San Diego

Dionne Darling

VP of Brand Partnerships

The Architect’s Newspaper

Dionne Darling has been with The A|N Media Group for over six years. As VP of Brand Partnerships and 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.

Claudia Escala

Co-President

Carrier Johnson + CULTURE

Claudia Escala, RA, LEED AP, is Co-President of Carrier Johnson + CULTURE, a global architecture firm headquartered in San Diego, celebrating 46 years in design excellence. Having earned a Master of Architecture degree at the University of California, San Diego, with 26 years of experience, Claudia is a leader in the firm’s crafting and execution of a diverse design portfolio.

James von Klemperer

President and Design Principal

KPF

James von Klemperer, FAIA RIBA, is President & Design Principal at Kohn Pedersen Fox, where he leads a staff of over 600 architects in nine global offices. Jamie has led the design of projects across many typologies and scales, from city plans, to mixed-use towers and academic buildings. His work focuses on promoting social connection through creating shared spaces. In addition to his work as a designer, Jamie has lectured at universities including Harvard, Columbia, Tsinghua, and Yale.

Philip Ra

Design Principal

Flad

With over 25 years of experience, Philip is a talented design leader capable of project execution from conceptual design through project completion. His passion for both design and digital technology has led him to be an innovator in the use of digital media and design. Philip brings a strong academic background in architecture to his projects and a working knowledge and practice in architectural design from a wide variety of experiences, helping him solve the complex design problems. He leads the design studio in San Francisco on projects throughout California. He has taught and served on juries / lectured at UC Berkeley, USC, SciArc, Woodbury, Cal Poly, AAU, and CCA. He holds a Bachelor of Architecture from University of Southern California and Master of Architecture from Harvard Graduate School of Design

Mauricio Ortega

Associate Principal

Flad

Mauricio has 32 years of extensive experience on a variety of building types, including science and technology, healthcare, workplace, and residential. As a project leader, he incorporates the latest technology and communication tools and is involved in all aspects of the design process. Mauricio holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Rhode Island School of Design and Master of Urban Architecture and Urban Design from Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Alex Rosenthal

Associate

Heintges

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.

Sarah Williams

Senior Director, Design & Construction

Breakthrough Properties

As an accomplished construction and real estate development professional with 20 years of experience, Sarah Williams has established a reputation for planning and executing complex projects with precision and excellence. With expertise in both the planning and construction of complex life science and healthcare projects, Sarah is uniquely positioned to lead projects that require a deep understanding of both fields.

With a master’s degree in construction management, Sarah has honed a wide range of skills that are essential for successful development and execution of projects, including project management, cost estimation, risk assessment, and stakeholder communication. Sarah’s experience in managing large-scale construction projects, combined with a keen attention to detail and an unwavering commitment to quality, has enabled Sarah to deliver results that consistently exceed expectations.

Since joining Breakthrough Properties in 2021, Sarah has been committed to the development and ongoing execution of a 520,000 square foot life science campus, Torrey View by Breakthrough, which has required extensive collaboration with various stakeholders to ensure that the facility meets the unique needs of the life sciences industry and enables Breakthrough to deliver a world-class facility that will become a model for others in the industry at the end of this year when the project delivers.

In addition to Sarah’s professional accomplishments, Sarah is also committed to giving back to the community and has volunteered time and resources to a number of charitable organizations over the years, including NAWIC, Boys & Girls Clubs of San Dieguito and Rescue House Cat Rescue.

Naseema Asif

Senior Architect

RIOS

Naseema views design as an investigation into the dynamics of cultural frameworks and a community’s unique connection to its urban and natural environment. She brings over 18 years of experience to her role and is proficient at orchestrating complex interdisciplinary project teams with a focused vision on an end result that supports the aspirations of the community in which it is situated. She has led cultural, civic, and commercial projects ranging from the repositioning of The Music Center Plaza to a true outdoor performance venue, concept design and entitlements for the Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit (LA ART) urban gondola system, and The Resort at Playa Vista, an AIA LA COTE award-winning LEED Platinum certified community hub. These projects track an ongoing exploration into the seamless integration of tools from architecture, landscape architecture, and interior design to shape inventive placemaking strategies that respond to the unique relationship between a proposed program and the site’s environment. Naseema is inspired by the notion of craft and tectonics. Her personal interest in making manifests through construction as an art form, exploring the juxtaposition of materials and textures in projects which transcend disciplines.

Michael Zanotelli

Facade & Curtain Wall Specialist – Western US & Canada

STI Specified Technologies

Michael has over 20 years of real-world experience on many of largest, high profile projects throughout the Western United States. Through his knowledge and expertise, Michael developed a solid reputation working closely with inspectors, glazing contractors, and curtain wall consultants as a trusted resource on a wide range of curtain wall projects.
Michael is committed to ensure your project stays on budget and gets done right the first time from conception to close out. Prior to his role as Façade and Curtain Wall Specialist for the Western US and Canada, Michael was the Western United States and Hawaii Regional Manager.

Sneh Kumar

Global Director of Sustainability

Kawneer

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.

Chris O’Hara

Founding Principal

Studio NYL

O’Hara is facade director for the Skins Group, a division of Studio NYL, established to provide full service facade design specializing in thermal modeling, moisture/condensation analysis, and in-depth detailing. Although Studio NYL is recognized for its skins work with cutting-edge glass and glazing, their team also specializes in digitally fabricated metal skins, GFRC, reinforced polymers, stone, ultra high performance concrete, terra cotta, and traditional precast. O’Hara is currently working on multiple projects in the Boston area.

Lisa Rammig

Director

Eckersley O’Callaghan

Lisa leads Eckersley O’Callaghan’s West Coast offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles. She joined EOC in 2013 to support the practice’s emerging facade engineering group in London and after playing a significant role in the group’s exceptional growth, Lisa has been responsible for the expansion of EOC’s West Coast presence.

Lisa directs EOC’s R&D efforts, focusing on innovative glass designs and technology.

She remains heavily involved in academia particularly with the Facade Research Group at TU Delft where she pursued her doctoral research and has built strong links between research and industry.

Irene Martin

Facade Team Leader

Arup

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”.

Alex Gutierrez

Design Director

Carrier Johnson + CULTURE

Alex Gutierrez is Associate Principal and Design Director at Carrier Johnson + CULTURE in San Diego. Alex graduated from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, holds a Master of Architecture, and has 15 years of experience in award-winning design for projects in the workplace, mixed-use and academic sectors. His expertise in design technology affords him the ability to transpose his designs into both visual and technical illustrations.

Chris Betts

VP Engineering

Vision Systems

Chris joined Vision Systems, Inc. in 1992, after a decade of experience in the structural engineering industry. Chris brings over 35 years of experience in design, drafting, and computer programming to Vision Systems’ engineering department.

Chris lives with his wife in Lakeside, and has two grown children, a daughter in El Cajon and a son in Fort Collins, Colorado. He loves cycling, backpacking and paddle boarding. He enjoys living outdoors during his annual backcountry mountain biking or wilderness backpacking trip.

Jeff Ogden

Principal

Vision Systems

Jeff grew up in Pittsburgh and went to school at Penn State University, graduating with a degree in Architectural Engineering. Jeff joined Vision Systems in 2017 after spending 23 years working for a general contractor where he managed a wide variety of large-scale commercial projects. Jeff’s oversees the project management group and is responsible for operation delivery on all Vision Systems projects.

Jeff lives in south Orange County with his wife and their two daughters, and enjoys sports (mostly watching his kids from the sidelines on weekends these days) and playing golf. Getting over his fear and taking the plunge down Cornice bowl on Mammoth Mountain a few years back snowboarding with his oldest daughter is one of his more recent memorable events.

Thomas Robinson

Founding Principal

LEVER Architecture

Thomas Robinson is the Founder of LEVER Architecture, a design practice with offices in Portland, Oregon and Los Angeles, California. His firm is widely recognized for material innovation and for pioneering work with Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT). His recent projects include 843 N Spring Street, slated to be one of the largest mass timber buildings in Los Angeles, and first-of-their-kind timber buildings for clients such as The Nature Conservancy and Adidas. Thomas’ work also includes more than $2M in research to develop and test wood building assemblies, and he has lectured on mass timber throughout the US, Europe, and South America. LEVER was recently recognized by Fast Company as one of the world’s most innovative companies; and in 2017, was named to Architectural Record’s Design Vanguard and to the Architectural League of New York’s Emerging Voices.

Ethan Martin

Director of Projects

Generate

Ethan Martin, PE brings a wealth of engineering design experience to the team of developers, architects, and contractors. Having helped develop CLT in the US, Ethan assists general contractors with mass timber constructability and collaborates with architects on construction types and acoustics to create exciting projects for clients. Ethan collaborated with state officials in Oregon to set up the permitting process for tall mass timber buildings. This process developed the prototype buildings creating the Type IV-A, IV-B, and IV-C construction types, which allow for mass timber up to 18 stories. Driven to inform his team and professionals in the AEC industries, Ethan quickly becomes an asset to any multi-discipline project team looking for answers on proformas, construction types, constructability, supply chain, and product usage. He also co-founded the International Mass Timber Conference with Forest Business Network in Portland, now one of the leading mass timber conferences in the world.

Brooke Whitsell

Timber Engineer

Timberlab

Brooke graduated from Gonzaga University with a degree in Civil Engineering. She started her career at ABHT as a Structural Design Engineer. She currently works at Timberlab as a Senior Project Engineer. Brooke has a knack for finding sustainable building solutions. She is an advocate for mass timber buildings, especially in projects where other building materials typically dominate the market. Throughout the entire project, Brooke works with the design team to ensure the mass timber scope is executed seamlessly.

Kerstin Kraft

Associate

Gensler

Kerstin Kraft is a licensed architect at Gensler San Diego and has 15 years of experience with an expertise in façade design and execution. She is a Project Architect on Downtown San Diego’s IQHQ Research and Development District, focused on delivering a unique but harmonious façade for all 5 buildings of the 1,700,000+ sq ft mixed-use campus.

Alex Falcón

Building Engineer

Eckersley O’Callaghan

Alex is a facade engineer at Eckersley O’Callaghan, having joined in 2019 with a background in architecture and building technology. His expertise lies in solving complex design challenges through computational analysis combined with knowledge of emerging building technologies. Alex is a project engineer on the Downtown San Diego’s IQHQ R&D District, focused on coordinating consistent facade detailing and engineering across all 5 buildings of the campus.

Alex Gutierrez

Design Director

Carrier Johnson + CULTURE

Alex Gutierrez is Associate Principal and Design Director at Carrier Johnson + CULTURE in San Diego. Alex graduated from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, holds a Master of Architecture, and has 15 years of experience in award-winning design for projects in the workplace, mixed-use and academic sectors. His expertise in design technology affords him the ability to transpose his designs into both visual and technical illustrations.