CRAN Virtual Seminar Series: The COVID Practice

At the conclusion of each seminar, there will be a 30-minute discussion with Platinum Sponsor Andersen Windows & Doors about how they are implementing COVID-19 safety, sustainability, and social justice.

Course Description

Architectural Practices during the current global pandemic have had much to cope with. Health concerns and social distancing have restructured the way architects are practicing. Staff is now working remotely, limiting the way offices can work collaboratively as well as how younger staff can be mentored effectively. Zoom calls have become the new means of communication with clients and staff while onsite construction administration has required masks and careful coordination to keep contractors, subcontractors, clients, and architects safe on a job site. To understand the ramifications of the “Covid Practice”, four architects from around the country will be asked to discuss their practice in light of the current worldwide pandemic. Each will be asked to comment on ways their offices have had to adapt to the pandemic and how these changes have influenced the way they practice architecture. A live panel discussion will follow the presentations bringing the voices of a diverse group of architects with various size practices together to try to make sense of this new world we live in.

Learning Objectives

1. Attendees will learn methods of working remotely with clients during the different phases of project design and construction.
2. Attendees will learn methods of working remotely with staff during the construction document phase and the construction administration phase of a project.
3. Attendees will learn methods of designing and marketing when collaborative processes must be remote.
4. Attendees will learn the effects of the global pandemic on architects practicing in different parts of the country with different size firms.

Speakers

Joy Meek AIA, Principal, Wheeler Kearns Architects
Joy joined Wheeler Kearns Architects in 1998 and became a principal in 2006. She received a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies from the University of Illinois and a Masters of Architecture from Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. Joy has worked on numerous residential projects, from new single-family, renovations, retreat homes to condominium build-outs and institutional projects including the original Marwen build-out and subsequent adaptive reuse and expansion project for the Marwen Foundation, a not-for-profit arts organization that provides free visual art classes and college and career counseling to students from under-resourced communities and schools in Chicago. The project has received several awards including a National SEED Award for Excellence in Public Interest Design. She is an adjunct lecturer in Architecture Engineering and Design at Northwestern University's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Joy is a registered architect in the State of Illinois, a registered LEED accredited professional, and a member of the American Institute of Architects. She and her husband, also an architect, live in Chicago's Logan Square with their two children.

Luis Jauregui, FAIA, President, Jauregui Architecture Interiors Construction
Luis Jauregui, FAIA, is founder and President of Jauregui Architecture, Construction, Interiors, a nationally recognized Architect-led design-build firm focusing on high-end homes in Austin, Houston, Dallas, and central Texas for the last 30 years. Mr. Jauregui is a graduate of Texas A&M University with a degree in Environmental Design (’76) and a Masters of Architecture (’78). He has been a long-standing member of the national American Institute of Architects (A.I.A.); elected to The College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects; Austin Chapter President 2017; founding member of AIA Custom Residential Architects Network (CRAN), an advocacy committee for residential architects; CRAN 2010-2011 national and local subcommittee Chair; as CRAN 2009-2010 Chair of the AIA Austin Chapter. Luis is being honored as a Distinguished Alumni of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University in 2017.

A passionate leader in residential Design-Build, Mr. Jauregui served as a contributing columnist on design for Residential Design & Build Magazine from 2005 to 2013. He is a Registered Architect in Texas and Hawaii and is also a registered Interior Designer. Jauregui’s work can be found throughout central Texas, Hawaii, and Mexico.

Mr. Jauregui also has been a long-range leader with the Home Builders Association of Austin, serving as President in 1999 and co-founding the very active Custom Builder Council of which he served as chair in 1997 and 2001. Luis currently serves on the Design Committee of NAHB. Numerous accolades include being named 2008 Home Builder of the Year by the U.S. Hispanic Contractors Association and 2007 Custom Builder of the Year by the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin.

Alice Kimm, Principal, John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects
Alice Kimm is a partner of John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects (JFAK) in Los Angeles. JFAK designs places that influence people’s experiences, creativity, and everyday lives, for individuals and entities who understand the power of buildings and environments to inspire, communicate, and elicit joy. Since its founding, the firm’s award-winning work has spanned schools, university centers, creative commercial ventures, housing, and civic spaces and monuments.

A Fulbright Scholar, Alice holds a B.A. in Economics from Cornell and an M.Arch. from Harvard. She is a longtime educator who served as Director of Undergraduate Architecture at USC from 2010-2014. Alice was named a 2004 Emerging Voice by the Architectural League of New York alongside her partner and husband John Friedman and was elevated to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in 2010. She was selected to deliver a TEDx talk by the Fulbright Association in 2015, is a frequent lecturer and panelist, and has been a guest on Southern California Public Radio, Charter Spectrum TV, and BBC Radio 4. A resident of Los Angeles’s Silverlake neighborhood, Alice spends what little free time she has hanging out with John and their three children, reading fiction, writing, and playing squash.

Heather Philip O’Neal, AIA, NOMA, is the principal of her own practice, HPP International LLC. She is focused on NYC brownstone design and affordable housing.  Her work was exhibited in “2% -Women of Color in Design” at the Boston Architectural College (BAC) and, currently, in the United Nations’ traveling exhibit “SAY IT LOUD: Distinguished Black Designers of NYCOBA|NOMA”. Ms. O’Neal is currently an adjunct professor in the School of Architecture and Design at The New York Institute of Technology and serves on the Advisory Board for the School of Architecture at Kent State University. She was awarded the Harry B Rutkins Award from the AIA New York chapter for service to the chapter and commitment to increasing awareness of the role of minority architects. She was recently honored by the Professional Women in Construction with the Women of Achievement Award for leadership in the design industry. Ms. O’Neal holds a Master of Science in Real Estate Development from the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Pratt Institute.