Sorry I’m in Studio.

Sarah Rupani Interviews Amber Quinn, a third-year in Architecture and Director of Sorry I'm in Studio. Amber shares her passion for curating the identity of Sorry I'm in Studio and the effects of girl bossing too close to the sun. She is most proud to create a space where she and her community can be genuinely vulnerable. Listen in to discover her hopes to be an architect, creative director, editor, or dean; who knows? She is still figuring it out, just like the rest of us.

Pooja Desai, Sarah Rupani, and Imran Ahmed dive deep into their identity and experiences as South Asian Americans. They speak on the topics of representation, microaggressions, and their definition of "brown". Gain insight into their journeys to define their relationship to their culture and religion in their personal and professional lives.

Jolene Limqueco and Sarah White dive deep into their identity and experiences as Asian Americans. They speak on the lack of representation of Filipino designers both within the canon and architectural education. Gain insight into their journeys to define their relationship to their culture in their personal and professional lives.

Listen to the Team reflect on creating the podcast for a year since our first episode went live on October 4th, 2020! To all the listeners, thank you for supporting us and building this community of creatives with us. 

Pooja Desai & Sarah White Interview Javier Guerrero, a fifth-year architecture student who is very involved in his college community. Javi shares how he balances it all, and his dreams of owning an interdisciplinary firm and coffee shop. Listen in to the wise words of our CoAD King on this special episode of Sorry I'm in Studio.

Imran Ahmed interviews Emmelia Ward, a film photographer and architecture student. She shares how she defines her creative identity and how her passion for photography has connected her with the University of Houston Photo Student Association. Listen for photography tips, and learn why all designers should be familiar with photography!

Kadmiel Konan & Natalie Costello interview Industrial Design student Sarah Wong, one of the kindest, most talented people in studio! She shares her struggles and reminds our listeners that high school doesn’t define you. Stay tuned to find out when she discovered industrial design, and how she got her summer internship at NASA!

Imran Ahmed Interviews Ebube Oguchi, a musician and Environmental Design student at the University of Houston College of Architecture and Design: Ebube, also known as UUB or The Cool Sounds of UUB, describes the intersection of his music and architectural design, explaining that form follows function and sound follows feeling. In this episode, UUB breaks down his newly released song 2020 Vision and gives our listeners insight into his creative process and identity.

Sarah Rupani interviews Donna Kacmar, an architect and author. She speaks about the importance of active mentorship, and sponsorship of women in architecture. Donna shares the struggles she has faced as a woman in design, along with the women who supported her along the way. We are reminded by her that architecture is not something you can do alone, it is about collaboration and community. A community that Donna continues to uplift through her work with Future Women in Architecture and Rebel Architettes.

Imran Ahmed interviews Edison Chu, an architecture student, aspiring motivational speaker, and honorary professor. Edison advocates for both mental and physical health, and letting go of pride to help others become the best they can be.  

Thank you to the humble king of Tech for being the reason we passed. 

Love, The Sorry I’m in Studio Team  

Imran Ahmed interviews Hussein and Ariyan about their business HA photography! HA works to create an environment where everyone on set is enjoying themselves as Hussein reminds us, ”it’s a party not a photo shoot”. The duo shares the experience of running a business as architecture students, collaborating with friends, and the impact their design education has had on their photography. For inquiries DM @ha_photograhershtx on Instagram, and follow them!

Students spill the tea on all things design and student life! 

Follow @sorryiminstudio on Instagram to be a part of future episodes!

As Kadmiel Konan, Nicholas Meyer, Sarah Wong, and Michael Nguyen are preparing for their third semester jury they chat about contributing to a positive studio culture, the power of your peers in studio, and spill the tea on the tools ID students are required to buy. They each reminisce about memories of in-person studio and the highs and lows of the experience, find out what advice these students would give their first year selves! 

Maria Noguera and Natalie Costello interview the academic advisor for the College of Architecture and Design at the University of Houston. Contos reminds students that we are all still trying to figure it out, and provides tools to aid in work life balance. Although, she does not come from a design background she has quickly become the glue that supports our student body without fail. This episode comes at the perfect time, when we are relying on our advisors most to enroll in classes. Remember she and Anne can do so much more, if you need guidance don’t be afraid to reach out! 

Amber Quinn interviews the Program Coordinator of History, Theory, and Criticism of Architecture at the University of Houston. He speaks about the book he co-wrote, “Heroic: Concrete Architecture and the New Boston,” and about the many different routes beyond traditional practice available to students in design. He holds a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts–Amherst, M.Arch from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and a Ph.D. in History, Theory, and Criticism of Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Kubo's career has spanned many areas of architecture from practicing to publishing to advocating for preservation of the places that connect us to our past. 

We collected candid testimonies from several students as well as Dean Patricia Oliver from the College of Architecture and Design at the University of Houston. All testimonies included were recorded independently, and feature varied viewpoints and experiences relating to the creation and response to the Open Letter, which was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement of 2020. Almost a year later, the Open Letter has started the conversation of an anti-racist and more equitable education and studio culture; we hope this episode inspires you to participate in this dialogue...
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If you are interested in the efforts to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in your community as a designer, we will be continually adding to our resources highlight on the @sorryiminstudio Instagram.

After an entire year of being away from studio and each other, a few friends share what they miss about studio. Everyone has their special memories of long nights filled with good, bad, and the down right weird memories that will go down in history.

Sarah White interviews a developer motivated by his consciousness as the Director of Building Programs at Alembic Community Development in New Orleans. Grote's employer focuses on, "generating investment in undeserved neighborhoods through real estate development and organizational capacity building" ( https://alembiccommunity.com/). Michael Grote shares resources for students interested in designing and developing projects consciously, and his journey to Development from Architecture as a graduate of the CoAD.

Amber Quinn interviews Jason Logan, a practicing architect, professor of the University of Houston College of Architecture and Design, and our APX faculty advisor and brother. He shares some of his late night studio memories as a student in the late 90s including sledding down the CoAD stairs and swinging off the fourth floor into the atrium. Now as a graduate of Columbia he discusses whether or not a masters is worth the financial burden and shares his efforts to update and diversify the curriculum in his new role the head of the foundation studios.

Architecture and Design students share their Valentines to Design, addressed to the places, people, experiences, and things that inspire us all. If you feel inspired to write your own Valentine to Design, DM us @sorryiminstudio on Instagram to have the chance for your writing featured on Valentines Day (Details on Instagram).

Kadmiel Konan interviews a practicing Industrial Designer and Professor of the University of Houston's College of Architecture and Design. Wells had the unique experience of being in school when the transition to digital design first began. Listen to find out about how he found industrial design while in art school studying sculpture. He reminds students, "there is no point in making a project to please a teacher", and encourages them to focus on the process and learning.

Imran Ahmed interviews Roberto and Jason, two current students who created the up-and-coming street wear brand Spatial Collective. They share their creative process, their dynamic as business owners and friends, their goals for the future of the brand, as well as how the message behind their brand, "always create with intent (ACWI),” came to be! Listen to find out more about their latest collection, Polaris, OUT NOW! 

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Amber Quinn interviews Dwight Brown, a former student of the CoAD who diverted from college in his fourth year to run his multi-million dollar company, Tiddies Sandals in the early 1970s with his brother Kevin! He gives insight into his experience being a student during the Vietnam war, and the political climate during his time in design school. Since school he has utilized his knowledge of structure and sustainability to build an electric car in the 1980s, many boats, and iconic kinetic sculptures. He encourages all designers to challenge themselves and experiment! 

Sarah White interviews an Alumni of the CoAD Interior Architecture program. In college Martin's studio won the Interior Architecture program's first AIA award! Through this experience he emphasizes the importance of building a family in your studio because, "they can take you to places you have never gone before". He now works at PDR and is rethinking the fundamentals of space in a post-Covid world. Martin speaks on utilizing his passions for social science, research, graphic design and architecture to transform spaces of social interaction. Listen as Martin gives advice regarding internships and provides an inside look at the process, setbacks, and successes. He also, provides an inside look at opportunities for designers at the Houston Zoo, that he learned about as a graphic design intern. 

Amber Quinn interviews a CoAD Alumni who is now working in the field. While in school her studio won an AIA award for a low income housing project. Listen to her share that experience and reflect on the first time she truly connected with her studio project. As a student leader during her time at the CoAD, and now working as a junior project manager in the field, Darian talks about what being a real leader means; by really caring about others and putting in the work to contribute to better your community. She encourages students to take advantage of the creative freedom studio provides instead of getting caught up in the reality of designing. If there's anything she's learned: You'll learn so more if you dare to take a risk! 

Wrap up your holiday and start the new year with us! Join us as we reflect on rainy days, connecting more than ever with our projects, gaining independence, and spooky smore adventures! Here's to hoping we can all say, "Sorry I'm in Studio" in the new year! 

Sarah White interviews an alumni of the CoAD. He reflects on the impact study abroad has had on his design process and unique portfolio. Learn about his excitingly chaotic life working at a four person firm and being an involved alumni. As well as the bonds he made in the CoAD that continue to inspire his involvement the national organization of APX. He encourages all designers to push themselves beyond their comfort zones and to never give up! 

Kadmiel Konan, Sarah White, and Pooja Desai share what they wish they knew before gate. This episode represents perspectives from Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Industrial Design students. Hear their highs and lows as well as what they learned along the way.

Sarah White and Kadmiel Konan debunk the misconceptions surrounding IA and ID. Listen as they each speak on their experiences of choosing Interior Architecture and Industrial Design over Architecture. As they share their journeys through their own doubt as well as the doubt of others to prove their majors are more than worthy of respect.

Sarah White interviews a champion of Alpha Rho Chi and design education. For many years he served as an Architect, Professor, and later as the Associate Dean of the CoAD at the University of Houston. Learn how years of experience in both the design field and design education has shaped who he is today as a true legend of our school.

As if 2020 wasn’t spooky enough, we decided to share some of our spookiest stories from studio and beyond. Listen if you dare.

Meet Maritsa Cabrera and Natalie Costello, as they continue our introduction series. Learn about how they were first introduced to design, why they continue to study Architecture, and share how studio brings out the extrovert in them both!

Meet Morgan Mendenhall and Pooja Desai, as they continue our introduction series. They share their experience of working on their current third year projects, and their end goals post architecture school. As well as how they became twins in Alpha Rho Chi! Together they discovered they had more in common than they could have imagined, after meeting in their studio first semester.

Meet Sarah Rupani and Amber Quinn, as they continue our introduction series. Listen as they share how they started as friends and eventually became the All-Nighter Duo! Learn about their Architecture origin story, and how their contrasting experiences and backgrounds allowed them to become the designers they are today!

Imran Ahmed, Kadmiel Konan, and Sarah White, introduce themselves to kick off our first episode. They speak about why they chose design, and how design chose them. They each realized that being a designer could connect them with the broader world, and change the way they see it as a whole. This conversation connects Architecture, Industrial Design, and Interior Architecture students with the common goal of being designers. Listen to find out why they will always choose design.