AIA 2023 President Emily Grandstaff-Rice, FAIA, on mentorship, sustainability, and more

{"version":"0.3.0","atoms":[],"cards":[],"markups":[["em"],["a",["href","https:\/\/www.aia.org\/articles\/6543496-emily-grandstaff-rice-faia-on-creating-saf","target","_blank"]],["b"],["a",["href","https:\/\/www.aia.org\/resources\/6512008-aia-resilience-project-process-guide","target","_blank"]],["a",["href","https:\/\/www.aia.org\/pages\/6450234-justice-in-the-built-environment","target","_blank"]],["a",["href","https:\/\/www.aia.org\/resources\/198731-healthier-materials-protocol","target","_blank"]],["a",["href","https:\/\/www.aia.org\/resources\/6409378-roi-of-high-performance-design","target","_blank"]],["a",["href","https:\/\/www.aia.org\/resources\/6077668-framework-for-design-excellence","target","_blank"]]],"sections":[[1,"p",[[0,[0],0,"Emily Grandstaff-Rice, FAIA, will be sworn-in as AIA\u0027s 99th President in 2023. In the second part of a two-part interview with Grandstaff-Rice, we speak with her about her mentors, advice for young architects, why sustainability is crucial in the profession, and much more. Read the first part "],[0,[1],1,"here"],[0,[],1,"."],[0,[],0," "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"Who\nis\/was your biggest mentor(s)? How did\nthey help your career? What advice do you have for seasoned architects who want\nto mentor younger architects? "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Reflecting\non mentors is like revisiting your favorite eclectic playlist. I have been\nfortunate to have many over the course of my career. There\u2019s a bit of each one\nof them that has stayed with me. Sometimes it\u2019s what they say\u2014\u201cwork expands to\ntime allotted\u201d (Adolfo Perez, RA) or how they taught me how to communicate with\nintention (Matthew Tether, AIA). "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"My\nfirst architect mentor was Eugene Mackey, FAIA, a recognized architect in St.\nLouis. He would spend a day every year at my high school riding around with us\non a school bus visiting significant buildings and sketching them. Through these\nday trips, I would learn the stories behind how the buildings came to be\u2014the\nterracotta tile details on the Wainwright Building or the stonework at\nWashington University. I began to see my surroundings in a new way. I think a\nlot about access to this profession and how so many architects I know\nprofessionally become interested because they had a family member or a close\nfriend in the field. I didn\u2019t have that, but I did develop an understanding of\nthe opportunities before college due to the opportunity to meet Mr. Mackey. I\nremember this when I speak to kids, especially on my projects. Who I am and\nwhat I do can make a difference, not just in the project work, but also\ninspiring others that architecture can be a fulfilling, exciting career. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Sometimes\nyou don\u2019t realize the influence mentors have until later in your career. During\nthe summer before my final undergraduate semester, I was fortunate to work at a\nlarge firm in Albany under the supervision of Beth Lacey, AIA, who at the time\nwas pregnant with her first child. Working alongside her, I saw how to navigate\nmultiple roles\u2014both professional and personal\u2014as well as learning how to use my\nvoice as an emerging professional and female. She was a fantastic role model. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"My\nadvice for seasoned architects is that you have so much to share. Mentoring is\nmore than telling stories about how you did things or anecdotes from the field.\nIt\u2019s about creating a connection and guiding someone through discovering what\nthey really want to do which may or may not be similar to your path. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"How\ncan architects take sustainability efforts to the next level? What AIA tools do\nyou recommend to that end? "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Every\nproject can make a difference. Every decision is important. Often, architects\nthink pushing sustainability is only on projects where the client is\nlike-minded and in agreement, but I would challenge that part of our\nresponsibility is to educate clients and advocate for healthier materials, more\nefficient systems, and responsible design strategies on every project. It\u2019s when\nwe advocate that we can make the greatest change. Collectively, as a\nprofession, we are moving forward but not fast enough sometimes. "]]],[1,"blockquote",[[0,[],0,"Often, architects\nthink pushing sustainability is only on projects where the client is\nlike-minded and in agreement, but I would challenge that part of our\nresponsibility is to educate clients and advocate for healthier materials, more\nefficient systems, and responsible design strategies on every project."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The\n"],[0,[3],1,"AIA Resilient Project Process Guide"],[0,[],0,", "],[0,[4],1,"Justice in the Built Environment"],[0,[],0,", "],[0,[5],1,"Healthier Materials Protocol"],[0,[],0,", and"],[0,[6],1," ROI of\nHigh-Performance Design "],[0,[],0,"are immediate resources to help architects have\nconversations with our clients. The "],[0,[7],1,"Framework for Design Excellence"],[0,[],0,", as a\nholistic and expansive definition of what good design is, is a game changer. It\nallows us to think about design through multiple lenses. It reinforces the\nvalue of design and what an architect does in advocating for design. A\nbyproduct of the framework has been the deeper conversation about the impact of\narchitecture. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"What\nadvice do you have for young people who are thinking about becoming architects?\n "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Architecture\nis a social art. At the core of it are people. Getting engaged in your\ncommunity and understanding other\u2019s needs will make you better at what you do.\nThis involves listening and co-creating. We are trained to find solutions to\ndesign problems, but sometimes we don\u2019t take the time to fully understand the\nissues before diving in. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"An\nimportant aspect of our work is not just creating but communicating our\ndesigns. Learning to be comfortable speaking in the public, understanding how\nto advocate, and recognizing that your work impacts a larger group of people\nare key lessons I have learned in my career. I understand now that advocacy is\npart of what we do. It is also what makes us leaders. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"What\nwould you say to a student or young professional who is struggling with whether\nthey want to stay in the field of architecture? "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"There\u2019s\nno one way to practice architecture. It\u2019s such a diverse profession, whether\nit\u2019s different disciplines that you practice in, whether it\u2019s inside a firm or\noutside a firm, whether it\u2019s in something adjacent to architecture, you\u2019re not\nless of an architect if you don\u2019t practice in a traditional way. And really, in\na post-pandemic world, what is traditional anyway? "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Often,\nI heard the struggle is within the context of the traditional framework. I say\nto them that you have so much more opportunity than you might think that you\ndo. We need to expand the concept of what an architect is and what an architect\ncan do. Again, there is no one way to practice. We need advocates and thinkers\nin all realms of the built environment. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"Magic\nwand question: If you could wave a magic wand, what is one thing you\u2019d change\nabout the profession? "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"I\nwould solve the issue of greater value for our work. Sometimes, as architects,\nwe get in our own way. Our prosperity both in compensation and agency depends\non the work that we do resonating with our clients, our communities. I love the\nidea of architects getting more involved in the development of projects prior\nto schematic design and then after a project is complete. Our work contributes\nto making our clients\u2019 businesses better, students to learn and grow, housing\nsecurity, and so much more. These are really important. Continuing to make\npositive change in the built environment, being proud of it, and being about to\nbe clear about our value\u2014magic wand or not\u2014I am working to change how we talk\nabout what we do. "]]]]}