#interview #podcast with Laura DuCharme Conboy, AIA of DuCharme Architecture

December 15, 2024

#interview #podcast with Laura DuCharme Conboy, AIA of DuCharme Architecture

Laura DuCharme Conboy, AIA

This podcast episode is sponsored by:

iniciowindows.com

Contact Info

LISTEN TO PODCAST HERE

Laura DuCharme Conboy, AIA of DuCharme Architecture

Laura is a licensed architect, and principal of DuCharme Architecture, which she founded in 1992, specializing in custom residential design.

Laura serves as vice-president of the La Jolla Historical Society, and annually conducts their Young Architect Summer Program for middle and high school students.

She also serves on the board of the San Diego Architectural Foundation, and co-chairs BEEP, their Built Environment Education Program, which is dedicated to introducing architecture, planning, and urban design to school-aged students. You can also find her online hosting monthly sketching sessions known as "KidSketch", a monthly sketching program for kids (and adults) which are available on YouTube.

Hi. Looks good with two edits.

The third paragraph - edit to “she also serves . . . “

Delete the “is”.

And maybe edit the “Crossing the line” to read “KidSketch, a monthly sketching program for kids (and adults) . . . “

ducharme architecture

ducharmearch.com/contact

sdarchitecture.org

sdarchitecture.org BEEP BUILT ENVIRONMENT EDUCATION PROGRAM

YouTube: sdaf+kidsketch+beep

AIA San Diego Design Award 2018

LUXE magazine Los Angeles

The first time I met Laura DuCharme Conboy was many years ago at the Happy Hour after the CSE (California Supplemental Exams) otherwise known as "the oral exams" which was a face to face exam that the state of California used to adminster in order to become licensed to practice architecture in the state . The CSE still exists but it is now a digital exam taken on the computer at a testing center which has much less of the ceremony, than sitting in a booth. As Laura and I are both women, we never sat on the same panel of three administers of the exam because they used to have at least one person per panel for a candidate who was a woman. And no, we usually were not that happy after adminstering the exam to around 5-6 candidates a day. If you think it is stressful taking the exam, giving it and repeating questions and listening and grading the same 70 questions again and again is even more grueling which is the reason why we were at happy hour maybe.

But we typically would see other examiners at breakfast, lunch, happy hour and dinner so there was time to meet and greet each other.

Then I joined the AIA after a 26 year hiatus and I met Laura at an AIA San Diego function where we were both members and I believe she asked me to be on a Legacy Award Committee which is an award for architects who have been deemed legacies, and we chose to nominate and award the first one to a woman, Allison White Platlaw, FAIA.

So, another committee or venue that Laura is involved with and I have volunteered in the past for some of their activities is B.E.E.P. (the Built Environmental Education Program) and I can tell you that most architects and mothers have looked for information in regard to teaching in their children's classroom when the teacher or school asks you to "Oh, You're an ARCHITECT??? Do you think that you can teach the class about ARCHITECTURE and WHAT YOU DO??? Well, we usually try and of course we have to teach at many different levels over the years as our children grow older because it is kindof hard to teach everything ar anything about architects and architecture in one hour or two minutes but we try our hardest and as this question comes up at least once a week in the Facebook "Mothers in Architecture" group, maybe one can use these links below as inspiration or guides to lesson planning for your own child or someone you know who would like to learn more about architecture, young or older.

Laura's Three Classic Buildings: