Diversity

Celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD)

March 8, 2024 By admin

Shouting Out to Our Diverse and Dynamic Team at Platt/Whitelaw!

Happy International Women’s Day!

“The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist, nor to any one organization, but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights.” – Gloria Steinem

Word, Gloria! The official International Women’s Day organization describes today as “a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.”

History

Please allow us to help you impress your friends with a little history lesson.

The First IWD gathering was in 1911 (when it was honored by Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland). Celebrating the 100^th anniversary of IWD, former Pres. Barack Obama proclaimed March 2011 to be Women’s History Month.

Specific to our industry, we think this site does a great job of highlighting 20 famous female architects. It’s a fun read of names you may and may-not-yet know.

Platt/Whitelaw Creds

We’re happy to toot our own horn in honor of this day, too. Nine of our 17-person staff are women, and one of those women holds a leadership position. Over our firm’s lifetime, two of our owners were/are women.

This year’s IWD campaign theme is Inspire Inclusion. While the theme specifically refers to women, inclusion means more to us. Seven members of our staff qualify as minorities, including our firm owner. Prioritizing inclusion extends to age and gender identity for us, too. We’re also very proud that our staff, combined, can speak nine languages and dialects.

Moving Forward

While this is a day for celebration and intention, we want to sign off with a wakeup call we found on the International Women’s Day website: “According to the World Economic Forum, sadly none of us will see gender parity in our lifetime, and nor likely will many of our children. Gender parity won’t be attained for well over a century.”

That said, we also want to share this thought from Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

So, in the words of Shania Twain, “Let’s go, girls!” (And allies!)

Teaching Toward an Inclusive Architecture Industry

August 28, 2023 By admin

Yolanda Velazco, a top-notch designer at Platt/Whitelaw, is more than just an architecture instructor teaching at Southwestern College.

Having grown up in Mexico, and even having attended Southwestern College herself, Yolanda knows that navigating a college experience in a different country comes with a learning curve. Many of her students at Southwestern College grew up in Mexico.

Un-clashing cultures

“They’re coming from a different system, and there’s culture shock, too, even though we’re a border city,” said Yolanda. “Many know some English, but I can see how they struggle when they try to get into classes and things like that. I can help provide more than just an architectural education because I understand what they’re going through.”

She has provided this help through her stints teaching Studio 1, Studio 2 and Introduction to Architecture at Southwestern College in Chula Vista. This fall will mark her third semester of teaching.

“I’ve taught students of all ages and from very diverse backgrounds,” she said. “Some of my students are older than me. Some already finished their degree in architecture in Mexico. Regardless, I try to focus on how the system works as much as how to design.”

Yolanda says that she and some of her fellow teaching instructors have thought about creating a class focused on the differences between architecture in the U.S. and in Mexico, because those differences can be so stark.

Well-rounded education

Yolanda was surprised that the Introduction to Architecture class became her favorite to teach, even though the studio classes inspire her when her students push the boundaries of design and present new ideas.

“I share a lot of my experiences in the Introduction to Architecture class, and we talk about every aspect of what they may find themselves doing with an architecture education,” she said.

A lot of the course is driven by questions from the students themselves.

“I want them to feel more comfortable and informed about the decision they’re making,” she added. “I don’t want them to be scared, but I try to be realistic. I think about what I would have liked to know as a student.”

Fortunately, it’s a student body that’s not likely to scare easily.

“My students are super hard workers. Most are attending school while working full time,” said Yolanda.

Breaking barriers

While their drive is admirable, the students’ economic circumstances can be daunting when they think about supplementing the two-year associate degree they can earn at Southwestern College with a follow-on, baccalaureate degree.

“The closest public college they can attend to earn that full degree is California State University Pomona,” said Yolanda, who is a graduate of that program. “It’s difficult to get in, even as a transfer. You submit your portfolio, and based on that, they could send you down to first year, which would mean you’d still have to do five years of study.”

NewSchool of Architecture & Design is in San Diego, but it’s private and may be cost-prohibitive for some. If Southwestern students want to pursue a four- or five-year degree at either institution, they will need to pay rent if living away from family and will probably have less hours to work a job.

It’s this plight that has inspired Southwestern College to apply for the right to offer a baccalaureate degree (four- or five-year degree) in Architecture. Time will tell if the effort succeeds.

“We’ve been creating an elite major,” says Yolanda. She’s concerned that barriers exist to getting more minorities and people of color into architecture.

“Coming to Platt/Whitelaw made me feel comfortable because its leadership is diverse,” she said, but she added that it hadn’t been her impression of most architecture firms she had encountered.

Platt/Whitelaw Architects Principal Naveen Waney said, “Yolanda is a creative, motivated, strong-minded person. Once she gets something in her head, she will make sure she explores the subject to the fullest and returns with a responsive solution. That’s a trait you cannot teach and makes her a great teacher for budding architects.”

Words of advice

Yolanda also wants to make sure that architecture students master foundational skills.

“I feel with the technology and all tools available now, we’re losing the basics,” she said. “As a student, it’s hard to understand why hand drafting is important, but you always need to know the basics first to effectively use technology as a tool. I feel like I get picky about how graphics should look and plans should read, but those are your instructions to the person who’s going to build it.”

She added one last piece of advice for up-and-coming architects.

“You’re not supposed to know it all. Ask questions. There’s so much information out there.”

A Trip to the Republic of Serbia

October 19, 2022 By admin

Architecture and Culture at the Crossroads of Europe.

For decades, our staff has come from all over the country and the world. We think diverse voices and perspectives make for better architecture and inclusivity.

Similarly, we’re excited for our staff members when they travel — and even more so when they share about their experiences. We’re grateful that Project Manager Julijana Petrovic agreed to share about her recent trip to Serbia. We hope our blog readers will find value in her story, too.

It had been three years since Julijana made the 15+ hour plane journey back to her home country, the Republic of Serbia.

On this three-week trip, she and her husband stayed briefly in the capital city of Belgrade and made a visit to his hometown of Sokobanja. They spent most of their time, though, in her hometown of Niš (pronounced Neesh).

She knew to expect changes. There are always changes when she returns. She was disappointed, though, to find that a large park in the city center was paved over. “Any little piece of land in the city gets filled,” she said.

This urbanization, however, is juxtaposed with the staggeringly beautiful mountains, rivers, and other natural landscapes still so plentiful in Serbia. The country is also known for its music festivals. The annual EXIT Festival near Belgrade has earned particular notoriety as one of the biggest music festivals in Europe. There is also Nisville in her hometown of Nis which is the biggest jazz festival in Eastern Europe.

“I miss the different mentality of Serbia,” Julijana said. “People work to live. They love to spend time with friends over coffee or dinner. You don’t have to schedule months in advance. You can always hit someone up to go for a walk, and there’s always something going on.”

She says travelers will be hard pressed to find a more friendly place in the world. “You definitely won’t be hungry or thirsty,” she added.

If someone offers you stuffed cabbage leaves when you’re traveling in Serbia, you’d be well advised to take them up on it. Julijana says this is one of the nation’s most famous dishes.

For fans of architecture (um, we might know a few), Serbia won’t disappoint there either.

“You see a lot of history and evolution of architecture in Serbia,” said Julijana. “Every stone you see has a story to tell.”

University Administration and Library View from Fortress

For a big chunk of history, every war or conquest went through Serbia (formerly Yugoslavia), so numerous different cultures are represented. “It’s the crossroads of Europe,” Juliana said.

In Nis, homes can easily range from 200 to 400 years old, and many have handcrafted facades that may include relief or sculpture work. Decorative forged iron fences are common, too. The weather means that stone-based building materials last longer, so those materials became predominant. Serbians take upkeep of these structures very seriously.

And it’s not unusual to find partly built houses in Serbia. People often build their houses by adding rooms gradually.

Serbia also experienced a brutalism period of architecture from the 1930s into the 1950s that reflected the communist political structure of the time. While the concrete buildings were stark, monolithic, and undecorated, they did offer a complete community of residences, a school, and a park, often on the same block.

Over time, the cities have expanded out and up, so visitors will see a mash-up of historic and ultramodern architecture, sometimes in the same building.

You’ll also see a fortress in just about every city’s center. Julijana has fond memories of the secret passages in the Nis fortress. She was also struck by the numerous and diverse locations of monasteries in Serbia – including some built in caves!

Serbia’s architecture has influenced Julijana’s design philosophy and approach. The ways things were built in Serbia was appropriate for their time, and maintenance has always been a priority.

“This approach makes sense for sustainability aspects of the 2030 climate goals the U.S. has,” she said. “Communities need to understand that the built environment needs to be maintained.”

It’s culturally and geographically diverse views like this that make up the fabric of our firm’s design philosophy and approach. We’re proud to have Julijana on our staff and grateful that she shared her story. The travel bucket lists around here just got a little longer.