Student Architect

“Architects have the great privilege and responsibility to imagine and create a better world,” says Matt. A strategic thinker and consensus builder, he is known for his collaborative design approach and ability to solve complex problems. As a principal leading the workplace and mixed-use markets for SmithGroup's Chicago office, Matt expertly blends strategy and design to deliver beautifully sophisticated commercial buildings, interiors projects, and mixed-use developments. An established leader in the design community, he has a passion for mentoring next-generation professionals. The AIA Chicago BRIDGE program—which he founded in 2009—has become a model for AIA mentorship programs nationwide. When he’s away from the office, Matt’s interests include travel and photography—a perfect combination, given that his projects have taken him from Chicago to Kazakhstan and around the globe. He’d happily return to Tokyo “to experience the rich contrasts between the traditional and hyper-modern Japanese culture, food, and architecture.”

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Brian Vitale is a Design Principal and Co-Managing Director of Gensler’s Chicago office. He is a registered architect, educator and a visionary leader in the field of design.

Brian’s focus on design process rather than typological expertise has made him one of Gensler’s most awarded designers. He has authored many of the firm’s most significant and acclaimed projects including the Gratz Center at Fourth Presbyterian Church, the Kohler Creative Communications building, the Shirley Ryan Abilitylab, Cadillac House Shanghai, KU’s Capitol Federal Hall, and the newly opened Columbia College Chicago Student Center to name a few.

A firm believer in the benefits of blurring the line between academia and professional worlds, Vitale has served as adjunct design faculty at the University of Illinois Chicago, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where in 2015, he delivered the keynote speech at the School of Architecture’s convocation ceremony.

Lauded by the industry throughout his career, Vitale’s influential work has earned over 60 major design honors including two National AIA awards, and personally receiving the prestigious Chicago AIA Dubin Family Young Architect Award, the AIA Illinois John Wellborn Root Award and the National AIA Young Architect Award.  Most recently, Brian was honored in 2020 by being named one of the 50 people “shaping Chicago’s design culture” by New City magazine.

Born in Chicago, Brian received his Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and his Master of Architecture with Honors from Washington University in St Louis where he received the 2020 Award of Distinction, given to an alum who has demonstrated outstanding accomplishments in their career.

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You are listening to ShArch, a series where you’ll get to know a little about a person I’ve interviewed before the full conversation comes out. These short episodes don’t recycle audio, this is unique audio that you won’t find on the full Student Architect episodes. My guest today is Brian Vitale. Let me tell you a bit about him.

Brian Vitale is a Design Principal and Co-Managing Director of Gensler’s Chicago office. He is a registered architect, educator and a visionary leader in the field of design.

Brian’s focus on design process rather than typological expertise has made him one of Gensler’s most awarded designers. He has authored many of the firm’s most significant and acclaimed projects including the Gratz Center at Fourth Presbyterian Church, the Kohler Creative Communications building, the Shirley Ryan Abilitylab, Cadillac House Shanghai, KU’s Capitol Federal Hall, and the newly opened Columbia College Chicago Student Center to name a few.

A firm believer in the benefits of blurring the line between academia and professional worlds, Vitale has served as adjunct design faculty at the University of Illinois Chicago, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where in 2015, he delivered the keynote speech at the School of Architecture’s convocation ceremony.

Lauded by the industry throughout his career, Vitale’s influential work has earned over 60 major design honors including two National AIA awards, and personally receiving the prestigious Chicago AIA Dubin Family Young Architect Award, the AIA Illinois John Wellborn Root Award and the National AIA Young Architect Award.  Most recently, Brian was honored in 2020 by being named one of the 50 people “shaping Chicago’s design culture” by New City magazine.

Born in Chicago, Brian received his Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and his Master of Architecture with Honors from Washington University in St Louis where he received the 2020 Award of Distinction, given to an alum who has demonstrated outstanding accomplishments in their career.

Thank you again for listening to this week’s ShArch episode. My full conversation with Brian will be coming out this upcoming Friday so be sure to subscribe to us and follow us on all our socials, the links will be below! Hope you enjoyed. I’ll see you on the next episode! Bu Bye!

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Hello! Welcome back to the podcast. 

It’s been a little while, but don’t think the show is over! Student Architect is already 1 year old and counting!

You are listening to the short-episode series, which I am now calling ShArch, S H A R C H, short Architecture, very clever I know. This is a series where you’ll get to know a little about a person I’ve interviewed before the full conversation comes out. These short episodes don’t recycle audio, this is unique audio that you won’t find on the full Student Architect episodes. So with that explanation out of the way, let me go ahead and introduce this week’s guest.

Peter Exley has established an internationally recognized practice of award-winning architecture for children, families, and communities, elevating the standards of design for learning and play environments. He is the co-founder of Architecture Is Fun, a Chicago-based architecture, design, and consulting firm. Dedicated to helping the next generation of architects, Peter has also been a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) for more than 25 years.

He will serve as the 97th President of the American Institute of Architects in 2021.

To learn more about Peter you can find him on:

Instagram: @architectureisfun and @funarchitect

Twitter: @funarchitect

In the final episode of our mini-series, What Is Architecture?, we look into a piece of Architecture that sparked the creation of a nation! 

Kugelmugel is a micronation located at the Prater in Vienna, Austria. The Republic declared independence in 1976, after disputes between artist Edwin Lipburger and Austrian authorities over building permits for a ball-shaped house which he erected in Katzelsdorf, Lower Austria in 1971.

With over twenty-five years of experience in architecture, design, and business, David founded Blueprint For Living Coaching with a mission to help design professionals who seek to access their untapped potential, develop their leadership, and create great things in their personal and professional lives.  He draws upon his skills as a coach, architect, leader, motivational speaker, mentor and businessman to inspire excellence in his clients and call them to be their best.

David is a 2014 graduate of Accomplishment Coaching’s Coaches’ Training Program, a comprehensive, intensive year-long program that emphasizes an ontological approach to coaching and extensive hands-on leadership experience.  He has participated on the leadership team for the Coaches’ Training Programs in Chicago, Seattle, Washington, DC, Victoria, BC and at the United Nations. He is a member of the International Coach Federation and a PCC certified coach.

Prior to becoming a coach, David built a successful career as an architect, first as principal of Bradley Architects and later as the Managing Director of North American Operations for Officium, LLC, a German-based design and engineering firm specializing in tensile structures.  He is still actively engaged with both firms and is an active member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).   In 2014 he served as President of AIA Illinois.

David graduated with honors from Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service and later with honors from the University of Illinois at Chicago with his Master of Architecture degree.  He is licensed to practice architecture in the State of Illinois.

David is an avid cyclist, having twice completed the 500-mile Twin Cities to Chicago AIDS Ride and raised over $3,700 for AIDS and HIV-support organizations.   A Certified Rescue Diver, he has been lucky enough to dive reefs from the Caribbean to the Great Barrier Reef.  He is fluent in German, conversationally fluent in French, and dabbles in Swedish and Portuguese if you press him.

With over twenty-five years of experience in architecture, design, and business, David founded Blueprint For Living Coaching with a mission to help design professionals who seek to access their untapped potential, develop their leadership, and create great things in their personal and professional lives.  He draws upon his skills as a coach, architect, leader, motivational speaker, mentor and businessman to inspire excellence in his clients and call them to be their best.

David is a 2014 graduate of Accomplishment Coaching’s Coaches’ Training Program, a comprehensive, intensive year-long program that emphasizes an ontological approach to coaching and extensive hands-on leadership experience.  He has participated on the leadership team for the Coaches’ Training Programs in Chicago, Seattle, Washington, DC, Victoria, BC and at the United Nations. He is a member of the International Coach Federation and a PCC certified coach.

Prior to becoming a coach, David built a successful career as an architect, first as principal of Bradley Architects and later as the Managing Director of North American Operations for Officium, LLC, a German-based design and engineering firm specializing in tensile structures.  He is still actively engaged with both firms and is an active member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).   In 2014 he served as President of AIA Illinois.

David graduated with honors from Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service and later with honors from the University of Illinois at Chicago with his Master of Architecture degree.  He is licensed to practice architecture in the State of Illinois.

David is an avid cyclist, having twice completed the 500-mile Twin Cities to Chicago AIDS Ride and raised over $3,700 for AIDS and HIV-support organizations.   A Certified Rescue Diver, he has been lucky enough to dive reefs from the Caribbean to the Great Barrier Reef.  He is fluent in German, conversationally fluent in French, and dabbles in Swedish and Portuguese if you press him.

Get to know a bit about David in this episode of WIA.

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Episode 16 of the Student Architect Podcast features Jimmy Carter. He is an architect and member James and Jimmy, an architecture studio and dissemination unit whose practice delves into the breadth of architectural distribution and production. The studio believes that architecture is not merely material, and concentrates on the platforms through which architecture as a cultural production can take shape. In this way, projects are varied, mediums are numerous, and characters are fluid, but all is grounded in architectural creation.

Jimmy’s work has spanned architectural construction, curation, film, and audio exploration, and has subsequently been published in journals such as Pidgin Magazine, PLAT, Flat Out, Fresh Meat and MAS Context.

Thanks so much for listening!

In this episode, I sat down with Jimmy Carter. Jimmy is an architect, writer, and member of James and Jimmy, an architecture studio and dissemination unit whose practice delves into the breadth of architectural distribution and production. Get to know a bit about Jimmy in this episode of What is Architecture? He will be in next week's full-length episode of Student Architect. Enjoy!

Dan Wheeler is a founding principal of Wheeler Kearns Architects and a Professor of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Dan works and practices to educate his colleagues, clients, and students of what architecture can bring to elevate experience, and the responsibilities that come with this ever-optimistic endeavor.

Dan received his education at the Rhode Island School of Design, including two years study in Rome and an association with Machado Silvetti Architects. Prior to establishing his own practice, he was an Associate and Studio head at Skidmore Owings and Merrill, Chicago (1981-87). Dan is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Traveling Fellowship in 1980, the CCAIA Young Architect Award (1985), AIA Fellowship (for Design, 1998), Chicago Tribune’s "Chicagoan of the Year" in Architecture with Lawrence Kearns (2008), and the AIA Illinois’s Nathan Ricker Clifford Award for Architectural Education (2017). He has served as Interim Director for both the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and the UIC School of Architecture and has been a consulting architect/educator to Auburn University’s Rural Studio since 2002. He lectures regularly and frequently sits on professional and academic juries.

His work spans the gamut of project type; public institutions, non-profit organizations, and private commissions. He draws to see, to test, to explain, and to build well places of authenticity.

Dan Wheeler, FAIA, is a founding principal of Wheeler Kearns Architects, is a Professor of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

Dan works and practices to educate his colleagues, clients, and students of what architecture can bring to elevate the experience and the responsibilities that come with this ever-optimistic endeavor.

Thank you to Dan for sitting down with me. Get to know him more on next week's episode of Student Architect!

How can you turn a cow into architecture? In this episode, we learn about Stewart Hicks and his firm Design With Company. We discuss food, animals, localism, and more on this episode of the Student Architect podcast!

Stewart is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a co-founder of Design With Company, a practice he leads with Allison Newmeyer in Chicago. Design with Company’s work focuses on how literature and architecture intersect through fiction, character, type, or metaphor and how these themes can translate into installations, speculative urban scenarios, temporary pavilions and designs for buildings. Hicks received his Master's degree in Architecture Princeton University and a Bachelors from the University of Michigan.

For this episode of What is Architecture? I am joined by Stewart Hicks. 

He is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a co-founder of Design With Company, a practice he leads with Allison Newmeyer in Chicago. Design with Company’s work focuses on how literature and architecture intersect through fiction, character, type, or metaphor and how these themes can translate into installations, speculative urban scenarios, temporary pavilions and designs for buildings. Hicks received his Master's degree in Architecture Princeton University and a Bachelors from the University of Michigan.

Get to know Stewart a bit in this episode of WIA. And be ready for next week's full-length episode of Student Architect featuring Stewart Hicks.

The term sustainability is thrown around a lot. While we can understand its meaning, what does it look like and what are some ways we are already being more sustainable people.

Soft, wet, visceral. These are characteristics we definitely don't hear often about our built world. Antonio Torres, a co-founder of Bittertang Farm, enlights us with his architectural practice and how he brings pleasure and happiness into our spaces. Plenty of inspiration can be found in this episode of Student Architect.

Architecture that is soft, plushy, foamy, visceral, or frothy. These are some qualities that aren't typically heard when describing most architecture. Antonio Torres is "a Mexican-American artist, architect, and educator who explores expressions and sensations through various media and architecture. He co-founded The Bittertang Farm as a place to experiment with the physics, biology, behaviors, and emotions of our surroundings." -Quoted from UIC SOA description.

When we talk about architecture, we tend to focus on anything that's built or buildable, but in my conversation with Jayne Kelley, visiting assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and an experienced writer, we explore the connections between writing, the making of books, and architecture. 

10 episodes hit! Omar takes us into his world of architectural learning. In this episode, he describes why architecture shouldn't be looked at as a Math-Art hybrid and why using soap to build theories isn't simply a thought exercise, but can be turned into real, physical qualities. This episode takes a more personal approach to learning about architecture.

Check out our instagram @studentarchitectpodcast or Omar's @omargarcia_arch

If you want to learn more about the Omar's studio project, check out a blog post explaining the initial premise of the design theory here!

"Is it Architecture?" is a new series of short videos focused on expanding the conversation about what architecture is. We'll look at items in culture and argue whether there are any architectural concepts included in the works.  

Are bricks just bricks. They've been so for thousands of years. First sun-dried mud and now mechanically reproduced clay (and others). But while the brick has not changed in both the world and in our minds, Omar shows his two guests, Ronnie and Matt, how this old building material has seen some unique innovation in its use in architecture. Don't think linear brick walls, think curvy, asymmetrical, wall/ceiling/stairs. The brick, while humble, has been used in some of the most inspiring and limit-pushing buildings in the world. Join this episode of Student Architect where you'll learn just how creative you can get with a common brick.

A short episode of the Student Architect podcast. Omar quickly dives into tech in architecture. But not the usual kind of tech, think of Augmented Reality and window solar panels. There's a lot of big tech moving into the industry. Also, we update the status of Student Architect and some new things coming to the platform.

Omar dives deeper into the concepts relating to humans and nature through architecture. Finding projects that go beyond the status quo and engaging new thoughts on how we can expand our relationship to nature.

Visiting the Farnsworth house jogged a lot of ideas into Omar's head. He explores humanity's connection (and disconnection) to nature and its rapid redevelopment through various forms of architecture both physically and abstractly. This is part 1 of a 2-part series.

A house on the side of the mountain, overlooking the ocean or the lake or the forest. A dream most of us hold. But why do we love building on the hillside? And how has architecture influenced how we design (on) hills? On this episode, Omar explains the connection between the spartan warriors and hills, and dives into the design and architecture of hills and mountainsides.