Winka Dubbeldam is the Chair and Miller Professor of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design, where she has gathered an international network of innovative research and design professionals. As the founder/principal of New York firm Archi-Tectonics, Dubbeldam is widely known for her award-winning work, recognized as much for its use of hybrid sustainable materials and smart building systems as for its elegance and innovative structures. Archi-Tectonics' work ranges from residential to commercial, from real to virtual, and is realized in urban designs, architectural designs, and installations.
#45 Declare Your Mission with Katie Swenson
Katie Swenson is a nationally recognized design leader, researcher, writer, and educator. She is a Senior Principal of MASS Design Group, an international non-profit architecture firm whose mission is to research, build, and advocate for architecture that promotes justice and human dignity. Before joining MASS in early 2020, Swenson was vice president of Design & Sustainability at Enterprise Community Partners. Katie’s work explores how critical design practice can and should promote economic and social equity, environmental sustainability, and healthy communities.
#44 Hold Your Values with Bonnie Bridges
Bonnie Bridges is the founder and Principal of Studio BBA in San Francisco. A strategic, clear thinker, perceptive listener and creative dynamo, Bonnie leads Studio BBA with adaptability, energy and fearless optimism. Drawing on deep expertise in the skilled facilitation of decisions and processes, and an intuitive, analytic nature, she guides the studio’s atelier of designers in creating beautiful, enriching, successful spaces and buildings for their clients. She brings a keen awareness of place and purpose to her work, with an approach to the design process grounded in human experience, logic and thoughtful actions.
#43 The Act of Building with June Grant
June Grant is an architect, designer and researcher committed to the craft of buildings, their potential to enhance cities and develop socially responsible solutions to complex real-world problems. June is the founding Principal of blink!LAB architecture, a boutique, research-based architecture practice focused on adaptive and transformative sustainable development. Her design approach rests on an avid belief in cultural empathy, data research, and new technologies as integral to design futures and design solutions. She is also the current President of SFNOMA.
Read More#42 Architecture, Museums, and Public Discourse with Alyssum Skjeie
Alyssum Skjeie is a museum professional focused on presenting multi-faceted stories related to architecture and history. She is currently the Director of El Pueblo History Museum in Pueblo, Colorado, where she focuses on creating collaborative exhibitions with the community to share their stories and histories. Prior to that, Alyssum worked at the Heinz Architectural Center at Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, and helped curate over 20 architecture exhibitions and countless public programs.
#41 Between is Beautiful with Mani Ardalan Farhadi
Mani Farhadi, LEEP AP, Associate AIA, is a Senior Facilities Planner at Stanford University School of Medicine in the Office of Facilities, Planning and Management. A global thinker and creative thought leader, Mani has three decades of experience in planning and architecture, and in collaborating with both public and private institutions. She enjoys combining her passion for education with her extensive planning skills to bring about stakeholder consensus and thoughtful solutions. Mani also volunteers for the AIA Silicon Valley Women in Architecture Committee, as well as for various Iranian-American cultural and advocacy groups.
#40 Pathways to Equity with Shalini Agrawal
Shalini Agrawal brings over 25 years of experience in community engagement, and has dedicated her career to bringing diversity and equity in design, art and architecture. She is co-director of Pathways to Equity, a leadership experience for responsible community-engaged design, and founder and principal of Public Design for Equity, an equity-driven practice for equity-driven outcomes. Shalini is on the board of Architects Designers and Planners for Social Responsibility, and Association for Community Design, as their Director of Fellowship. She is Associate Professor in Critical Ethnic Studies at California College of the Arts.
Read More#39 Native Voices with the Harvard Indigenous Design Collective
For the first time in the history of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, there are four Native American students enrolled at the same time. They are Elsa Hoover, Zoe Toledo, Heidi Brandow, and Jaz Bonnin, and together, they have formed the Harvard Indigenous Design Collective. Their aim is to support the education and work of Indigenous architects, planners, designers, scholars, allies, and alumni of the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Read More#38 Community Engagement with Siboney Diaz-Sanchez
Siboney is an Enterprise Rose Fellow in the Boston area. She works to understand how architecture and design can best serve communities. She is licensed as an architect in the state of Texas. Siboney is currently working at Opportunity Communities, a community development corporation. Her work for the next two years will focus on affordable housing development and community building because they are inherently connected.
Read More#37 An Integrated Work-Life with Meghana Joshi
Meghana Joshi is a Senior Project Manager at Little Diversified, Newport Beach. She is a board member of the AIA Orange County Chapter, and Director for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. She founded and chaired the Women in Architecture Committee. Under “Project Amplify” that she founded, she amplifies and celebrates voices and works of minority architects throughout the world with diverse projects.
Read More#36 COVID Diaries: A Biophilic Future with Bethany Borel, WELL AP
Bethany Borel is a Senior Associate at COOKFOX Architects in New York City. Bethany frequently speaks on the topics of biophilia and high-performance design, has found that a common thread in her design philosophy is that she holds the utmost respect for the natural environment. At COOKFOX, Bethany brings this thinking to her projects as she pursues environmentally responsible design.
Read More#35 COVID Diaries: Architecture is Political with Melissa R. Daniel
Melissa R. Daniel is an architectural designer in Washington D.C., and the creator and host of the Architecture is Political podcast, a podcast where Black and Brown folks have a conversation about architecture. She served as executive co-chair of the 2017 AIA Women’s Leadership Summit, and was a recipient of a 2018 AIA Associates Award.
Read More#34 COVID Diaries: Build Yourself with Mia Scharphie
Mia Scharphie is a career and business strategist, and the founder of Build Yourself. She helps women in design, tech and innovation move from managing the work to setting the agenda. She helps women move past bias and make their industries and workplaces better places for women's talent.
Read More#33 COVID Diaries: Community Spirit with Donna Sink, AIA
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. She is also one of the hosts of the Archinect Sessions podcast.
Read More#32 COVID Diaries: Changing the Way We Practice with Evelyn Lee
Evelyn Lee, AIA, is the first-ever senior experience designer at Slack Technologies. In her role, she works cross-functionally with business operations, business technology, people operations, and their build team to create amazing experiences for employees, clients, partners, and visitors. Evelyn is passionate about finding new business models to elevate the profession of architecture, ensuring it remains relevant in an ever-changing economy. She also currently serves as the Treasurer of the AIA National Board.
Read More#31 COVID Diaries: Space is a Privilege with Rosa Sheng, FAIA
Rosa Sheng is a Designer, Architect, and 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 is a founder of Equity by Design, past AIA SF President, and Principal and Director of Equity, Inclusion, and Design at SmithGroup.
Read More#30 You Are Your Own Boss with Barbara Flammang, FAIA
Barbara Flammang fundamentally changed downtown Los Angeles by leading her firm’s transformative work in the City’s historic core. Her enlightened management practices have tenaciously advanced equity, diversity and inclusivity for nearly 40 years.
Read More#29 Every Voice is Valuable with Yiselle Santos Rivera
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.
Read More#28 Architecture is a People Sport with Emily Grandstaff-Rice, FAIA
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. She currently serves as the 2018-2020 Director-At-Large for the AIA Board of Directors.
Read More#27 Design Voice Podcast Origin Story!
Catherine Meng is an architect and Senior Associate at DLR Group based in San Francisco. She’s also the host of this podcast! In this episode, Catherine speaks with Madame Architect’s Julia Gamolina, and talks about her career journey, and what inspired her to start this podcast.
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