Elevated Conversations, Alicia Ponce, AIA

{"version":"0.3.0","atoms":[],"cards":[],"markups":[["em"],["a",["href","https:\/\/apmonarch.com\/","target","_blank"]],["a",["href","https:\/\/www.arquitina.org\/home","target","_blank"]],["a",["href","https:\/\/www.aia.org\/events\/6522777-2022-womens-leadership-summit","target","_blank"]],["b"]],"sections":[[1,"p",[[0,[0],0,"AIA\u0027s Elevated Conversations series features architects from diverse backgrounds and highlights their perspectives on their career paths, changes they\u0027ve seen in the profession, the importance of diversity and inclusion, and more. To celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, we spoke with Alicia Ponce, AIA, founder and principal of "],[0,[1],1,"AP Monarch"],[0,[],0,". Ponce is also a founding mentor at "],[0,[2],1,"Arquitina"],[0,[],0,", a professional leadership and licensure initiative for Latinas in the field of Architecture. Ponce will speak at"],[0,[3],1," AIA\u0027s Women\u0027s Leadership Summit"],[0,[],1,", Sept. 28- Oct.1 in San Jose, California. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[4],1,"What inspired you to become an architect?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"I knew I wanted to be an architect at the tender age of six.\nEven though I didn\u2019t know what the profession was called, I feel like I was\ndrawn to it by the experiences that architecture gave me as a kid. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"I was with my father while he was having a conversation\noutdoors with a friend and it happened to be near a construction site. I\nremember being curious about what the site was and thinking about how buildings\ncame together. I was just in awe of what was happening at the site, I wanted to\nbe part of it, I wanted to put stuff together. Later I found out about\narchitecture, and I realized that\u2019s what I wanted to do, to create spaces for\npeople. It\u0027s such a vivid memory for me, I remember seeing the machines at work\nand I remember the smell of freshly poured concrete and that\u2019s what really did\nit for me. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[4],1,"Who were some of your role models or mentors when you\nwere starting your career?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"I didn\u2019t have an architectural mentor for a long time. I did\nmy own research and came across the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, which later become my first internship. Being from\nChicago and having that studio in Oak Park made architecture very accessible to\nme. It was my introduction to the profession, and taught me about somebody who was very well-known, admired, and respected, who also had a reputation of connecting\narchitecture to nature. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[4],1,"What advice do you have for young people looking to\nbecome architects?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"People who choose architecture are innately curious. We\u2019re\ncurious about who makes things, how things are made, and why. My advice is to\nask a lot of questions. Take advantage of being at university and get to know\nyour instructors. Use the internet to dive deeper into questions you may have. Be\ncurious."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Ask questions about design, but also ask about your career.\nWhat do I need to do to get my license? What job should I take after school?\nWhat do I do if I\u2019m interested in structural engineering. Ask many questions. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[4],1,"Why is diversity especially important in the field of\narchitecture?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"With diversity you get a much richer design solution. The\napproach is based on not only \narchitectural expertise but through the lens of various lived\nexperiences such as age, race, and gender. A diverse lens provides solutions not\nonly for great design but also deciding diverse and equitable investment in communities\nacross the country. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Currently there are less than 1% of licensed Latina\narchitects in the U.S. As I was taking\nthe licensing exams, this is the number I came across and I wondered well how\nmany Latina architects are there? How many black architects are there? How many\nNative American architects? It was frustrating to not know that number. I felt\nlike something was missing. I realized later that architecture needs to be diverse.\nIt needs to be able to come from different opinions and lived experiences to\nprovide the best solution for a project. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"That is why in 2020 I founded Arquitina. Arquitina is a\ncombination of words. In Spanish architect is \u201carquitecta,\u201d and then \u201cLatina,\u201d\nwhich is how the name came to be. It was created because I was feeling lonely\nin the field and not seeing representation of people like me when I started\nworking at firms. It was hard to get that proper sponsor or mentor, and when I\nwas going through the licensure process I looked up statistics that said women\nof color are less than one percent of architects."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[4],1,"What is APMonarch\u2019s relationship to nature?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"AP is from my initials, or as it has been pointed out to me, architecture\nand planning, but the word monarch is for the monarch butterfly. The monarch\nbutterfly represents a healthy environment. You don\u2019t see monarch butterflies\nin places with poor air or water quality, they pollinate in gardens. At\nAPMonarch, we call ourselves the pollinators of the built environment. We look\nspecifically at how architecture can reduce energy use, we look at passive\nstrategies. If we know that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west every\nsingle day, then why don\u2019t we use that that to our advantage for proper\nbuilding orientation and optimum energy use. "]]],[1,"blockquote",[[0,[],0,"\u0022If we know that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west every\nsingle day, then why don\u2019t we use that that to our advantage for proper\nbuilding orientation and optimum energy use?\u0022"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"We try to understand policy that is set in place and what\nare the changes that need to be made. Our first steps include looking at\npassive design and materiality and understanding the impacts of carbon in\nbuildings. As architects we have to design buildings that impact the\nenvironment in a positive way. Architects across the country are really good at\ndesigning glass buildings. That\u2019s great! Now, let\u2019s\nstep up to the challenge and innovate. \nMake buildings highly energy efficient and reduce carbon emissions in a\nbig way."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[4],1,"What are some of the biggest changes in the architecture\nworld since you started as an architect?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Pay equity and opportunities of leadership for women of\ncolor. I\u2019ve very slowly started to see more doors open for the younger\ngeneration of women and women of color in architecture. In my first week of\nwork about 20 years ago, a female architect kindly encouraged me to leave the\nfield and go into medicine or law because I wouldn\u2019t get anywhere or get\npromoted. I will never forget that."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"I do see women in higher positions now, but there\u2019s still\nsuch a long way to go, and even longer for women of color. Why aren\u2019t we at\nmore tables yet? I don\u2019t know what the pay disparity is now, but I\u2019m certain\nthere\u2019s a big wage gap. The last time I checked Latina women were making 54\ncents to the dollar, it takes about 22 months for us to earn as much as our\nwhite male counterparts. There are doors being opened, but the numbers show that we\nstill have a long way to go. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"We need to be more\nsupportive of having families, of being caretakers, and focusing on our mental health,\nbut still ensure people are open to different ideas. The profession needs to adapt\nto having more women in the field and adapt to the different ways we get things\ndone. We love our work just as much as\nwe love spending quality time with our kids for example. Our approach is not\nwrong and it\u2019s not less. It\u2019s merely different\nthan what we\u2019re used to seeing. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[4],1,"If you had a magic wand\nwhat would you change about the architecture field?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"We\u2019d have equitable pay as\nwomen and as women of color and you\u2019d see more women making decisions in\nleadership. That would be my call to action to firm leaders. I think there is a\nlot of listening happening, but we want to see action. At the end of the day, you\u2019ll have a much more beautiful solution to problems we need to solve as\narchitects. Let\u2019s not see this as a\nchecklist item to meet DEI goals, let\u0027s do this every single day because it\u2019s\nthe right thing to do. "]]]]}