Working out of the Box is a series of features presenting architects who have applied their architecture backgrounds to alternative career paths.
Are you an architect working out of the box? Do you know of someone that has changed careers and has an interesting story to share? If you would like to suggest an (ex-)architect, please send us a message.
Archinect: Where did you study architecture?
Annie Mohaupt: I studied at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where I received a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies in 1998.
At what point in your life did you decide to pursue architecture?
AM: I decided I wanted to be an architect my senior year of high school - it was at that time where everyone starts asking what your major will be the following year. I actually remember the specific moment that "architecture!" occurred to me: I was sitting at my family's dining room table, looking at one of those cheesy catalogs of suburban house plans that you get at the home improvement store, and I thought, "This stuff is so awesome. I want to draw houses like these." Yikes, that's so embarrassing to admit - thank goodness my tastes have changed over the years! But the cards were stacked up toward architecture anyway – my dad's an engineer, and my mom's an artist, so there may be a bit of a genetic predisposition as well.
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The mohop shoes workshop. (Click on this and all of the images to get a detailed view)
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Annie Mohaupt knows safety.
When did you decide to stop pursuing architecture? Why?
AM: The career lost much of its luster the day I sat down at my first architecture position, mouse in hand, staring at that black AutoCad computer screen. Architecture school was fun: sketching, drafting by hand, constructing models, discussing ideas with teachers and other students, even pulling all those all-nighters… I loved it all! But pushing a mouse around, sending endless faxes, and speaking with contractors when I had no idea what I was talking about - this was just not the career I had pictured. From the start, I wondered what I had gotten myself into. I really missed doing things by hand. However, things did get better, and I ended up enjoying my career for the most part. I ended up working about seven years in architecture before I stumbled upon something I liked even better: making shoes.
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mohop shoes
Describe your current profession.
AM: I make wooden sandals. It's funny, because as an architect, I would come across different materials in the office library or the Merchandise Mart and think things like, "wouldn't this make a neat pair of shoes?" I had never literally thought, "I want to make shoes", it was like I was kind of subconsciously storing stuff away. One day in May 2005, a picture appeared in my head: a pair of Eames-inspired skateboard-ish bent plywood sandals. It was a classic light-bulb moment, and I knew I had to figure out how to make those shoes. It took me a couple months, futzing around in the basement in the evenings after work, until I came up with something passably shoe-like. Then it took another year and a half to further develop them so they're durable enough to last at least 100 miles (yes, I did log 100 miles in a pair – and never a blister!)
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mohop shoes
I currently can make only a few pairs a day, but they sell pretty well, so scaling up production has been my biggest challenge. I finally have been able to obtain financing for my own CNC machine, which I will hopefully receive in February. I'm incredibly excited about the CNC, because I'll finally be free of the limitations of my bandsaw, and my production processes will be more scalable. In the future, I hope to grow my little sustainable footwear factory here in Chicago… the fact that I get to both design *and* make stuff is what I love the most and hope to continue doing in the long run.
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mohop shoes
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mohop shoes
What skills did you gain from architecture school, or working in the architecture industry, that have contributed to your success in your current career?
AM: I feel that architecture has provided the best possible preparation for my career as a footwear designer and manufacturer. I considered majoring in fashion design, and even though I'm now working in fashion, there's no way I could do what I'm doing without my background in architecture specifically. My training and work in the industry have touched every facet of what I'm doing – including teaching me physical endurance (I don't get any more sleep than I did in school), environmental conscientiousness, dealing with vendors, working with customers/clients, fundamentals of design and structure, organization, collaboration, meticulousness in presentation… I guess it's a whole way of thinking and doing things. The basic theoretical and practical concepts behind building design and construction really aren't that different from that of footwear, it's just on an entirely different scale. I can't think of any aspect of shoe design and manufacturing that has not been enhanced by my architecture background.
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mohop shoes
Do you have an interest in returning to architecture?
AM: Not so much. My husband is an architect, so the architect in me lives vicariously through him. However, now that I know I'm getting the CNC, I'm becoming a lot more excited about interior design elements, furniture design and product design. I'm always looking around at items or furnishings in my house or studio saying, I could make a cooler version on my CNC (if only I also had an infinite amount of time…!)
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14 Comments
i thought you were laura petrie there for a second. cute shoes. i know someone who would love a pair...
damn, someone doing what cryz is doing, and not complaining about NOT doing architecture. yo, b, take a note.
i thought that face mask was a fashion accessory. oh she's in chitown i can go up and get a pair for my girlfriend. oh wait i ain't got a girlfriend.
So, so awesome! I love the shoes. Adore them. Desire a pair.
<off to check bank balance...>
i am posting this because your work particularly evoked some memories of the society i grew up in. wooden footwear were big part of that culture and they not only etched in my memory for their simplicity, but also the sound they made.
"takunya" sometimes was just a roughly shaped 2x4 with old tire straps, or an ornate one with ivory inlays.
the most common ones today are the simple roughly shaped ones used in turkish baths and in the wash section of the mosques.
adding onto my trivia;
muslims have to wash themselves in a certain procedure, five times a day before doing their daily prayers. (three times of each; head, face, hands to the elbow, feet to the knee, making it necessary, for example, up to fifteen washes a day for one foot!)
thanks for presenting your work.
i suppose gwen stefani would be proud
note taken..
good stuff
this article was sooo refreshing to me! This is coming from an architect who has left two positions and scared to take another as an arch in case they are all sooo boring! Cad monkeying,. And spending my life making the Dreams come to reality for someone else. The thought of spending 10yrs posibly more giving over my excitement, passion and artistic ability to the plant outside the office door on the way into work then picking it up on the way home just makes me very sad...so Good woman that you are good luck in your lovely adventure and heres to the best shoes you can make!
Thanks everyone for your comments! Thanks especially for your memories and the wooden sandal photos, Orhan... my inlaws are actually Muslim!
Just a little update: my CNC machine (which is a computerized router, which will give me A LOT more freedom with design) will be arriving in the next couple of days. Yay! So I hope to add a lot more variety and custom options in the next month or so, if anyone is interested in new sandals for spring ;)
Hopefully I can come up with something for guys, too...!
maybe some platforms that have aquariums in the heels!
I am feeling that, with the new CNC possibilities on the horizon, the time is NOW to get a pair of the original classics...
i promise not to spill coffee on 'em l.b.!
reading this article which is def. inspiring about other opportunities out there has me further questioning how many women actually last in architecture (in the traditional sense)? i am unemployed for the first time in my life but my architect husband (we have dead on exact same amount of experience - met in school, graduated same year, even worked in the same firm for a good amount of time - never has a problem getting in for interviews, calls back, interest, job offers..i have aia award winning projects that i was project architect on, strong portfolio, likable person, great references, almost done with ARE, LEED AP, the works.....as time goes on, more and more of my colleagues from school (women) are looking for ways out - seeming at about the 7-8 year mark. all the while the men still carry the torch and the higher paying salaries. it is all so boggling. and now the big trend is 'teach teach teach - get that 2nd prof. degree so you can support yourself by teaching". it seems like a cop-out but what options are there? teaching at least lends itself to having a family i suppose and feeling like you belong and are valued.
in an eariler article by archinect on the state of the affairs in the industry regarding the downturn, i noticed the survey did not really track female versus male, & what is happening out there right now - or historically. this would be something to further research. i don't want to give up - i know i have the drive, the talent to have a long-lasting stake in this profession but sometimes the odds all seem against a person and the worst thing is feeling powerless.
loptop - you bring up a very serious issue that deserves more attention. we plan on continuing with our survey on a quarterly basis, to follow the health of the industry during this down market, and we will definitely make sure to include gender in our upcoming surveys to give a more clear indication of the differences between men and women within the architecture field.
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