On our vacation, we often go down to the Seaside, Florida area and spend time biking through the various New Urbanist planned communities there: Alys Beach, Prominence, Rosemary Beach, Seaside, WaterSound, and WaterColor. Developing over the past 25+ years, some of these communities are still being built out, and what...
One of my favorite pastimes is browsing through real estate listings from all over the country to see how other markets are fairing in terms of cost and design. I stumbled across this floorplan, a good reminder of how times have changed over the last 50+ years. This floor plan directly reflects the social constructs...
During this period of divisiveness and increased talk of violence and hatred, Robert and I took a trip to attend a wedding. It feels more poignant and meaningful than usual to take a moment right now to celebrate love when my system sometimes feels like I’m swamped with anxiety and...
While in DC for the annual AIA conference, I visited the National Museum for Women in the Arts, which had recently undergone a significant renovation. The architects who worked on the project offered to tour attendees and share the process and details. It was an all-women-led team—Sandra Vicchio, the design...
An homage to Michael Sorkin’s seminal list “250 Things an Architect Should Know.” 1. Albedo. 2. How to dress to avoid ticks when doing a site walk. 3. How to dress for a dingy old basement. 4. What is the zoning code. 5. What is the entitlement process. 6. What is the parking ratio requirement. 7. …and when...
I recently read a compelling and influential book by Mary Beard called Women and Power. It examines how women have had their voices removed from spheres of power for thousands of years in Western Society. This silencing of a woman’s voice was/is sometimes incredibly literal and gruesome through violent acts, and...
I’m just returning from the Big Sibs conference for AIA National (American Institute of Architects). It’s the annual gathering of the AIA’s 20 largest local component chapters. (Fun fact - AIA Kansas City is the 16th largest local chapter in the world.) The President or President-elect joins their Executive Director...
Ulm Münster Age: 646 (c. 1377-1890) On a family reunion trip this Summer, we visited the city of Ulm, located in Southern Germany, about an hour outside of Munich. Ulm is famous for its scenic beauty, with an unbelievably quaint historic area Criss-crossed with streams that flow into the Danube (Donau)...
As President-Elect of our local AIA chapter, I had the honor of participating in the AIA National Leadership Summit this past week, along with our executive director from AIA Kansas City, Dawn Taylor, and members of the AIA Missouri chapter. The Summit is an annual event that brings together the...
This February, our DRAW team has the honor of participating in the opening celebrations of our new Kansas City International terminal. DRAW Architecture + Urban Design supported the Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM) team as the local architect on all the public interior spaces - an enormously exciting opportunity for...
Per the website KCMO.gov, “Resolution No. 200005 states that the City will reduce emissions from electricity use by 100% by 2030”. This goal is vital and compelling. Currently, our electrical grid power mix is largely coal-powered. According to the EPA, burning fossil fuels is the leading cause of climate-changing greenhouse...
I’m excited and honored to work with our board and membership as the incoming President in this critical time. I aspire to represent our collective group to achieve meaningful change while building on the excellent work of all those who served before. As I write this, the Senate has passed some...
The past month’s events in our political landscape have caused me to have a wide variety of emotions, thoughts, and, most of all, questions. As a woman, I’m deeply concerned for the rights of half of our population, not just reproductive rights. I can’t mince words here; I’m devastated and...
I have been passionately working in affordable housing for many years - I started my career working on affordable housing in the Bay Area and then designing infill, scattered-site housing in New Haven. The Yale School of Architecture MArch I degree requires a semester-long program where student teams compete to design...
Last year, right around the holidays, I heard the news of Richard Rogers' passing. A few days later, I woke to an incredibly vivid memory from thirty years ago when I was traveling through Europe between high school and college. We were visiting Paris, and it was my first time there. It...
Earlier this year, Spitboy, one of the bands I played in during my college days, released our complete catalog in a double LP. We were an influential all-female, early 90's punk rock group, united by our righteous indignation at sexism, racism, and exploitation. I joined as the second bass player,...
An important consideration in what has been dubbed "The Great Resignation" is that one in four women has left the workforce largely due to the stresses of balancing home and work life during Covid. "The Atlantic" recently published this data with the estimation that this year has set the United...
There are six applications of four strategies that we can apply to a new or existing building to achieve net-zero carbon. When combined with a lens toward Total Cost of Ownership, they can provide a cost-effective roadmap for building owners. Avoidance Operational Carbon avoidance. Embodied Carbon avoidance. Reduction Carbon reduction...
As an architect and community member/advocate, I’ve been studying the issue of climate change for over two decades. These are three key steps that I believe would greatly benefit Kansas City on the path toward carbon neutrality and equity. 1. Climate change is impacting rainfall rates and frequency most in the...
Yesterday I walked across the Crossroads, from our office at Central to my favorite shop, Christopher Elbow Chocolates. The walk is a brisk ten minutes each way, and because it was a beautiful, sunny, and warm day, I stayed on the shadier sides of the streets to avoid overheating. On...
"Millions of Americans remain out of work and unable to pay their financial obligations, so it’s no surprise that our nation is on the brink of an eviction calamity. In order to bring relief to renters across the country, Congress included a moratorium on evictions when we passed the CARES...
During this very difficult time, we at DRAW are bearing painful witness to the racial inequities of our American systems, whether justice, healthcare, or economic. As the managing principal, and as a member of our community, Personally, I’ve been reflecting and sharing conversations with friends and colleagues, of many backgrounds,...
During this difficult and stressful time, I’m blessed to both be surrounded by an amazing family and to be part of an ecosystem of entrepreneurs and designers who are, more often than not, optimists. On our Zoom happy hour calls, conversations often circle to how we’re finding the positive amid...
Empathy and activism are the core ideas of DRAW’s overall practice of Positive Impact Design. This post is the first in a series of blogs elaborating further about how DRAW creates value for our clients using these fundamental tenets. Since DRAW’s founding, we have written and talked about empathy and activism...
Global warming, brought on by climate change, is an impending threat to the inhabitants of our planet. In the last decade, glacier loss rates have tripled, and we continue to lose more ice mass at an alarming rate. According to NASA’s Global Climate Change study, the melting of the Greenland...
Why we love adaptive reuse as urban revitalization projects! At DRAW, our “why” is to create positive impact design. Positive impact design considers leading with empathy for our clients, stakeholders and the community and using radically resourceful approaches to sustainability and efficiency. It also has to do with the way we...
We all know the stories of Ellis Island and the famed words enshrined on the Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free..." But the reality of unwelcome various groups have experienced to this country has long been tainted with racism and bigotry,...
If you have missed it, there is are clear and compelling indicators that our AEC industry is on the precipice of transformational evolution, thanks to industry thought leaders taking a giant leap into the realms of smart buildings, IoT, and data.
My college years were transformational for me. They marked the gateway to my chosen path of architecture. They hosted my awakening to a larger world of varied perspectives and philosophies. They coincided with the rise of the Digital Revolution. And while I’m certainly not alone in any of these experiences,...
