The School of Architecture
Spring 2020 Ethics and Leadership Panel: Monday April 6 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM via Zoom Webinar (links below)
The Spring 2020 Ethics and Leadership Panel brings to the fore a consistent underlying theme of all previous Ethics and Leadership dialogues. Asking the question – How can who we are shape our creative and professional path? As our profession becomes more diverse and more young architects enter the profession from more varied backgrounds, we can reflect on how our previous experience that has shaped our values and character will impact our professional choices and actions. Each of the 3 panelists will reveal how their identity has shaped how they think about their academic and professional role. Helen Bronston, Associate at SmithGroup, Charles Green Founder of Atelier Siletz and Sameena Sitabkhan, Principal of SideProject will all bring their quite diverse backgrounds and professional roles to generate a thoughtful and personal discussion encompassing race, gender, sexual and cultural identity.
Charles Green
Founder, Atelier Siletz, As Architecture and As Development
Charles is the founder of Atelier Siletz, As Architecture and As Development, an interdisciplinary firm operating at the intersection of architecture, community and social equity. Charles is a registered Architect in California and Oregon and previously worked at Stanley Saitowitz | Natoma Architects in San Francisco. He received his Masters of Architecture from UC Berkeley, where he was the recipient of the Malcom Reynolds Memorial Fellowship.
Charles recently joined the AAU faculty and is teaching a 3rd year online design studio (ARH 350). His interest in architecture, design and development stems from his passion for societal inclusion. Charles is a Native American tribal member from the Siletz Tribe in Oregon. Through his cultural upbringing, he realized the inequality that exists for many people throughout society.
With a passion to make a positive social impact through design, Charles founded Atelier Siletz to help underserved communities become stakeholders in their own neighborhood. By teaching people how to invest and develop their own architecture, they create value, income and affordability that benefits their families and communities for multiple generations. The Atelier Siletz team works alongside these community members throughout the entire process; including planning, financial sourcing, architecture, and construction.
Sameena Sitabkhan
Principal, Studio SideProject
B.Lab Coordinator AAU Architecture Sameena Sitabkhan is first generation Angeleno, and an architect and principal at Studio SideProject in Oakland, California. She has designed and managed projects spanning a range of building typologies from public schools and animal shelters, to public art and affordable housing. Her research has looked at the intersection of architecture and conflict, and she has been an artist and curator in residence in Michoacan, Mexico. Sameena is the co-founder of the Frogotown Artwalk in Los Angeles and has conducted Youth Architecture workshops in India and Bosnia. Formerly an Associate at David Baker Architects, Sameena is currently Studio Faculty and the B.Lab Coordinator in the School of Architecture at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. The B.Lab program is focused on advocacy and community-based design/build opportunities for underserved neighborhoods in San Francisco.
Helen Bronston, AIA,
Architecture Discipline Lead and Associate, SmithGroup, San Francisco
Helen is an accomplished technical architect and an award-winning designer whose career has included civic, educational, research, housing, and healthcare projects. Most of this work has been non-profit or governmental projects, where she has felt she could do the most good in the world. Helen was raised in the midwestern US, educated in New England, and has lived in California since 1994. Convinced that the present is not intelligible without an understanding of the past, she is pursuing a PhD at UC Berkeley in History of Architecture, writing about the development of infrastructure and commercial architecture in early-modern London. Midway through her degree, and while working as an architect, Helen had a crisis of self, which she resolved by transitioning genders. A trans view has been part of Helen’s work and thinking since childhood. This is reflected in her interest in Anthropology, where she has sought alternatives to the society and culture around her, and in her work, where she creates alternative and empowering viewpoints that enable projects to solve complex problems and surpass her client’s expectations.
Spring 2020 Ethics and Leadership Panel: Identity and Our Architectural Narrative
Monday, April 6th @ 11:00am Pacific Time
To participate, click: https://art.zoom.us/j/381964232
*please note that you will be asked to enter your name and email address to access the webinar
To view the recording, please visit: https://youtu.be/JYutVG6Kcak