Agenda

Dionne Darling has been with The A|N Media Group for over six years. As A|N’s Associate Publisher, she manages A|N’s Texas headquarters and handles accounts in the West, Southwest and Europe territories. Dionne has over 28 years of direct B2B sales, management and business development experience.

As Director of KPF’s San Francisco office, Angela leads KPF’s on-the-ground project coordination on the west coast, meeting regularly with clients to provide seamless communication and a streamlined approach to project management.

With more than 20 years of architecture experience, Angela has led a variety of projects in terms of both type and scale, ranging from singular residential, office, retail and institutional buildings to large-scale, mixed-program, multi-building complexes.

Her interest in multidisciplinary collaboration to create synthesized architectural projects is key to her approach. Angela is a deep believer in the integration of architecture, structure, sustainability, and planning for a human-scaled environment, and these guiding principles are behind her design and management of numerous award-winning and prominent projects, such as Platform 16 and South Almaden Boulevard in San Jose and 415 Natoma and 10 South Van Ness in San Francisco.

Irene Pau Martin is an Associate at Arup with an Environmental and Mechanical Engineering background. She leads the Building Envelope Physics sub-discipline within the Americas Region and co-leads the Los Angeles Facades team. Having worked in London and Los Angeles, Irene has 16 years of experience on international projects ranging from historic buildings to new-build museums and office towers. Her passion for environmental considerations and occupant comfort has led her to advocate for thoughtful envelope designs that balance architectural delight with responsible resource consumption, particularly that of carbon and energy. Her design approach focuses on passive strategies—specific to each project site—to optimize the dynamic heat transfer between the indoor and outdoor environments. She also has a keen interest in healthy and sustainable materials. Irene has guest lectured at SCI-Arc and USC and has taught the highly popular AIA-accredited course, “Basics of Building Envelope Physics”.

Chris Fronsoe is the National Architectural Team Manager for the Western USA and Western Canada at Vitro Architectural Glass for commercial projects in the Northwest Region.

Chris has years of experience working with general contractors, glaziers, architects and glass fabricators. For the commercial glass market, he brings design knowledge for both vertical and sloped glazing projects. Chris also worked with top executive and scientific research teams for the solar, automotive and appliance glass market segments. In previous roles, he has been active working with glass fabricators worldwide and setting up global distribution networks.

Formerly, Chris was a manager and sommelier for a restaurant selected four times as a Top 100 Wine Restaurant by Wine Enthusiast Magazine and conducts the popular Vino with Vitro, AIA credited educational series.

Chris is a graduate of George Fox College with a bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Organizational Leadership. He served on technical committees with the Glass Association of North America and the National Glass Association and has been a featured speaker at Glass Performance Days, GlassCon Global, ZAK Facades and Façade Tectonics.

Bob is the Sales Director of Tianjin Northglass for North America, the leading fabricator of specialty and oversized architectural glass for the global construction industry.

Bob has many years of experience working with Quality Control department. Bob was the project manager for Apple Park project in Cupertino, supporting the design team on the glass selection for Apple’s new headquarters. In 2015, Bob came to the US to make more connections with architects and support their designs of future projects with the innovation and capabilities that Northglass has to offer.

As Global Director, Sustainability & ESG, Sneh Kumar is responsible for the development and execution of strategy to deliver an increasingly sustainable product offering to customers and stakeholders. He is focused on product design and certification, along with supply chain transparency, and optimization of the overall manufacturing footprint to achieve Arconic’s sustainability commitments. With more than 20 years in the building products industry, Sneh has been involved in the commercialization of over 40 high-performance building facade products and has received multiple patent grants. He is a visionary leader with proven abilities to solve complex and relevant problems to unlock business value. Sneh has been actively involved with industry associations, architects and customers and has served on the Board of the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC). He is an invited speaker and panelist at multiple industry conferences.

Tim Nass has nearly 30 years of experience in the architectural glazing industry. As the Vice President of Sales at SAFTI FIRST, leading USA-manufacturer of fire rated glass and framing systems, he brings his extensive knowledge and expertise when working closely with architects, consultants, general contractors and glaziers to deliver a code-compliant glazing solution that meets all the aesthetic, performance and budget requirements of the project. Tim also oversees SAFTI FIRST’s global network of architectural sales representatives.

Tim Nass is a dynamic presenter and speaker who has been delivering educational presentations to various architecture firms, AIA local chapters, CSI local chapters, at the CSI National Convention and other architectural and glazing industry events.

Frans de Witte (Rotterdam, 1973) joined MVRDV in 1996, before joining the company he briefly worked at JP van Eesteren contractors. He is currently leading projects in the Netherlands, the USA and South America, including a 26,500-square-metre mixed-use high rise located in New York and six residential towers ranging from 92 to 143 metres in Ecuador. Frans is greatly experienced in construction projects and has executed many buildings within time and budget, he has participated in MVRDV projects such as Silodam Housing, Glass Farm Schijndel, Balancing Barn and the Sky Vault Penthouse in New York. Currently, he is overseeing Radio.181 in New York, Mission Rock in San Francisco, Glass Mural in Detroit, Nieuw Bergen in Eindhoven, the Modernist in Rotterdam and Matrix 1 in Amsterdam.

Dan Wood FAIA co-founded WORKac in 2003 with Amale Andraos. He is a Principal of the firm, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and the former Vice President for Design Excellence of the New York Chapter of the AIA. Wood is a licensed architect in the States of New York, Rhode Island, and Colorado and is LEED certified.

Wood has taught extensively, most recently at Columbia University, where he is associate adjunct professor. He held the 2017 Frank Gehry International Visiting Chair in Architectural Design at the University of Toronto and the 2013–14 Louis I. Kahn Chair at the Yale School of Architecture. He also held the Friedman Professorship at UC Berkeley. Wood is originally from Rhode Island.

Daniel joined Henning Larsen in 2011, and has worked in several of Henning Larsen’s global offices, including Copenhagen, Munich and New York. Over the years, he has built up a vast cultural understanding of communities that we engage, a knowledge that he utilizes in his everyday work. Since 2018, he has been based in New York where he forms part of the management team of Henning Larsen’s North American office.

Currently, Daniel is leading the design for the new Visa Global HQ as part of the Mission Rock Development in San Francisco, California, a new green district emphasizng active ground plane design, and the highest standards within sustainability.

Architect Steve Wiesenthal, FAIA, is Studio Gang’s Principal of Campus Environments. Energized by campuses that are devoted to the creation, questioning, and dissemination of knowledge, Steve has gained national recognition as a connector—of people and places, insight, and architecture—in the spirit of community. On his projects, he guides clients and teams in articulating and translating project visions into physical reality. Prior to joining the Studio, Steve worked for more than twenty-five years as a university architect, leading the development and operations of the built environment during periods of significant growth at the University of Chicago, the University of California San Francisco, and the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. At both UChicago and UCSF, Steve initiated their first campus-wide environmental sustainability programs. Steve was elected 2021-2022 Board of Directors Chair for the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP), and also serves on the boards of the UCSF Design Advisory Committee, and the University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation

Melaney Gorman is an Associate at Heintges and has been working with the firm at their San Francisco office since 2018. Melaney’s experience in building envelope consulting encompasses projects that feature a broad range of system types including, custom unitized curtain wall, window wall, as well as architectural precast and GFRC. Recently completed projects in San Francisco include the MIRA SF tower, Uber Mission Bay Headquarters, and Chorus SF. Melaney holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture.

Alex Rosenthal is an Associate at Heintges and has been working with the firm since 2016. Alex has collaborated with some of the world’s leading architecture firms in the design and technical development of building envelopes on projects internationally, ranging from flagship retail to high-rise residential, commercial, laboratory, and museum programs. Since 2020, he has been based out of Heintges San Francisco office. Mr. Rosenthal holds degrees from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Architecture and a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University’s GSAPP where he received the Lucille Smysyer Lowenfish Memorial Prize.

Architect Jonathan Izen is a Project Leader in Studio Gang’s San Francisco office, where he has been integral to the team designing Mission Rock Building F. He studied architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, and received his Master of Architecture degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. Previously, he worked as a research assistant at the Center for Spatial Research at Columbia, using global and local datasets to study phenomena of the built environment.

George Tolosa is a licensed architect with 20+ years of experience, specializing in the design of commercial office and residential high-rise buildings within urban settings and of a highly technical nature. As Associate Principal at Handel Architects in San Francisco, he brings particular experience in the feasibility study, concept design and entitlement of high-density sites, and extensive experience in the design and detailing of complex, performance driven facade systems. Mr. Tolosa’s current work includes 950 Market Street, a new 12-story mixed-use hotel and residential building occupying the majority of a triangular block where San Francisco’s Union Square, Tenderloin and South of Market districts meet. Previous projects include serving as Senior Designer for the 340 Fremont Street Tower in San Francisco, as well as Design Director for the Austin Proper Hotel & Residences. Prior to joining Handel Architects, Mr. Tolosa worked in the San Francisco and London studios of Woods Bagot, where he designed various mixed-use buildings, including 100 Bishopsgate and the Ham Yard Hotel in London, and 405 Bourke Street in Melbourne. Additional past experience includes the design of projects internationally, with towers in China, UAE, UK, Russia and Australia. Mr. Tolosa earned his Bachelor of Architecture from Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo and his Master in Architecture degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

John Kuchen, AIA NCARB LEED AP BD+C is a Technical Architect, and Associate Principal at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. During his 17 years at SOM, John has designed enclosures for high-profile projects around the globe. John’s broad portfolio includes high-rise office and residential towers, life sciences laboratories, and even automotive R&D facilities. He has played a significant role in designing civic architecture for the United States in China, including the US Embassy in Beijing, the US Embassy New Office Building Expansion in Beijing, and the US Consulate General in Guangzhou. As a technical designer, John specializes in architectural systems integration and development, and acts as an advisor for QA/QC in the studio, and in the field.

Javier Arizmendi, FAIA LEED AP BD+C, is a Design Principal in the San Francisco office of SOM, where he leads the design of a significant portfolio of projects in various geographic locations and practice areas. Over the past 25 years, Javier has designed and executed a significant body of work, demonstrating that regionalism and technology are not exclusive, but complementary to each other. He has designed advanced, innovative architectural and engineering solutions that resonate with the place. Anchored in their specific environmental, cultural, and urban context, his buildings have improved and strengthened our cities and the spaces in which we live and work, with a humanistic architecture that recognizes and supports the diversity of cultures, people, and places. Javier earned Bachelor’s degrees in engineering and art history from Dartmouth College, and completed a Master’s in Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He currently teaches at UC Berkeley.

Francesca Oliveira, AIA NCARB LEED AP BD+C, is a Principal at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, where she champions sustainability principles on projects across the globe, and leads the firm’s West Coast Technical Designers. Working across all building types from civic buildings to skyscrapers, Francesca consistently generates creative solutions that expand our capacity for environmental resilience. She strategically synthesizes elements of vernacular architecture with innovations in building science. With curiosity and ambition, she pushes her projects to achieve even greater reductions in both embodied and operational carbon. Francesca specializes in high-performance buildings and strategic programming. Francesca earned a Bachelor of Architecture from Drexel University, and a Master’s in Business Administration from Villanova University. She currently teaches at the Academy of Art.

Dionne Darling has been with The A|N Media Group for over six years. As A|N’s Associate Publisher, she manages A|N’s Texas headquarters and handles accounts in the West, Southwest and Europe territories. Dionne has over 28 years of direct B2B sales, management and business development experience.

George Tolosa is a licensed architect with 20+ years of experience, specializing in the design of commercial office and residential high-rise buildings within urban settings and of a highly technical nature. As Associate Principal at Handel Architects in San Francisco, he brings particular experience in the feasibility study, concept design and entitlement of high-density sites, and extensive experience in the design and detailing of complex, performance driven facade systems. Mr. Tolosa’s current work includes 950 Market Street, a new 12-story mixed-use hotel and residential building occupying the majority of a triangular block where San Francisco’s Union Square, Tenderloin and South of Market districts meet. Previous projects include serving as Senior Designer for the 340 Fremont Street Tower in San Francisco, as well as Design Director for the Austin Proper Hotel & Residences. Prior to joining Handel Architects, Mr. Tolosa worked in the San Francisco and London studios of Woods Bagot, where he designed various mixed-use buildings, including 100 Bishopsgate and the Ham Yard Hotel in London, and 405 Bourke Street in Melbourne. Additional past experience includes the design of projects internationally, with towers in China, UAE, UK, Russia and Australia. Mr. Tolosa earned his Bachelor of Architecture from Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo and his Master in Architecture degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.