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Posts tagged ‘Member Profile’

Jun 29

Matthew Cortez, Assoc. AIA: Member Profile

Matthew Cortez, Assoc. AIA grew up in California’s Central Coast and its natural beauty gave him an appreciation for harmony and design. His mother, a seamstress by trade, instilled in Matthew and his siblings the value of using your own hands to create. This started Matthew’s desire to achieve a career in a creative field. He graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a Bachelor’s of Architecture in 2009.  Since then his career has been anything but traditional.

After he graduated, Matthew began his post-university career working in real estate, coordinating the preparation and sale of residential property.  In 2012, Matthew began working in the construction industry as an estimator and project control manager.  His experience in this part of the building process has given him valuable insight into bidding and budgeting processes as well as project management and tracking. This experience in construction management allows Matthew to quickly understand impacts to overall project cost and completion time.

Although the positions Matthew held early in his career were disconnected from the design process and focused on the business side of construction, he has always found a way to express his creativity.  While Matthew was in high school, he developed a passion for woodworking. In his spare time, he can be found in his woodshop designing and producing small furniture items and other home decor for a small business he owns and manages.  Matthew has developed and fostered a keen ability to visualize the end design, and develop a creative approach to produce outstanding results.

Matthew is currently pursuing his architectural license. He works with Past the Gate, a general builder and design/build firm, specializing in landscape construction and associated small remodels.   The firm’s design team combines expertise in landscape architecture, architecture and technical construction methodology to ensure each design meets the client’s specific spatial and budgetary needs.

Jun 7

Member Profile: Jack Herbert, AIA

Jack Herbert, AIA, DBIA, is a construction manager for Swinerton Builders who has both practiced architecture and worked as a general contractor and now assists owners in the design and construction of their projects. Jack’s objective is to provide the best design solutions within the limits of an owner’s budget constraints and in drawing on the combined strength of a collaborative team of owner, architect and contractor to accomplish this objective.

“I’ve really enjoyed projects where an Integrated Project Delivery approach draws on the strengths of all partners concurrently to achieve a higher level of design in a collaborative rather than adversarial process.”

Having been in the role of architect, contractor and owner Jack recognizes the experiences of all parties and understands what they each need to achieve success. Jack works to build consensus among the team and to challenge all parties to find ways to make their partners successful.

Jack studied architecture at the University of Illinois and at UC Berkeley and began his career as a design architect working at SOM in San Francisco.

“SOM was an amazing training ground with incredible projects, leadership and talent…..some of my best lifetime friendships were forged in the studio.”

After a few years Jack moved to a smaller firm with the intent to broaden his experience. He learned more about construction, including construction documents, at an entirely different level of intensity from that of the design studio.

“I was always trying to expand my experience across the design and construction industry, always trying to understand not only the complexities of the architectural profession but to understand the mindset of the owner and the contractor.”

After practicing architecture in both large and medium firms and running his own small firm, Jack decided to explore how he could contribute his experience somewhere else. Jack joined Swinerton in 2005 and moved to Swinerton Management & Construction in 2009 where he works as an owner’s representative and construction manager. There, Jack manages large higher-education and courthouse projects for public owners using IPD delivery methods including CMAR and design build.

Apr 24

Member Profile: David Green, AIA

David Green, AIA

David Green, AIA is a building enclosure consultant specializing in curtain wall, glazing, and cladding systems. He is an associate principal at the Emeryville office of Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. (WJE), a nation-wide architecture and engineering consulting firm. Collaborating with talented architects, David designs, details and oversees the construction of building envelope systems for various building types, including high-rise hotels and residences, museums, retail storefronts, universities and office buildings. David works closely with architects to turn their facade concepts into reality while meeting an ever-increasing array of performance criteria. He brings his expertise and enthusiasm for facades to each step of the process, whether it’s sketching corner details on tracing paper during a meeting with an architect, running structural calculations to size mullions, or conducting water testing on a construction site.

In addition to consulting on new construction, David also works on the recladding of existing buildings and conducts forensic investigations of building envelope failures, such as glass breakage or water leakage. His current projects include a custom mullionless glazing system for the renovation of Moffitt Library at UC Berkeley, an undulating, curved glass curtain wall for Anaha, a 40-story residential tower in Honolulu, a faceted, steel-framed curtain wall system and triangulated roof for the NVIDIA corporate headquarters in Santa Clara and a new terra cotta facade for Uptown Station, the renovation of the former Capwell’s/Sears building in downtown Oakland.

Prior to joining WJE nine years ago, David was a senior associate at Handel Architects, where he served as both a project manager and an in-house cladding consultant. Before that, he was an exterior wall consultant with R.A. Heintges & Associates in New York City, where he gained valuable experience working on a variety of complex building enclosure systems. An Oakland native, David holds a bachelor’s degree from the College of Environmental Design at U.C. Berkeley, and a master’s in architecture from Columbia University.

After being a member of the AIA San Francisco chapter for over ten years, he looks forward to his continued involvement with the AIA here in the East Bay.

Apr 3

Member Profile: Nicole Stine, Assoc. AIA

Nicole Stine, Assoc. AIA

My journey into architecture began in my hometown of Yakima, Washington. My father, who is an accountant by trade, showed me the drawing board he had used to draft our house. He told me stories of setting up the board on the plane tray tables to pass time while traveling for business. Seeing and feeling the hatch-pattern of lines engraved into the wood gave my lifelong habit of doodling a purpose. This introduction gave me insight into design and opened my eyes to a potential career in architecture. Following high school graduation, I pursued my bachelor’s degree in architecture at the University of Idaho. I took a detour the summer before graduation and studied abroad in Rome. I then completed my education at Montana State University, where I received my master’s degree.

During my time in academia, I realized that my love for architecture runs deeper than just design. It is instead rooted in a desire to problem solve. As a big sister, I have been solving my brother’s problems since he was born. He may refer to my problem solving as “Nicole, my bossy older sister,” but deep down I am sure he considers it helpful. As a Girl Scout through elementary, middle and high school I helped come up with solutions to sell the most boxes of Girl Scout cookies, being named top salesman multiple years in a row. As a college student I juggled school assignments, campus participation and managed a group of 96 women as chapter president of my sorority, Alpha Gamma Delta.

As a post grad, thirsty for professional experience, I jumped into a summer internship with The KPA Group in Oakland. I spent the summer with other interns, working alongside architects and structural engineers, giving me a taste of the design challenges and engineering of solutions that lay in my future. My success that summer led to a job offer, giving me the opportunity to call the Bay Area home. The KPA Group has relocated to Pleasanton where I now manage the production of marketing materials, collaborate with fellow designers to produce construction documents and handle critical client design problems on a daily basis.

Outside of the office I am in pursuit of my license. I am constantly in search of the next best coffee shop to spend my day working through flash cards and practice tests.  I am fortunate to have found a career that allows me to practice my love for problem solving, but still tests my knowledge of design. Architecture is a lifelong passion, one to which I have just opened the door.

Mar 13

Member Profile: Sriram Ramakrishnan, Assoc. AIA

Sriram Ramakrishnan, Assoc. AIA graduated with a B.Arch from the National Institute of Technology in Tiruchirappalli, India with a University Gold medal in 2012. He worked for a couple of years for Larsen & Toubro, a multinational design build company. His work primarily consisted of designing corporate offices for Fortune 500 clients. He first came to the U.S. in 2014 to pursue M.Arch from Ohio State University, with a prestigious university fellowship. In 2015, he secured a graduate associateship instituted by AIA Columbus in collaboration with Ohio State University. His final academic project at Ohio State was titled “2050AD-Net Zero Housing” and was published in Archiprix “2017 World’s Best Thesis Projects” along with projects from over 80 countries. His was voted “Participant’s Favorite” by finalists around the world. The project studied the future of architecture in an energy-scarce environment. He graduated with M.Arch in May 2016 and started working for Architectural Dimensions as an intern in August. Sriram is a licensed architect in India and is currently completing AXP/IDP hours and preparing for the ARE exams to get licensed in U.S. in the next few years. He has a strong sense of design development, BIM modeling and LEED design.

Sriram perceives architecture as a tool for creating social, cultural and economic change. His favorite architects include Louis Kahn, Rem Koolhaas and Zaha Hahid. His hobbies include traveling, art and music.

Feb 16

Member Profile: Rex Crabb, Assoc. AIA

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Rex Crabb, Assoc. AIA

Rex Crabb is a recent graduate of U.C. Berkeley’s M.Arch program who now works at Woods Bagot. His experiences so far have led him to seek to bridge the worlds of architecture as art and construction. After Rex graduated from Reed College in 2012 with a B.A. in Chinese Literature, he worked at Hammer and Hand, Inc., a high-end residential passive house contractor based in Portland and Seattle. At first he worked in the field reclaiming and recycling demolished materials. Then he worked in the contractor’s office, helping to manage the documentation of projects and request bids from subcontractors.

From 2013-2016, Rex attended the M.Arch program at Berkeley, with projects that combined conceptual speculation and intensive use of digital fabrication. In one project for a sustainable, low-carbon lamppost intended for rural communities in India, he developed a system of 3D printed joints for bending-active lattice bamboo structures that would support a solar panel and an LED light.

During a summer internship with McCall Design Group in San Francisco, Rex and his partners Kasra Yazdanbakhsh and Mariela Levy designed a chicken coop for the non-profit community resilience organization, the Sweetwater Foundation in Chicago. After graduating from Berkeley, Rex has launched his professional career at Woods Bagot. As his experience as a Graduate Student Instructor inspired him to continue teaching, he now works as an instructor at Berkeley as well.

Jan 18

Allied Member Profile: Scott Malloy of Dolan’s Lumber

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Scott Malloy, Allied Member

Dolan’s Windows and Doors continues to emphasize its ability to serve architects and builders in the Bay Area with the addition of Scott Malloy. The new sales executive comes from Southern California with almost a decade of window and door experience and specializes in working with architects and builders focused on residential construction and remodels. The Walnut Creek Showroom is located at 2750 Camino Diablo, Walnut Creek 94597.

“I chose to become part of the knowledgeable Dolan’s team because they have the best of breed products,” said Malloy. “The company features more name brands from Andersen Windows & Doors and Marvin to Fleetwood, Milgard and TruStile. They have highly rated customer service and a factory authorized service department.”

Dolan’s Walnut Creek Window & Door Showroom is one of the largest in the Bay Area. Architects and builders are encouraged to bring their clients to the Showroom to explore a wide variety of window and door styles, colors, materials and other options.

The name Dolan’s has been associated with the building industry in the Bay Area since the early 1900’s. This family owned business is dedicated to providing the best possible products at affordable prices. Many employees have been with the company for years. Management emphasizes attention to detail and prompt response to the needs of both consumers and industry professionals.

Throughout the year, Dolan’s hosts several seminars for architects and builders. Many of the programs provide continuing education credits. The next program, The Future of Building, sponsored by Andersen Windows & Doors, Tyvek and Orepac is a breakfast meeting scheduled for January 26th. Interested building industry professionals can Sign up for e-mails and event news at dolanlumber.com.

Dolan’s has another Showroom in Burlingame and two full-service lumber yards and home improvement centers, one in Concord and one in Pinole. Showrooms are open Monday through Saturday. Home Improvement Centers are open seven days a week.

Jan 18

Member Profile: Zachary Wong Assoc. AIA

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Zachary Wong, Assoc. AIA

Zachary Wong, Assoc. AIA is an East Bay native and was heavily influenced by the historic settings around him growing up in Alameda. To this day, he has maintained a lifelong interest in music, drafting and historic preservation by joining the Alameda Architectural Preservation Society and the Rally Committee and Straw Hat Band during his time at UC Berkeley. He later joined the Sigma Phi Society, which allowed him to live- in and help maintain and preserve the William R. Thorsen House, the last ultimate bungalow designed by the Pasadena firm of Greene & Greene in 1909. He would eventually serve as House Manager, President and a member-at-large of the alumni board.

During his last years at Berkeley, he worked closely with Landscape Architect Chip Sullivan on several side projects including a comic book about the history of typography and writing.

Zachary joined LDA Architects in San Francisco as an Architectural Designer where he interned in the winter of 2014, after receiving his Bachelor’s Degree from UC Berkeley that following summer. He joined the staff full-time in the fall of 2015. He has gained a valuable amount of experience working in a diverse pool of projects ranging from support buildings at utility plants to amenities for San Francisco International Airport’s Interim Boarding Area B. At LDA, he has been engaged in all areas of the project planning aspect. He has recently finished a new master plan document for the San Francisco Department of Public Health for the re-purposing of the historic buildings at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital campus in the Mission District.

He previously worked as a designer for Biggs Group Architecture in Oakland, working mostly in housing and as a fine arts printer, having some of his work showcased at the Grey Loft Gallery in Oakland. Prior to working in the architectural field, he worked as a shipwright and in construction. Today Zachary still participates in music playing the bass clarinet with the Alameda Community Band and continues to draw and paint the natural and built environment. Under the guiding hand of the senior staff at LDA, Zachary continues his education and technical understandings of the architectural office as he works towards his professional licensure.

Aug 12

Member Profile: Robabeh Sarvi, Assoc. AIA

mpMy career as an architect is related to my early childhood experiences and travels. I always loved the trips I would take with my parents and siblings. Each summer we would journey to a new place. My father loved driving and long trips, taking me and my other five siblings to show us different towns and villages and sometimes other countries. I was a very curious child. As I grew older my interest in exploring expanded. I wanted to see and learn more. I visited Germany, Russia and Turkey which wasn’t too far from my home town in Iran. The path led me from Tehran, where I was born and raised, to continue my education in Dubai. I was moved by the new architecture and technology that was being developed there. It all looked surreal and it motivated me to pursue my design education. Ultimately, art and design are a part of my life that has been present through all of my travels; It has never left me. From magnificent ruins of Persepolis to Istanbul and Moscow with their colorful tiles and details, to the twisting forms of the towers in Dubai, it has all inspired me.

After graduating in 2007 with a BFA in interior architecture from the American University in Dubai, I worked as an intern and had a few interior projects on my own. But I always felt that something was missing. I was excited by the work I saw being done by Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry and Thom Mayne. They designed comprehensive projects and total experiences. I was drawn to a more complete vision of space and form and realized that architecture could provide that. I wanted to be an architect. I applied to AAU in San Francisco in 2009, and while it was a big leap to make, being so far from family, my father encouraged me to pursue my dreams. After two years of working through the challenges of a new country, a new culture and a new language, I had my Masters in Architecture. I worked as a designer and last year, I founded ROBABEH, my design and development studio. Having a studio has given me the opportunity to participate in amazing work and I’m where I always wanted to be. I believe that design and architecture can change the way people live and work and make a better place for people of all race, classes and beliefs. I hope my work will accomplish these objectives in time.

Apr 18

Christo DaSilva, AIA: Member Profile

profileChristo DaSilva, AIA worked at Levitch Associates, Hilliard Architects and Bull Stockwell Allen while attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Upon graduation, he received the AIA Henry Adams Medal and the AIA CCC Design Award before going on to work at Studio Bondy Architecture. His interest in shaping the future of education has led him to pursue a specialization in the design of independent schools at Studio Bondy.

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