Design Voice Podcast

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.

Bonnie 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. This humanistic methodology took form during her graduate and doctoral research, which explored the relationship between being and building—through contemporary architectural theory and the study of phenomenology as interpreted and developed by Husserl and Heidegger, Kenneth Frampton, and Juhanni Palassma.

Site-specificity and material simplicity are essential aesthetic principles in Bonnie’s work, informed by growing up in California and ten years in the Sonoran Desert. She was profoundly inspired by these landscapes—imprinting within her a fundamental experience of light and space.

Actively involved in the civic realm and the greater architectural community, Bonnie is fueled by a deep, longstanding dedication to advancing the profession—through mentoring, teaching, advisory and Board roles. Bonnie founded the firm in 1992, preceded by working for award-winning firms in California and Arizona.

In this episode Bonnie shares how her deep knowledge of contemporary architectural theory enriches all projects at the firm. Bonnie talks about how at the core of her work is the belief that everyone who participates in a project actually matters. She also shares her experience of starting her own practice while raising a family, and that one can be dedicated to their intellect, values, and what they bring to society, but equally dedicated to their family.

This episode features three women who all left architecture for the real estate world! Chi-Chi Lin, Danlu Li, and Yi Li all studied architecture and practiced for a few years before realizing that they wanted to do something else. After leaving the profession and getting MSRED degrees, they now all work in different areas of the real estate industry in New York City.

In our conversation, Chi Chi, Danlu and Yi Li share when each of them realized they didn’t want to practice architecture anymore, how they transitioned to their new careers, what they miss about architecture, but what they love about their new work. They also give great advice for people who want to pivot from architecture to something else.

We also talk about the challenges of being a woman in real estate, finding a firm that has your same values, and how both architects and people in real estate are inherently futurists.

Anne Torney is a partner at Mithun | Solomon, and leads their San Francisco office. For more than 20 years, she has made affordable multi-family housing and transit-oriented urban infill the focus of her work. For Anne, architecture isn't just about the form or the icon, but the process of making and the narrative of a building, and sharing that with a community to help them envision change. She believes that the two biggest challenges of our time are income inequality and climate change, but design has the power to address both.

In this episode, Anne tells the story of her first community planning meeting, how Mithun has been able to successfully get affordable housing projects built in San Francisco, and shares why you should bring your values to your firm and push for change.

Show Recap:

• How Anne's interest in architecture developed - "In a very backwards way"
• The idea that buildings can be read like books, as critical cultural objects
• Working at David Baker Architects was her first introduction to affordable housing projects
• How attending her first community meeting and her first encounter with design guidelines led Anne to study Urbanism and City Planning at Berkeley
• Wanting to study with Daniel Solomon in grad school, and the approach that architecture and city planning are one continuous discipline
• On the eternal conflict between a city's design guidelines, what architects think is the best for the city, and what the public thinks is the best for the city
• The disagreement between parties is often programmatic rather than design
• Anne talks about the kinds of clients and non-profit developers she works with at Mithun that build affordable housing projects in San Francisco
• Why it's important to have the same values and mission as your clients
• How Anne became a Principal and Managing Partner at Mithun - "Having a nose for what I had a passion for"
• Why Anne finds the firm management aspects of her job very gratifying
• On changing an organization from within versus finding an organization that shares the same values as you - "I love it when people bring their values to work...and say this is what gives me passion, this is what I'm seeing the world needs, and shouldn't we as a firm be doing this?"
• "Be really out there with what want, and the way you think the world should be."
• What Anne loves most about being an Architect - for her it's not just about the form and the icon, but the process of making a building, and taking the narrative of a building and sharing it with a community to help them envision change.
• On how the biggest challenges we currently face are climate change and income inequality, but design has the power to address both.

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.

Deryl is a licensed engineer and the fifth generation of her family to work in design and construction. Her firm is an extension of the nation’s oldest African American design and construction firm, and traces its origin to Moses McKissack, a master builder who was also a slave. Before founding her firm in 1990, Deryl earned a B.S. in civil engineering at Howard University and worked at Turner Construction and Dames & Moore to hone her experience in field work, business development and construction management.

Among the many nationally significant projects in McKissack’s portfolio of work today are Museum of African American History and Culture, the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, the Obama Presidential Center and the Navy Pier Centennial Projects in Chicago.

In this episode, Deryl talks about how she first got her start in the industry by drafting at her father’s architecture firm at the age of 12, her experience managing a large university facilities team by the age of 27, and what ultimately made her want to start her own business. Deryl shares the challenges she’s faced throughout her career as a black woman, how she’s persevered to become the successful business woman she is today, and gives some great advice for those who want to start their own businesses. Deryl also talks about her 7 point plan to combat racism in the AEC industry.