Beyond the Surface

Tanner Woodford is a Chicago-based designer, artist, and founder of Iterative Work. He previously served for fourteen years as founding executive director of the Design Museum of Chicago. Listen in for a conversation about how exhibiting design and art becomes a conversation with the general public about how ideas are expressed.

Taruna Gupta is a planner at HGA and the co-founder and president of the non-profit, Defining Humanity. Hear how her journey across different countries has shaped an approach to architecture grounded in curiosity, cultural exchange, and building connections. Listen to conversations about how architecture organizations have been a crucial part of Taruna's career journey, including when she chose to step away from practicing to focus on her family life.

Iker Gil is a founding partner at MAS Studio and editor in chief of the nonprofit MAS Context. Listen in to hear about how his experiences have led to a path in architecture, publishing, and exhibitions stemming from a curiosity about different ways to see design.

Danielle Tillman is an architect in Chicago whose global portfolio includes many notable projects, including the renovation of the Whitney M. Young Jr. Branch Library and select projects in China. Listen in to hear about her journey, how the mindset from mathematics can translate to architecture, and how organizational leadership can be a form of advocacy.

Elizabeth Blasius and Jonathan Solomon are founders and partners of Preservation Futures, a firm focused on design, advocacy, and consultancy at the intersection of historic preservation and contemporary practice.

Rana Lee is the Marketing Principal leading business development for HOK’s Chicago studio. In this episode, she talks about how her experience in real estate and business development leads to the work she does for architecture firms. She breaks down what business development and networking in architecture means, provides some tips, and explains how networking can be treated like a design project in itself.

Alzira is a Senior Design Architect at EXP focused on architecture in the public realm, particularly infrastructure projects. The conversation discusses Alzira's journey between multiple countries and settling in Chicago. Listen to her talk about how working on large public infrastructure projects can have influences on all levels, including people on daily commutes. She also talks about the opportunity to give back as a mentor to aspiring architects while appreciating the impact of having strong mentors.

In this episode, we sit down with Gabriel Ignacio Dziekiewicz, president and principal in charge of design at DesignBridge, an award-winning Chicago-based architecture firm with nearly four decades of history. The conversation covers Gabriel’s family story, including his father’s journey in architecture and founding DesignBridge, and Gabriel’s personal discovery in architecture as he moved towards leading the firm and carrying on his father’s legacy.

In this special episode, co-founders Caleb Kwok and Alex Sanchez reflect on the beginnings of Beyond the Surface. Hear about how their backgrounds, inspirations for the podcast, and how the show has changed over time.

Monica Chadha is the founder and principal of Civic Projects Architecture, a Chicago-based social impact design firm with a focus on high-quality design and long-term strategic thinking. Listen in for a conversation about how architects take perspectives from multiple parties to create a design process that drives projects forward.

Pascale Sablan is CEO of Adjaye Associates New York studio, overseeing projects in North and South America and the Caribbean. She is the 315th living African-American woman registered architect in the United States. She has previously served as President for the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), and was awarded the 2021 AIA Whitney M. Young. Jr Award for her advocacy efforts.

Listen in for a conversation on Pascale's journey, and how being an active voice means standing up for yourself, highlighting others, and bringing diverse voices when talking about the design industry.

Rafael is the co-founder and director of Duo, an innovation studio/lab that works to create built environment innovations for the benefit of society.

Listen in for a conversation about Rafael's journey with immigration activism, architecture, real estate development, and human centered design and how that all comes together in Duo's multicontextual design.

Dr. Joseph Renow is a sociologist of science and technology who focuses on the intersection of expertise and society. Listen in for a conversation about how architects can think about design differently to meet societal needs.

Julie is founding partners of award winning Santa Monica based architecture firm, KoningEizenberg Architecture. Together with partner Hank Koning, Julie has been awarded the American Institute of Architects Los Angeles chapter Gold medal in 2012 and the Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medal in 2019. Listen in to hear about Julie's architectural career between Australia and the US from her "outsider" perspective.

Tom is an award-winning architect and founder of Tom Lee Studio. He has experience across a diverse set of typologies and firms including HDR where he served as Design Principal, and other leading firms including John Ronan Architects, Goettsch Partners, JAHN, Leers Weinzapfel, and Kohn Pedersen Fox.

Listen in to hear how drawing influenced Tom's journey in architecture and how he uses sketching as a unique form of communicating design.

June Campbell, is a member of the National Organization for Minority Architects Council (NOMAC). She is the wife of Wendell Campbell, one of the founders of NOMA, who was the organization’s first president.

This episode also includes special guests, Leslie Campbell and Bryan Hudson.

Listen in to hear stories from June about her life and about NOMA's founding.

Ann Thompson, FAIA, is Executive Vice President of Architecture and Design at Related Midwest. She leads the design and planning of projects across the company’s portfolio of mixed-use, mixed-income, affordable and luxury developments, as well as all engineering, zoning and entitlement efforts. Listen in to hear about Ann's career journey from architecture to development, and about how developers take on roles in building communities.

Annabell Ren is the co-founder of the Chicago based firm, New Office. Listen in to episode to hear her experiences as an immigrant to the US, and for a conversation about making cultural designs feel genuine to communities.

Carol Ross Barney, FAIA, HASLA, is an architect, urbanist, and educator. She is the 2023 American Institute of Architects Gold Medal recipient, of which she is the first living woman to be individually honored.

Listen to stories from her career journey, the mentors that inspired her, and conversation on how design should be in every day life for the public to experience.

Paola is an urban designer and partner at Borderless Studio, a design and research practice based in Chicago and San Antonio. Listen in to hear about Paola's path between architecture and urban design, and how skills in education can be translated into practice.