May Student Member of the Month

Mary Azelborn

Iowa State University

4th Year Architecture Student

1. Why did you choose the design/construction field?

I decided I wanted to be an architect in fourth grade, when my class did an online personality survey meant to tell us what jobs we would be best suited for. I remember that there was a graphic with a bunch of engineering and design professionals on it, and the architect happened to be standing in the middle, so I chose them. Then I discovered that architecture actually looked pretty cool, and the rest is history. I think it helped that my parents heard I was interested in architecture and started taking me to places like the Biltmore and Colonial Williamsburg!

2. What is the most unusual medium you have used for a model, and what did it represent?

I used papier mâché to represent large, curvilinear ‘wings’ on the base of a building that acted as acoustic shields for the rest of the design.

3. What is the best studio trip you have been on so far?

Definitely going to Venice last fall!  We got to attend the Biennale, and even presented a project in cooperation with several other studio classes. It was an amazing experience.

4. What is the best advice you have received from a professor or mentor?

This is paraphrased, but Mikesch Mueke once told me that architecture is the sort of profession that takes passion. If I’m not sure about it, if I can’t find joy in the designs I’m creating, then I need to take a step back and reevaluate whether architecture is what I want to do with my life. It’s the reason I declared a second major in art history.

5. How has Iowa Women in Architecture influenced you?

As a member of IAWia, I’ve gotten to attend several professional events, including a networking workshop and some of the breakfast socials. Also, as a member of the student group at Iowa State, I’ve gotten access to portfolio reviews and lectures which I wouldn’t have otherwise.

This is a selection of work from my studio classes of the last two years. A full portfolio can be found at https://issuu.com/maryazelborn/docs/portfolio.

May Professional Member of the Month

Annamarie Snider

OPN Architects

Architect

1. What is the most exciting and energizing aspect of your current position?

The most energizing aspect of what I do is coming together as a team to solve a problem or make a new discovery. I work on historic projects and they often require a bit of investigation work and creative problem solving. Those are the moments I look forward to.

2. What is the last interesting book you read?

I’m currently reading, and have been for a long time, One Hundred years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Needless to say, it’s not too exciting. I want to read all the books on every “you should read” list and have my own list I keep adding to. The last interesting book I read was The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*uck by Mark Manson. I enjoyed his perspective and have adjusted my life slowly to focus on where I have true purpose and meaning. Next on my list is You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero. Might as well keep the theme going.

3. What do you worry about and why?

I am currently working on diverting my attention from worrying to doing. Sometimes there are things in life that require action, others you can’t change and must let go, and lastly some you need to tackle or worry on. That said, one of my biggest worries is Climate Change. I believe this is the biggest challenge facing our world as it will change every aspect of our lives.

4. How do you define success? And measure it?

I love Maya Angelou’s quote about success, and it aligns with me internally: “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” Often, we focus on the rat race, pouring over social media or others in our profession and personal lives thinking about how we don’t measure up.  None of that matters, you are the measuring stick.

5. Who were the female role models that inspired you?

For me it’s random. It’s my friend who is the patient mom at the dinner table waiting for her kids to eat the last vegetables on their plates every night. It’s Amelia Earhart and Zaha Hadid, who defied traditional gender roles. It’s my best girlfriends who have shared their positive attitudes, insights and support over the years. Deep down it’s every woman, the small achievements and the huge strides each have taken.  

April Professional Member of the Month

Sarah Coleman

Martin Gardner Architecture

Project Architect

1. What is the most exciting and energizing aspect of your current position?

The most exciting and energizing part of my job is imparting knowledge on the younger generation.  I didn’t realize how quickly almost 20 years would go and now I find myself one of the older ones in the office.  I also love dealing with construction administration. Finding creative solutions to problems in the field is something I pride myself on.  

2. What was the last interesting book you read?

I am currently reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.  I had recently heard her interviewed on a podcast I regularly listen to call “Do it Scared” by Ruth Soukup.  Part of the reason I listen to this particular podcast is to help me figure out what my next big goals should be and to keep me pushing myself.  What I am really enjoying about The Happiness Project is how the author sets an area in her life each month to focus on and develops resolutions to track improving her happiness in that area.  Sometimes we just need to reframe our thinking and it completely changes our point of view.

3. What do you worry about, and why?

What don’t I worry about is probably an easier question to answer.  I am a worrier by nature. I think the underlying theme of my worry is thinking “am I good enough.”  In this day and age, it is easy to get caught up in comparing oneself to others and then never feeling like you measure up.  Sometimes you just have to keep making your inner voice say, “you’ve got this and you are good enough.”

4. How do you define success? And measure it?

I look at success as defining and setting goals and then meeting those goals.  I decided I wanted to become an Architect in 6th grade.  Once that decision was made it was easy to track what to do next, do good in school, get an architecture degree, find a job in the field, and eventually licensure.  Even though start to finish took quite a bit of time, I have been licensed since 2012 and my youngest son is now 4. Lately I have kind of felt like I am floundering to find what my next big goal is going to be.  I think it is important to keep pushing ourselves towards something or it can become easy to become complacent.

5. We are Iowa Women in Architecture; who were the female role models that inspired you?

I hope this answer does not sound too cliché but my answer is my mom.  My mom was a teacher. She ran the household and raised 3 kids. My dad was an airline pilot so he was gone a lot, leaving her often to take care of it all.  I was always encouraged and told that I could do anything or be anything I wanted. So that is why I was not intimidated when it came to selecting a career that, at the time, was male dominated.

April Student Member of the Month

Dawn Adney

1st Year Interior Design Student

Kirkwood Community College

1. Why did you choose the design/construction field?

Every time I enter a space I am instantly observing its contents, the traffic flow; does it make sense, how it’s lit, is it too noisy, is it aesthetically pleasing, where are the exits, etc. and if its good design I instantly feel at ease. If you are reading this article you most likely do the same. However, I didn’t realize that not everyone enters a space that way, this realization was my catalyst to pursue Interior Design.

2. What is the most unusual medium you have used for a model, and what did it represent?

The project was to create a birdhouse inspired by art work, my painting was “Red Orange Canna” by Georgia O’Keeffe. I chose to create a birdhouse that looked like the flower in the painting. I used window screen to represent the petals so that they would be pliable enough to form delicate shapes but also light enough to appear feminine. I had never worked with screen in a nontraditional manor before, but I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was to manipulate.

3. What is the best studio trip you have been on so far?

Our class took a 3-day trip to Minneapolis this fall. While we were there we had behind the scenes tours of several places; architecture firms Ryan Companies, Nelson & HGA, Target Stadium, Guthrie Theater, Hill House, Minneapolis Institute of Art, the International Market, and the Cambria Plant. It was amazing to see all these different fields of Interior Design back to back. It really helps us as students gather the variations of this career path in real world examples to help us start to narrow our focus.

4. What is the best advice you have received from a professor or mentor?

Our instructor Jillissa Moorman is always saying “we can do better”.  This resonates with me because of its context. She is not telling her students we are terrible at what we are doing, she is saying as designers “we” the entire design community can do better to be inclusive with our designs, not just meeting ADA standards, but exceeding so that everyone might have the same user experience.  Her logic goes beyond designing for disabilities, its means to consider all disadvantages, financial, mental and physical or whatever the users of our space may encounter.

5. How has Iowa Women in Architecture influenced you?

I feel that women have a unique set of battles in the workplace and its nice to have a place to feel supported and validated in those battles. I love this year’s theme of Practicing Self- Care. While I am not working in the field yet, I am a non-traditional student, I have had my share experiences of juggling in the work/life circus.  I love that the angle taken on self-care is making smart decisions for yourself, this is so empowering. It makes me, a woman, feel taken seriously as a human. Iowa Women in Architecture has given me a new sense of independence as an adult woman.

This is a small representation of what can be found in my full portfolio. Here you see example of how I can use PhotoShop to create textures, make 3D models in SketchUp, render in Lumion, hand render, create dynamic Bubble Diagrams, render plans and make physical models. Feel free to visit my website for a more dynamic view of my portfolio www.designverde.com  Thanks.

March Student Member of the Month

Kierstyn Feld

5th Year Student

Iowa State University

1. Why did you choose the design/construction field?

My dad is an engineer and my mom has a degree in mathematics. I admired the work they did and looked up to them growing up, but realized I loved art and problem solving as much as science and math. I searched for a degree/field that could combine my interests and found architecture.

2. What is the most unusual medium you have used for a model, and what did it represent?

The most unusual medium I have used for a model was fire. Last semester, my team made several massing studies and were inspired by an act of arson that had happened on our project site. We lit our models on fire to study the way in which destruction can be used as an inspiration for design.

3. What is the best studio trip you have been on so far?

I actually just got back from my favorite studio trip last week. I traveled to Tangier, Morocco to conduct research with the State Department on the Old Legation Building. I’m double majoring in French, so the opportunity to practice the language while working on a project for studio was exciting. The vibrancy of the country and culture are unparalleled to any of my other travels.

4. What is the best advice you have received from a professor or mentor?

Dan Naegle once told me that the best architecture in Iowa is the grain silo along the highway. Knowing Dan, his opinion may have been quite literal, but I took it to mean that I should search for beauty in whatever environment I’m in. It strengthened my appreciation for the vernacular, and to this day, I truly do think grain silos are beautiful.

5. How has Iowa Women in Architecture influenced you?

Iowa Women in Architecture has given me a network of resources to strengthen my confidence in emerging into the professional world. The opportunity to act as President of the student chapter has helped me grow as a leader, strengthened my relationships with my peers, and allowed me to not only feel empowered, but to help empower others.

Image Title: Fire Studies

The presented image is a page taken from my professional portfolio showing diagrams capturing the often perceived antithetical relationship between water and technology, as well as several massing studies made of various materials that my team lit on fire.

March Professional Member of the Month

Anna Bednarko

CMBA Architects

Intern Architect

1. What is the most exciting and energizing aspect of your current position?

After graduating from Iowa State in 2018, I started working at CMBA Architects. The most exciting and energizing thing about working in the ‘real world’ is learning new things and getting to work on various types of projects. So far, I have gotten to participate in site visits, construction documents and healthcare and educational design.

2. What was the last interesting book you read?

The last book I read was called the Celestine Prophecy. The book is an adventure about a guy who spontaneously goes to Peru in search of Manuscripts that explain the meaning and purpose of human life. It is a very interesting concept that gets you to think and reflect on your own life and the events you have experienced.

3. What do you worry about, and why?

Since I am new to the profession, I worry about asking too many questions and sometimes second guess myself. I understand that it is sometimes okay to make mistakes and that no one is perfect. There is no harm in asking a question or getting a second opinion.

4. How do you define success? And measure it?

I define success by achieving my goals that I have set for myself. I measure success by making my goals a reality. Many goals take a lifetime to accomplish, but if goals are broken down, they are easier to achieve.

5. We are Iowa Women in Architecture; who were the female role models that inspired you?

I would have to say that my female role models are Shelby Doyle and Leslie Forehand. At Iowa State, I took many of their studio classes and worked closely with them in the IAWIA student organization. These women have taught me to be confident in my work and work hard in all that I want to achieve.