Archinect - Features

'Leadership Is Not Linear': A Conversation with Mary Anne Alabanza Akers, the New Dean of Cal Poly Pomona's College of Environmental Design

2023-03-27T10:00:00-04:00

The fabric of architectural academia is changing. As leadership turnover is more apparent than ever before, I wondered if the demands of an academic leader have outgrown the stereotypical "profile" of what qualifies a dean or department chair. Is there room for deans to lead and make changes beyond their bureaucratic administrative duties? How much experience is enough experience to be "qualified to lead?"

I discussed these questions when I got the opportunity to connect with Cal Poly Pomona's new dean for their College of Environmental Design, Mary Anne Alabanza Akers. She joins the institution after heading Morgan State University's School of Architecture + Planning as its dean for 14 years. Not only has Akers served at a prominent HBCU — she was also its founding dean.

During our conversation, for our latest Deans List series, we unpacked her childhood in the Philippines, her journey to attending school and working in the United States, her commitment to academia, and what it m...

The Fluidity of an Architecture Education: A Conversation with Tulane School of Architecture's New Director Emilie Taylor Welty

2022-11-08T08:48:00-05:00

"School is this great place where you can turn research into action, and that testing ground fosters creative, collaborative professionals who can implement positive change in the world," Emilie Taylor Welty shared during our recent Zoom call.

An architect, educator, and multi-disciplinarian specializing in public-interest design, materials, and detailing, her approach to practice and academia is rooted in collaboration and fabrication. As Tulane School of Architecture's new Director of Architecture, her extensive background in social design practices and equity building positions Taylor Welty as another exciting key figure in Tulane's academic leadership.

A Conversation with Trey Trahan, FAIA, Architecture’s Business-centric Polymath

2020-08-31T13:54:00-04:00

Archinect first connected with Trey Trahan back in 2008 for an enlightening interview about architecture, design, and the origins of his practice, Trahan Architects. Perhaps one of the most intriguing things about Trey are his inherent polymathic qualities. He is a true modern renaissance man. While the design leader has reached undoubted success in the architecture industry, he has also developed a deep and profound relationship with art, drawing inspiration from his personal collection in many areas of his business and architectural work.

Business is a craft for Trey, something to be mastered and thoughtfully practiced. There is a holistic approach to life, with service to people and the community as the focus, and architecture, business, leadership, and art as vehicles to facilitate that service. Here 12 years after our first meeting, we connect with the architect again, for a discussion about leadership, creative philosophy, art, the recent pandemic, and architecture’s more pro...

Archinect's Guide to Job Titles: Job Captain

2020-02-06T12:09:00-05:00

As projects move from pre-design to construction, the coordination and maintenance of the operational progress of the project team, both internal and external, and the work itself must be managed closely. Project Managers (PM) often oversee multiple projects, regularly interacting with the client, multiple smaller teams for each project, and ensuring the vision of the work stays on point. But, the PM often relies on a Job Captain to oversee the actual production of design deliverables, construction documentation, construction administration tasks, and other daily maintenance duties required to keep projects moving and on schedule.

For our fourth installment of Archinect's Guide to Job Titles, we dive into the Job Captain, that in-between team member crucial to the project flow. What qualifications does one need to operate in this role? What's the pay like? And where does it lie in one's larger career trajectory?

Archinect's Guide to Job Titles: Studio Director

2020-01-23T12:00:00-05:00

In our third installment of Archinect's Guide to Job Titles series, we attempt to tackle the nuanced role of the Studio Director. As with most positions within architecture firms, the lines are quite blurry when it comes to the role of Studio Director. For some, this leadership position acts as a kind of operations specialist and strategist while also functioning as a firmwide design leader. For others, the Studio Director might function as a buffer between design teams and the higher-level leadership of an organization. And for others still, this individual might run their studio as a kind of "mini-firm" within a larger firm, responsible for their own business development, hiring, project management, and overall growth. The intricacies and variations associated with such a dynamic posting can't be explained exhaustively, there will always be some deviation. Nevertheless, what follows is our attempt to capture the inherent essence of this career path in architecture.

Growing Leadership and Practice: Laney LA's Search for a Studio Director

2019-08-20T12:00:00-04:00

What happens when a team outgrows its leader? It is a predicament that takes maturity and skill to overcome. On the one hand, one can become insecure, unsure, and unwilling to grow, thinking only of their personal image and status within the group. The fear of being surpassed or outshined naturally may begin to set in. It is indeed a trying circumstance, a difficult one that many successful teams face. But, on the other hand, there are those leaders who embrace their growth, they put their teams before themselves. There are those leaders who can confidently acknowledge what they bring to the table, what they do well, and what others do better than them. They lift others up and celebrate when they see them succeed. It was Nelson Mandela who said that it is better to lead from behind and to put others in front. A true leader knows that the success of the group is far more important than their own.

CONTOURS: On Business and Bosses

2012-02-06T13:47:00-05:00

The business of business from the top is changing. The pace of that change for everyone who has directly suffered from the Great Recession is admittedly glacial, though some continue to argue that the Great Recession hasn’t done “too much” harm to the building and design industries.

Gender and Design Leadership

2011-10-24T13:12:37-04:00

Women in the architecture workplace is, oddly, a subject that does not receive a lot of press. Perhaps it is because from the time of school onward, women in the field are indoctrinated into being either as “hard,” “iron-like” or on a practical level, unbathed and unhygienic, as their male counterparts in order to be accepted. Indeed, at one school in Los Angeles, the women actively cultivate a hardened exterior that rivals any of their male classmates. Those who do not relinquish obvious signifiers of womanhood are dismissed as either attempting to “sleep their way to success” or as “lightweights.”