underrepresented communities and voices, and currently serves on the Board for the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) and the Charnley-Persky House Board of Directors for the Society of Architectural Historians. Tiara's personal experiences in the industry along with her passion for advocacy led her to establish a national research initiative called FIRST 500 in 2018. As the founder and executive director of FIRST 500, Tiara travels the country to raise awareness of the importance of Black Women Architects throughout history and their contribution to the built environment.

Tiara is a believer in giving back to her community, serving as a co-leader of SOM’s ACE Mentorship program in Chicago. As a designer, Tiara is driven by creating work that emphasizes greater socioeconomic equity and cultural awareness. She believes "Ultimately our efforts to positively impact communities of color will expand outward and evolve our academic institutions, our firms, our industry and by extension, our communities." In 2021, Tiara received the prestigious AIA Associates Award, given by the Institute to associate members who best exemplify the highest qualities of leadership and have demonstrated an unparalleled commitment to their component or region’s membership.

**Thank you to this Episode's Sponsor: BQE makes it easy to manage your projects and people, for maximum productivity and ultimate profitability. Start implementing powerful systems for the profitability you need and the freedom you want. Join Douglas Tieger, FAIA for the next Designing Your Business Masterclass, brought to you by BQE CORE. Every live masterclass session is free and includes AIA continuing education credit. Register now at bqe.com/masterclass.

**Some of the links above may be Amazon affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you.**

**This podcast is also sponsored by www.Smartsheet4architects.com.**

This week's episode features a fun conversation with Tonya Harris. Tonya is a developer and contractor doing work in Baltimore and DC. She share's her journey into real estate development and reminds us that it's never too late to start a new path.

Building Spotlight: "The Arch Social Club is the oldest known continuously operating African American social club in the United States and the oldest predominately African American social club in Baltimore. The Arch Social Club move into the former Schantze’s Theatre in 1972. The Schantze's Theatre was built in 1912 as a vaudeville and silent film theatre. [The building had many lives before the Arch Social Club moved in 1972,] including two stints as a theatre for African Americans, and at one point served as a theatre for Jewish immigrants, showing Yiddish films and hosting live entertainment." - CHAP Report

Links:

• Parris Construction & Development
• Tangible Remnants on Instagram
• LinkedTr.ee for resources
• Tangible Remnants Website
• Gabl Media Network
• Sarah Gilberg's Music

Bio: Tonya Harris, founder of Parris Construction and Development, is a 20+ year veteran in real estate development. She is now focused on urban revitalization projects in underserved communities. With a model designed to create minimal displacement by focusing on vacant and underutilized properties – and fostering home and business ownership among the legacy community – PCD has planted its flag along a gateway corridor to West Baltimore, in the vibrant Hollins Market neighborhood, right outside downtown. Starting in Baltimore, where redlining began, PCD’s goal is to be a world class leader in the design, creation and delivery of restored urban communities. 

Thank you to Episode Sponsor BQE!

BQE makes it easy to manage your projects and people, for maximum productivity and ultimate profitability. Start implementing powerful systems for the profitability you need and the freedom you want. Join Douglas Tieger, FAIA for the next Designing Your Business Masterclass, brought to you by BQE CORE. Every live masterclass session is free and includes AIA continuing education credit. Register now at bqe.com/masterclass.

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This podcast is also supported by the Smartsheet For Architects course. This course was created by Nakita Reed and helps small firm architects stop managing their firm with disconnected excel sheets and start managing it with Smartsheet.

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Some of the links above may connect to Amazon affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, Nakita Reed will earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you.

This week's episode is an amazing conversation with the incredible Melissa Auf der Maur.  We met on the NY Preservation Webinar back in the spring of 2021 and we recorded this episode in the summer.   This is our first in-depth conversation so you'll hear more about both of our backgrounds. It's a longer episode but she was so gracious with her time I didn't want to cut out too much of the conversation.  We cover so much ground in this conversation including polite racism, gender roles, feminism, climate change, preservation, sustainability, music, culture, inequities designed into the American system, cultural differences between the US & Canada, as well as where we think we are on the pendulum swing of progress and our hopes for the future.

Building Highlight: Basilica Hudson in Hudson Valley which was originally built in 1880 as a forge and foundry for steel railway wheels (later housing a glue factory until the 1980s)

Links:

• Basilica Hudson 
• Basilica Hudson podcast
• Basilica Hudson on Instagram
• Tangible Remnants on Instagram
• Tangible Remnants Website

Bio:

Melissa Auf der Maur is Co-Founder and Director of Basilica Hudson. From 1994-1999, Auf der Maur was a member and bass player of the alternative rock band Hole, and she is featured on the Grammy-nominated album, Celebrity Skin. She joined the Smashing Pumpkins in 2000 for their Farewell World Tour. She has also released two solo albums, Auf der Maur (2004) and Out of Our Minds (2010). The latter project comprises an album, a comic book, and a short film. Auf der Maur’s photographs have been exhibited internationally, including at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and have appeared in such publications as Spin, Elle, Nylon, and American Photo. She was born in Montreal, Canada and raised with a fine arts education, focusing on Music and Photography.

**This episode is sponsored by www.Smartsheet4architects.com, a better way to manage architecture projects.**

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=66435616)

This week's episode features a conversation between me and Katherine Williams.  We discuss her journey into architecture and construction, Riding the Vortex, and the importance of creating a support system to navigate life and the profession.

Building Highlight - Cedar Hill, Frederick Douglass' home in Washington, DC

"Historic buildings rarely survive generations by accident. Someone made a choice, or in the case of the Douglass Home, a whole lot of women made a whole lot of choices over decades."

- NPS website on Cedar Hill

Links:

• bell hooks
• Black Women in Architecture Network
• Whitney M. Young 1968 AIA Convention full Speech
• Whitney M. Young 2021 Announcement: Riding the Vortex
• Riding the Vortex Facebook Group
• Katherine's website
• Howard University Architecture Program
• Equity by Design
• Women in Architecture Series (AIA NOVA)
• National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA)
• Cultured Magazine Article featuring Katerine
• Tangible Remnants on Instagram
• Tangible Remnants Website

Bio:  Katherine Williams, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP is a licensed architect in Northern Virginia and currently a Senior Project Manager for construction at a DC university. Her career path includes work in traditional architecture firms, community development, and managing commercial construction for a general contractor. She restarted the Black Women in Architecture brunch in DC, an annual event, co-founded the Desiree Cooper ARE Scholarship, and is a founding panelist for Riding the Vortex.

Katherine has written about architecture and development and served as editor for multiple publications. She was the NOMA magazine editor from 2009-2014. In 2020, Katherine published Melvin Mitchell’s book African American Architects: Embracing Culture and Building Urban Communities.

Katherine served as chair of the AIA Housing and Community Development KC advisory group and currently serves on the AIA Continuing Education Committee. She is a board member of the Village of Love and Resistance (VOLAR) working to build a co-operative community in east Baltimore. Katherine was an Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellow in San Francisco. She received the 2016 AIA Virginia Emerging Professionals award and the 2013 National Organization of Minority Architects President’s Award. She writes at katherinerw.com and is publisher/editor for archstories.com and bwa-network.com.  She is also one of the recipients of the 2021 Whitney M. Young Award from the American Institute of Architecture.

**This episode is sponsored by www.Smartsheet4architects.com, a better way to manage architecture projects.**

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=66435616)

This week's episode features a conversation with Lori Ferriss of Goody Clancy.  We discuss the need for existing and historic buildings to be part of the climate action conversation as well as numerous organizations that are working toward that goal.  Lori and I are two of the four chairs for the ZNCC and we talk about a number of overlaps between all the organizations.  This is a fun and informative one which will provide more information on the intersection of preservation and sustainability. 

Links:

• Zero Net Carbon Collaboration (ZNCC)
• Carbon Leadership Forum (CLF)
• Passive House Accelerator (PHA)
• Carbon Avoided Retrofit Estimator (CARE) (formerly 'To Build or Not to Build' Calculator)
• UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP) 26
• Climate Heritage Network (CHN)
• Association for Preservation Technology International (APTI)
• APT's Sustainable Preservation Technical Committee (TC-SP)
• US/ICOMOS
• The New Net Zero (Embodied Carbon vs. Operational Carbon) by Lori Ferriss
• Preservation Greenlab report: "The Greenest Building: Quantifying the Environmental Value of Building Reuse"
• Tangible Remnants on Instagram
• Tangible Remnants on Facebook
• Tangible Remnants Website

Building Highlight: Maggie Walker House in Richmond, VA

Bio:  Lori Ferriss, AIA, PE, LEED AP BD+C is a leader in sustainable stewardship for the built environment. As Goody Clancy’s Director of Sustainability and Climate Action, she leads research and project initiatives and advocates within the broader profession for policies and practices that advance climate action goals.  

Lori plays a leadership role on projects at educational institutions that are renewing heritage campuses while advancing climate action goals. She serves as project manager and forensic specialist on numerous Goody Clancy projects, and her sustainability leadership includes incorporating life cycle assessment as an integrated step of the design process. 

 Within the broader design community, Lori’s leadership is shaping our understanding of building reuse as a key measure towards meeting climate change mitigation goals. At the national level, she serves as a founding member and co-chair of the Zero Net Carbon Collaboration for Existing and Historic Buildings (ZNCC), a collaborative committed to achieving a zero net carbon built environment through responsible reuse of existing buildings that was formed by APTI, AIA, RAIC, ICOMOS, and Architecture 2030. Most recently, the City of Boston asked Lori to serve on its carbon mitigation policy Technical Advisory Group. 

Sponsor: Smartsheet For Architects

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=66435616)

This episode features a fun conversation between me and the amazing April Drake.   We talk about her architecture journey, the importance of networking, and creating a supportive community for your personal and professional growth.   

Links:

• National Council of Architecture Review Boards (NCARB)
• National Architecture Accreditation Board (NAAB)
• American Institute of Architects (AIA)
• National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA)
• Melissa Daniels' podcast Archispolly
• Black Women in Architecture Brunch 
• Tangible Remnants on Instagram
• Tangible Remnants on Facebook
• Tangible Remnants Website

Building spotlight: Whitaker Memorial Hospital in Newport News, VA

Bio:

April Drake

April Drake is a Senior Project Architect with HDR in Arlington, VA focusing on complex government facilities. A native of Hampton Roads, Virginia, April received her B. Arch from Hampton University in 2004. With 15 years of education, government and commercial project experience, April leads multidisciplinary teams through all stages of design. She is a skilled facilitator and is well-known for her dedication to both collaboration and communication.

April is especially passionate about her mentorship role in promoting the growth of women and minorities in architecture and allied fields. As one of the first 400 African American licensed women in the country, April is aware of the leadership and encouragement that is necessary to guide women from graduation to licensure. To that end, she is an active member in the AIA and a committee volunteer for NCARB (National Council of Architecture Registration Board). After serving two years on the Board of Directors, she is now the 2021 Treasurer for the AIA Northern Virginia (NOVA) Chapter. Since 2014, she has volunteered with NCARB on a number of task forces developing the new ARE 5.0 Exam. She is also

Past Chair of the AIA NOVA Women in Architecture Committee, which champions the advancement of women in the profession throughout Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland.

April also dedicates her efforts to creating events geared toward introducing young girls to Architecture. In 2015, she started a STEM event for local Girl Scout troops. Through a series of both collaborative and individual hands-on activities, each girl is able to explore aspects of architecture while also earning a STEM patch for their vest. In November 2018, April was the Local Keynote speaker in Washington, DC for the AIA Leadership Institute. Speaking about the “Missing Middle”, she highlighted the challenges faced by mid-career professionals. Finally, in 2019 she was honored as one of the AIA VA Emerging Professional Award recipients.

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=66435616)

This episode features a fun conversation between me and the super talented  Purvi Gandhi Irwin.  We talk about her preservation journey, travel, and different life experiences.  We also discuss the importance of documenting historic structures prior to them being demolished.

Links:

• Link to Ramsey Homes Drawings in the Library of Congress
• Purvi's Twitter handle: @BIMchiq
• Purvi's website on DEIA/JEDI issues 
• Purvi's Blog
• Tangible Remnants on Instagram
• Tangible Remnants on Facebook
• Tangible Remnants Website

Bio:

Purvi Gandhi Irwin:

As the Practice Manager for Architecture at CADD Microsystems, Purvi supports professionals across all disciplines with BIM technologies, which includes teaching Revit, developing workflows and standards, troubleshooting issues, and finding creative solutions to both design and modeling problems. She has 17+ years of experience, most spent as a preservation project architect, where she specialized in using innovative technologies to facilitate the documentation and rehabilitation of institutional buildings, and 12+ years of Revit experience working with historic buildings, from conceptual design, through construction administration and project close-out. Purvi is a registered architect with degrees in both Architecture and Historic Preservation. She served on the Alexandria, VA Parker Gray Board of Architectural review from 2012 until its consolidation in 2019, as both a board member and as Board Chair. She currently serves on the Alexandria Board of Architectural Review. In the past, Purvi was also active with both the local and national chapters of the Association for Preservation Technology. She has recently become more involved in equity and diversity conversations as they relate to both the larger AEC industry and more specifically around historic preservation principles. She loves to learn and teach, with a strong belief that diversity in all ways creates stronger and more resilient communities. She has presented at many conferences over the years, including BILTna conferences, Autodesk University, DesignDC, AIA National Conference, ArchEX conference, the APTI Annual Conference, and local AIA chapter events.

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=66435616)

 This short episode features a quick book review of The Black Butterfly by Dr. Lawrence T. Brown and a curated list of conferences I'm excited to participate in this fall (2021).  

Links:

• A curated list of conferences
• Tangible Remnants on Instagram
• Tangible Remnants on Facebook
• Tangible Remnants Website

Learn more about Dr. Lawrence's work with The Black Butterfly:

• Visit www.theblackbutterflyproject.com for videos, archival materials, and impact of the Black Butterfly as a concept.