#WFH We are still.. & an Interview w/ Evelyn Lee, FAIA

Evelyn Lee, FAIA photo by: Carl Bower

I had wanted to post this blog with an Interview with Evelyn Lee, FAIA for Women's History Month but it's Covid... and you know how it goes sometimes... 

I feel like a "Slack-er"  (for those of you who are not "Gen Xers" the term slacker was used to describe someone who habitually avoids work or lacks work ethic which was considered a bad thing, in architecture it is/was someone who wasn't working 40+hrs a week)

As Evelyn Lee is an architect but also is working at a company that is not a typical practice, I thought it would be good to have her talk about how a degree or multiple degrees in architecture and other majors can also be a great benefit if you decide to explore a career outside of architecture.  There have been many people whom I have known who have become architects and practiced for many years but then decided to do something that was somewhat different.  Imagineering comes to mind or anything in the entertainment industry that seems to keep moving forward even through recessions.  I have known people who became set designers, app developers, social media business marketing entrearchitects and even airstream rental company owners because of a passion that they pursued that used the skills that we learn in architecture school and the profession.  

Evelyn Lee, AIA, is the first ever Senior Experience Designer at Slack

Technologies, Founder of the Practice of Architecture, and Co-Host on the

Podcast, Practice Disrupted. Lee seamlessly integrates her business and

architecture background with a qualitative and quantitative focus to build a better

experiences for organization's Employees, clients, and guests.

Evelyn received her Bachelor of Architecture degree with honors in 2002

from Drury University where she minored in Global Studies while playing on the

Women’s Soccer Team. In 2003 she received her Masters of Architecture degree

from the Southern California Institute of Architecture SCIArc). Most recently, in

2012, Evelyn finished a dual MPA Masters Public Administration)/MBA Masters

Business Administration) in Sustainable Management from the Presidio Graduate

School.

She is widely published, wrote a monthly column for Contract magazine for over 3

years, and now is a frequent contributor to Architect Magazine. Evelyn has

received numerous industry awards including the 2016 40 Under 40 award

for Building Design + Construction and the 2014 AIA National Young Architects

Award. She currently serves as the first ever female Treasurer to the AIA National

Board in 20202021.

Evelyn has been a featured Keynote Speaker, Invited Guest, Panelist, and

Moderator at national design and architecture conferences including AIA National

Convention, Dwell on Design, and Women in Green. Her topics focus on

developing knowledge leadership, organizational change management, capacity

building, stakeholder engagement, and strategic approaches to put design

thinking into practice.

Evelyn has over 15 years working with individuals, organizations, and

companies who are interested in applying design thinking to their decision-making process.

Slack Offices

Interview w/ Evelyn Lee, FAIA, click here

So for the architects who are AIA  Fellows, I typically will ask them why they applied for Fellowship and which Object they submitted under and when I spoke with Evelyn, they had not made the announcement yet of her elevation to that title, so I asked her afterwards and she said:

"I pursued Fellowship so that individuals in the profession would give me a voice. I submitted under object 3, Led the Institute or a related organization."

Evelyn's Buildings:

https://www.stevenholl.com/projects/st-ignatius-chapel

These are Evelyn's St. Ignatius Photos in her Flikr Account :which you can see all of them from these links

The Chapel of St. Ignatius, by Steven Holl

The Chapel of St. Ignatius by Steven Holl

And here's an image that I was actually able to download and post from Andrew Mikhael who I blogged with in #ArchiTalks and when I googled the building looking for an image that I could download, I found his so thank you Andrew!!! 

andrew mikhael blog post on st-ignatius-chapel-by-steven-holl

archinect sessions interview with steven-holl

 

Mesa Public Library
by Antoine Predock Architects

Palace of the Governors
photo by National Trust for
Historic Preservation  

So, also after the interview there were several highly publicized though not isolated incidents of violence towards the Asian American community and I saw that Evelyn had made posts in her social media on the issue and so I asked her if she would like to make a statement about it in the blog and she did and these are her words:

"As an Asian-American and daughter of two Chinese Immigrants, recent events have struck a very personal nerve. The last 10 years, let alone 1, have been an educational experience for me. I find myself in a place where I am not Chinese enough to be considered Chinese, and I am not American enough to be considered American. I am trying to understand what it means to be Chinese-American, and I am doing more to understand the variety of cultures classified under Asian. I am trying to figure out what it all means for my son, who looks more Chinese than caucasian, and my daughter, who looks more caucasian but still has hooded eyes. How do I raise them to be independent solid individuals when I struggle so much with my own identity?

I know I have it better than many individuals; I also know that there are a lot of individuals who struggle and will continue to struggle much more than I do. For all of us to be treated equally, there are inevitably groups of individuals that will need additional assistance getting there. I encourage others to be empathetic to those groups, understand what they can do to help, and be there when it is safe, and you are comfortable to do so. "

And I believe that this is the way that we are going to make this a better profession and a better world.  Be

empathetic

[ em-puh-thet-ik ] 

of, relating to, or characterized by empathy, the psychological identification with the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of others:

So often we just aren't and we need to be.  I am not going to write down every time that I have experienced someone being treated differently because of their race or ethnicity or looks or their sexual or gender identity because it isn't "all about me and what i have experienced personally or with others", but I am hurt by it knowing that people who I love and care about are being hurt and we all need to do better.