Tracing Architecture

Tracing Architecture was awarded a grant in the fall of 2022 to share the stories of two individuals who’ve benefitted from the support of the Arizona Architecture Foundation – a group whose mission is to enhance the welfare of the Arizona community by promoting excellence in architecture and the built environment by supporting the education of future architects, supporting and promoting the profession of architecture, and preserving the legacy of Arizona architecture. In this special episode, we highlight the Foundation's support of our community in developing young professionals, through exposure to unique experiences in travel across the world. We are joined by Andrew Marriott, who traveled to Morocco as the 2021 Recipient of the Robert Saemisch Prize, and by Paola Perdomo, who traveled to Barcelona and Colombia as the 2022 Recipient of the Sean Murphy Prize, and learn from them how their lives were impacted by the experience.

Twenty years ago, Architecture magazine released a special issue titled "The Arizona School," featuring some of the most prominent architects that redefined architecture in the desert southwest. This was remarkable not only for bringing national notoriety to this group but also for acknowledging the impact of the extraordinary work coming from this state that continues today. In this new interview series, we'll speak with a few of the architects making Arizona special. For this episode, we sit down with Rick Joy, founder of his eponymous Studio Rick Joy, to learn how he's crafted a collaborative design in his studio for almost 30 years.

This episode is the second in our ongoing Great Recession Generation series. It's been more than a decade since the Great Recession, the most severe economic and financial meltdown since the Great Depression, but the impact of that period in time can still be felt today. An entire generation in the architecture and construction industries was affected, some leaving the profession altogether. In light of another global, earth-shattering event, we want to take a moment to reflect on the last. This episode, we interview two people who found themselves on paths that led them away from architecture. Shawn Swisher interviews two of his fellow graduates from the University of Southern California School of Architecture: Taylor Donsker of Taylor Donsker Design (taylordonsker.com), and Margaret Tides, an attorney in the counsel's office for Placer County, California.

Tracing Architecture again is teaming up with the AIA Arizona State Conference to create a special set of episodes around the conference theme: Inspire. During the conference, local leaders of the design community will be leading conversations with each of the conference speakers, and Tracing Architecture is sitting down with a few of them to learn more about who they are and catch a glimpse at what they'll be thinking about at this year's conference. In this episode, the first of two special episodes for the conference, we'll be speaking with Maurita Harris, current President of NOMA Arizona and architect at PHX Architecture, and Ryan Smith, the new director at the School of Architecture at the College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture at the University of Arizona.

In the spring of 2022, Tracing Architecture was awarded an Emerging Professionals Component Grant by the AIA College of Fellows. This grant has allowed us to partner with groups in our community that would otherwise not have access to a media platform such as our podcast, and allow those groups to have critical conversations that can engage our profession and local community more broadly. For this special episode, we collaborated with the Arizona chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) to host a live podcast recording event at their monthly chapter meeting.

NOMA Arizona organized and curated a conversation to better understand the concept of decolonizing architecture, inviting panelists of various backgrounds and expertise on the subject from the local community and around the country to explore this topic in depth. The panel included Wanda Dalla Costa, AIA, of Arizona State University, Nicholl Hubbell, Assoc. IIDA, of Shepley Bulfinch, and Luis Cruz-Martinez, AIA, also from Shepley Bulfinch. NOMA Arizona also invited Rubin Quarcoopome and Christopher Locke of Designing in Color, and Shundana Yusaf, Associate Professor at the School of Architecture at the University of Utah, to join the panel through video recordings to introduce and elucidate key principles of decolonization.

Please visit NOMA Arizona's website for more information on the panelists and their organization here: https://nomaarizona.org/event/chapter-meeting-august-2022/

It's been more than a decade since the Great Recession, the most severe economic and financial meltdown since the Great Depression, but the impact of that period in time can still be felt today. An entire generation in the architecture and construction industries was affected, some leaving the profession altogether. In the light of another global, earth-shattering event, we want to take a moment to reflect on the last. This episode is the first in a new, ongoing series, where we interview people to hear their stories of how their lives and careers were forever changed. We start by interviewing the hosts of the show: Shawn Swisher, Matthew Tehan, and James Wesala.

Does an architect have a responsibility to advocate for their community? In this episode we hear more from community leaders Gary Nelson, Katherine Dudzik Smith, and Arizona State Representative Christian Solorio on their inspirations and aspirations for advocacy in their communities, whether that responsibility is shared by the profession, and how others can get involved.

Links discussed during this episode:

AIA Arizona PAC: https://www.aia.org/articles/194151-arizona-archipac , https://aia-arizona-archipac.square.site/

AIA National ArchiPAC: https://www.aia.org/pages/3541-archipac

Representative Christian Solorio: https://christiansolorio.com/

NOMA Arizona: https://www.nomaarizona.org/

This episode sponsored in part by Pella Windows & Doors

The architect as the master builder, that myth best scene historically in Frank Lloyd Wright, has seemingly gone away from today’s mainstream practice. Today, architecture is as much about communicating and collaborating as it is about designing or building. However, some architects continue this tradition, albeit in a different way: these practices are focused primarily as general contractors, who also happen to build their own designs. In this episode we sat down at the AIA office and spoke with three individuals keeping this tradition alive; Benjamin Hall (of Benjamin Hall Design), Zach Burns (of Local Studio), and James Trahan (of 180 Degrees).

This year, Tracing Architecture is teaming up with the AIA Arizona State Conference to create a special set of episodes. During the conference, local members of the design community will be leading conversations with each of the conference speakers, and Tracing Architecture is sitting down with those members of our design community to learn more about them and how they are connected with their respective conference speakers. This is the final of three special episodes for the conference, and we'll be speaking with: Diane Jacobs, FAIA, founder and principal of Holly Street Studio; Damon Leverett, AIA, architect and senior lecturer at the College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture (CAPLA) at the University of Arizona; and Rob Miller, AIA, director of the School of Architecture at CAPLA.