XX|LA Architects Podcast

I’m bringing you a set of mini-stories that were taped live at the AWA 100th Building Our Legacy event on September 10, 2022 at the HenryBuilt [https://henrybuilt.com/] showroom in LA’s art district. This event not only celebrated AWA+D’s [https://www.awaplusd.org/] 100 year anniversary, but also focused on how we can preserve the legacies of women in architecture—especially our own legacies. As we know, too often women’s work was historically unrecognized, erased, and forgotten, and we lose so much by not being able to access this information. We can’t keep repeating this mistake! For example, Christina Morris from the National Trust for Historic Preservation [https://savingplaces.org/] gave a presentation on Where Women Made History [https://savingplaces.org/womens-history], an effort to bring more recognition and respect to women’s achievements. One of the projects she highlighted was Azurest South, the home of Amaza Lee Meredith [https://savingplaces.org/stories/the-colorful-past-and-bright-future-of-azurest-south-home-of-a-pioneering-black-architect], significant as it was designed by a black queer woman architect for her and her partner Dr. Edna Meade Colson. I didn’t know about Amaza Lee Meredith, but I feel like we all should know more about her. The legacy event was coordinated with the International Archive of Women in Architecture (IAWA) [https://spec.lib.vt.edu/iawa/], which holds the official archive for AWA+D at Virginia Tech [https://aad.vt.edu/]. The main takeaway from the event was how important it is to document our work, and we should all consider submitting work to the IAWA [https://spec.lib.vt.edu/iawa/], not just when we’re at the end of our careers, but even along the way. On that note, we set up a recording booth at the event with a few prompts, hoping to capture short stories and mini-interviews from event attendees, and this recorded material is being released on this podcast, as well as being sent to the IAWA [https://spec.lib.vt.edu/iawa/] as part of the AWA legacy. The women featured in this recording are: Virginia Tanzmann, Sona Gevorkyan, Alicia Morales, Beatriz Navarro, Christina Monti, Christie Wang, Stefanie Cheng, Danielle De Young, Anne Zimmerman, Koje Shoraka, Michelle Weisman, Magdalena Glen-Schieneman, and podcast host Audrey Sato.

This special episode is released in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Association for Women in Architecture and Design. [https://www.awaplusd.org/]  In today’s episode, I’m joined by Barbara Elwood, who served three terms as madame president of AWA+D [https://www.awaplusd.org/](which was then named AWA-LA) in 1960, 1962, and 1996.  Barbara enrolled in USC Architecture’s [https://arch.usc.edu/home] Industrial Design program in 1952, and by the end of her first semester, was the only woman in her class. It’s so fascinating to hear about Barbara’s experiences and also hear about the evolution of AWA through her recollections. Please support AWA+D by becoming a member [https://www.awaplusd.org/membership], sponsoring [https://www.awaplusd.org/sponsorship] the organization, or donating to our sister organization, the AWAF (Association for Women in Architecture Foundation). [https://www.awaplusd.org/donate-to-awaf]

Today’s episode is going to be a little bit of a different one, because the roles are reversed! Annie Chu of Chu+Gooding Architects [https://www.chugooding.com/], who is featured in Episode 31 [http://www.xx-la.com/interview-with-annie-chu-xxla-episode-031/], graciously offered to interview me for this episode. I am an architect and president of Sato Architects, Inc. [https://audreysato.com/index.html], a podcast host, and past president of the Association for Women in Architecture + Design (AWA+D) [https://www.awaplusd.org/]. I previously taught architecture at Cal Poly Pomona [https://www.cpp.edu/env/architecture/index.shtml], my alma mater. I have a new role to add to my list, which is that I’m going to become a mother in a couple of months. I’ll have my hands full keeping a little human and small business alive, so this will be the last podcast episode, at least for now. We’ve had a pretty amazing run, and I am so very thankful for every person I’ve been able to meet through podcasting.

Karin Liljegren is founder and principal of Omgivning [https://omgivning.com/], an architecture and interior design firm whose practice is rooted in a love for the extraordinary urban fabric of downtown Los Angeles. Karin is an architect and interior designer, and founded Omgivning [https://omgivning.com/]in 2009, just as the recession was threatening to halt downtown’s resurgence. To date, she and her staff have worked on almost 350 projects in Los Angeles, seeking to restore downtown’s purpose while helping to define its new identity. I’m constantly impressed by Karin’s go-getter attitude and entrepreneurial talents, which you’ll hear more about in this episode, as she talks about the way she purposefully designed her collaborative practice, and continues to evolve it beyond architecture, incorporating interiors, product design, and even real estate development into her operations.

Today’s guests are Tracy Stone, principle of Tracy A Stone Architect, [https://www.tracystonearchitect.com/] and designer Abbi Naylor. Tracy is the founder of The Elysian Valley Arts Collective [https://www.evartscollective.com/], a 501c3 non-profit that manages the biennial Frogtown Artwalk [https://www.evartscollective.com/frogtown-artwalk], and supports a variety of programming to the youth and neighbors of Elysian Valley. Tracy received a BA from Cornell University [https://www.cornell.edu/]and a Masters in Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin [https://soa.utexas.edu/]. She spent five years working for award-winning architects Ray and Finn Kappe before receiving her architectural license in 1989 and subsequently started her own firm, Tracy A. Stone Architect, in 1991. Tracy spent 10 years as a member of the Angelino Heights Historic Preservation Overlay Zone [https://planning.lacity.org/preservation-design/overlays/angelino-heights]board, and she has taught at Woodbury University [https://woodbury.edu/program/school-of-architecture/], Art Center College of Design [http://www.artcenter.edu/], and USC [https://arch.usc.edu/].  In addition, Tracy has served on the Pasadena Green Ribbon Committee and the Los Angeles Green Building Technical Advisory Committee- helping these cities to develop and implement Green Building Codes. She has designed a variety of projects including a number of small lot subdivisions, custom homes, an elderly board and care facility, a battered women’s center, television production offices, and several animal kennels. When not at work, Tracy can be found reliving her Hawaiian roots by hula dancing at the local luau or bouncing down rough desert roads on the way to a secluded campsite. Abbi Naylor has worked with Tracy since 2018, and nominated her for the podcast. Abbi is a mid-west transplant, artist, and designer with a BS in Interior Design from Indiana University [https://soaad.indiana.edu/]. Before jumping into architecture, she worked doing freelance graphic design and illustrations. She loves small woodworking projects and designing furniture and hopes to pursue more of that in the future. Outside of design, Abbi loves oil painting, photography, and skateboarding.