INTEL
—ALAN MASKIN, OLSON KUNDIG
KIMBERLY DOWDELL, HOK
“The past year taught me the importance of consistent and clear communication in the context of leading remotely. While I was president of the National Organization of Minority Architects and no longer able to visit members and partners, I found strength in being able to connect digitally with weekly messages and webinars. Even at my studio, the thoughtful daily messages sent by our managing principal somehow softened the uncertainty we were all experiencing in the grips of the pandemic. People rely on leadership most in times of greatest challenge. Thus, being a steady and vocal leader is vital when silence would be especially unsettling.”
ALAN MASKIN, OLSON KUNDIG
JOHN AND WONHEE ARNDT, STUDIO GORM
“It’s OK to let go. Sometimes timing doesn’t work out for certain projects. We are a small office and have a family. With the uncertainty around the pandemic, we learned to focus our limited time on the projects that we really care about, choosing ones that are enjoyable, meaningful, and that allow us to learn new things.” 38
GRAY
“This past year has taught me the value of two diametrically opposite ways of working. Ordinarily, I thrive when I’m in Olson Kundig’s design studio, solving a problem with three or four other people who are smarter and more creative than I am. In that modality, I just know what to do. Last year, while working alone in a small, poorly heated room, I had to adjust. I started a new ritual of getting up before sunrise to momentarily turn off the noise of politics, disease, sadness, and longing . . . and I’d just draw. It was a creative outlet and way to explore solutions and possibilities and I clung to that like a life raft.”
COURTESY HOK; © YVES SUCKSDORFF; STUDIO GORM
FIELD NOTES
“I STARTED A NEW RITUAL SUNRISE TO MOMENTARILY OF POLITICS, DISEASE, . . . AND I’D JUST DRAW.”
