Tracing Architecture

This year, Tracing Architecture is teaming up with the AIA Arizona State Conference to create a special set of episodes. 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 those members of our design community to learn more about them and how they are connected with their respective conference speakers. In this episode, the second of three special episodes for the conference, we'll be speaking with: Darren Pettrucci, AIA, founder and principal of AIR (Architecture-Infrastructure-Research) and professor in The Design School at Arizona State University; and Claudia Kappl Joy, co-founder, creative director and managing director of CLL . Concept Lighting Lab, an architectural lighting design studio in Tucson.

This year, Tracing Architecture is teaming up with the AIA Arizona State Conference to create a special set of episodes. 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 those members of our design community to learn more about them and how they are connected with their respective conference speakers. In this episode, the first of three special episodes for the conference, we'll be speaking with two of the newest members of our community: Dr. Paola Sanguinetti, recently named as the Director of The Design School at Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University; and John Czarnecki, Assoc. AIA, the new Executive Director of AIA Arizona.

Various facets of the architectural profession in the United States are not flattering, and some of the most difficult to address is the lack of racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in the industry and policies that reinforce equity in the workplace. For this episode, we are building on the discussions from the joint NOMA Arizona and AIA Phoenix Metro panels held throughout the spring by inviting guests Shannon Rodriquez (of New York-based FX Collaborative) and Yiselle Santos Rivera (of HKS Architects in Washington DC) to share the progress they’ve made and the pitfalls they’ve experienced in their ongoing development of practices that strive for equity and justice.

There is a common theme amongst young architects—perhaps even a culture or shared honor—of long hours and grueling work. Even moreso, early stages of one’s career can be accompanied with feelings of being lost or inexperienced, creating greater stress and spending more time to compensate. This episode (part 2 of 2 on this topic) will look at strategies of the important but all-too-fleeting nature of life/work balance, and how COVID-19 has changed how people are approaching this issue. In part 2, we speak with Carlos Murietta, AIA, of Merge Architectural Group.

There is a common theme amongst young architects—perhaps even a culture or shared honor—of long hours and grueling work. Even moreso, early stages of one’s career can be accompanied with feelings of being lost or inexperienced, creating greater stress and spending more time to compensate. This episode (part 1 of 2 on this topic) will look at strategies of the important but all-too-fleeting nature of life/work balance, and how COVID-19 has changed how people are approaching this issue. In part 2, we speak with Ashley Mulhall of Orcutt|Winslow.

Paradigms of architectural practice have shifted dramatically relative to the long history of the profession. History is rooted in the analog - paper and parallel bars - while the current trends and future of the profession lie in the digital, rapidly advancing what is possible in the built world. But this dichotomy often also represents a major cultural schism - one that is centered around the role and definition of an architect in the past, present, and beyond.

As we all acclimate to the world post-COVID-19, we check in with the Tracing Architecture team to see how everyone is adjusting to their new realities and dig into the origins of the Tracing Architecture podcast. We also sit down with AIA Phoenix Metro AIA10 Director Mandel McDonnell to see what's going on locally.

Being an architect is a job at the end of the day, and architects are people with lives and passions beyond the profession. Some of these passions are directly tied to what makes people want to be architects, and others are complete releases from the profession entirely. We’ll talk about all of the things people do when they’re not in the studio in this live recording from February 2020.