Expert Takes
from the
Great Lakes

• 
  Dionne Darling
  VP, Brand Partnerships
  Architect's Newspaper

  Dionne Darling

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  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.

• 
  Co-chair
  Matt Kreilich, AIA
  Principal
  Snow Kreilich

  Matt Kreilich, AIA

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  Matthew Kreilich is a design principal at Snow Kreilich Architects in Minneapolis. Recently the studio received AIA’s 2018 Architecture Firm Award, an honor that recognizes a practice that consistently has produced distinguished architecture for at least 10 years. He is the heart of the firm’s collaborative working model with an active participation in both strategic and detail design resolution. Matt provides his design leadership on all the firm’s projects. Additionally, he has taught at the University of Minnesota College of Design and Syracuse University as well as participated in visiting critiques at GSD and Washington University. Matthew was recently a juror for the Progressive Architecture Award and continues to participate on AIA juries throughout the country as well as lectures in both academic and professional settings.

Presidential libraries often evoke a formal typology that encapsulates their dual-purpose to preserve historic materials and ultimately make them accessible to the public. However, often the architect goes beyond this to truly design a space that encompasses the legacy of the president, no easy feat. Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architecture will present on the new Obama Presidential Center, located in Chicago’s Jackson Park and slated to open the summer of 2021. The team behind the tall clad-stone museum with beveled edges and inspiring landscape will speak to the technical feats, challenges, and methodologies that transformed the center beyond a library and into a resource for collective civic engagement.

• 
  Speaker
  Paul Schulhof, AIA
  Partner
  Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects

  Paul Schulhof, AIA

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  Paul Schulhof is a partner at the architecture firm of Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects + Partners (TWBTA). He joined TWBTA in 1999 and became the third partner in the practice in 2013. Paul has been a Partner on a wide range of projects including the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, the US Embassy in Mexico City, a technology campus for TATA Consultancy Services in India, the expansion of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City, a dormitory for Haverford College, and award-winning houses in Connecticut and New York. Before joining TWBTA, Paul was an architect at Weiss/Manfredi Architects and at Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Planners where he worked on the restoration of New York’s Grand Central Terminal. He received his Bachelor of Science from Cornell University and Master of Architecture from the University of Virginia. Paul has taught a graduate-level architecture studio at Yale University and has served as a guest critic at multiple institutions.

• 
  Speaker
  Azadeh Rashidi
  Architect, Project Manager
  Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects

  Azadeh Rashidi

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  Azadeh Rashidi is a project manager and architect at New York based Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners. She holds both Bachelors and Master of Architecture degrees from the University of Virginia, where she was also a lecturer. Previous to her work at TWBTA, she was an associate at WG Clark Architects and served as the project architect for several projects, including the award winning addition to the School of Architecture at UVA. During her time at TWBTA, Azadeh has been involved in several high profile projects, including the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago and the addition and renovation of Dartmouth College’s Hood Museum of Art. Currently, Azadeh is working on the renovation of David Geffen Hall, home of the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center.

• 
  Speaker
  Elisa Testa
  Architect, Project Manager
  Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects

  Elisa Testa

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  Elisa Testa is an architect and project manager at Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners. Elisa has a master degree in Architecture from the University of Genova, Italy and has been working in New York City since the year 2000. She joined TWBTA in 2003 and is currently managing the expansion project for the Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, MI. While at TWBTA, Elisa has overseen the development of the interiors for the U.S. Embassy Complex in Mexico City and was the project architect for the LeFrak Center recreational facility in Prospect Park, the TATA Consultancy Services Banyan Park Development Center and Recreation building, and for three New York Public School library renovations, sponsored by the Robinhood Library Foundation Initiative. Prior to TWBTA Elisa was at Helfand Myerberg and Guggenheimer, where she worked on the Swarthmore College Science Center and was project architect for a McKim Mead and White New York City Public Library renovation.

• 
  Moderator
  Katie Angen
  Program Manager
  The Architect's Newspaper

  Katie Angen

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  Katie Angen is the program manager at the Architect’s Newspaper. Her experience in project management and dedication to the technical achievements of the facade excellence come together to help serve members of the AEC community through Facades+ events and weekly case studies published to facadesplus.com. Before joining the Architect’s Newspaper, she worked in architectural consulting and grant writing, demonstrating a passion for building code and mass timber. Katie successful co-authored a Wood Innovation Grant (WIG) through the USDA Forest Service which analyzed the history of affordable multifamily housing in the US and traced improvements in construction methods along way. The project presented – 340+ Dixwell, a planned mass timber, passive house, affordable housing project – was awarded $1.58 million in Federal 9% Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) from the CT Housing Finance Authority.

While masonry is one of the most durable and oldest manufactured products, its continued interface with other claddings continues to improve its potential and performance. Brick and masonry are heavy earthen materials that can even be rendered as light or delicate if applied with innovative building techniques. Two projects that highlight this color, texture, and formal delight are Kahler Slater's Resch Expo in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin and Wheeler Kearns Architects' Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School in Chicago. With particualr programmatic needs, the designers behind these projects will share their methodologies for achieving complex masonry envelopes that transcend the well known accolades of brick.

• 
  Speaker
  Noah Luken, AIA, LEED AP
  Project Architect
  Wheeler Kearns Architects

  Noah Luken, AIA, LEED AP

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  Noah joined Wheeler Kearns Architects in January of 2013. He has been a licensed architect since 2009 and a LEED accredited professional since 2006. While growing up in Chicago and in college at Columbia University, Noah has been fascinated by the complexity and richness of urban conditions. He studied philosophy as an undergraduate, but his interest in buildings, infrastructure, and technology led him to architecture, which he studied at MIT. Noah has extensive experience in a wide variety of project types, including large-scale educational projects, historically sensitive adaptive reuse projects, and interior renovations for commercial and institutional clients. His most recent projects include the renovation of the Conaway Center for Columbia College Chicago, the Flaxman Library renovation for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School Expansion which has received numerous awards including three AIA Chicago Design Excellence Awards, one being a Design Detail Award for the building’s facade.

• 
  Speaker
  Dan Swiatek, SE, PE, LEED AP
  Senior Associate
  Thornton Tomasetti

  Dan Swiatek, SE, PE, LEED AP

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  Dan Swiatek joined Thornton Tomasetti in 2007 and has worked on complex projects across multiple sectors, including commercial, healthcare, education and aviation. He is a licensed Structural Engineer (SE) in Illinois, a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) in Michigan, and is a LEED Accredited Professional. In addition to his role at Thornton Tomasetti, Dan is a Lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago teaching structures courses in the Architecture, Interior Arch, and Designed Objects department.

• 
  Speaker
  Ryan Freeland, AIA
  Associate Principal
  Kahler Slater

  Ryan Freeland, AIA

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  Ryan’s background includes proven leadership skills and a thoughtful approach to planning and design of large-scale environments, including the Minnesota Twins Target Field enhancements, Minnesota United FC’s Allianz Field and Epic’s Deep Space Auditorium. As a key member of our Higher Education and Sports + Recreation teams, his technical understanding and design creativity ensure we provide our clients with tremendous value.

• 
  Speaker
  Michael Vogel, PE, SE
  Principal
  GRAEF

  Michael Vogel, PE, SE

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  Mike has an outstanding record of completing a variety of consulting engineering projects. His 20 years of structural project experience includes the design of new buildings, building additions, and evaluation and repair of buildings. Mike has the proven ability to work with owner, architect and contractors on large complex projects. He is experienced in using various structural analysis and design software as well as concrete analysis and design software. Additionally, he is experienced in long-span steel structures and vibration controlled structural design.

• 
  Co-chair
  Mark Holsinger, LEED AP
  Director, Design Leader
  Omniplan

  Mark Holsinger, LEED AP

  ×

  

  Mark is a Senior Design Leader and an expert in understanding the design vision and translating it through the visualization, master planning and throughout the life of the project. Mark has worked in many project sectors and excels in public spaces. Mark is especially adept at listening carefully to the needs of the client and transforming their dreams into a reality. In a former career, Mark designed and fabricated custom furniture and architectural pieces, giving him a unique background and perspective on design, from the macro to the micro-level. A few of Marks notable and award-winning projects include The Boardwalk at Granite Park and The Dallas Holocaust & Human Rights Museum. Mark’s favorite architects are Jean Prouve/Charles & Ray Eames. When Mark isn’t designing, he’s welding, making things, and spending time with his young twins.

Combined with growing expectations for high performance, building enclosure design is now required to satisfy a large number of performance parameters that were not given a great deal of consideration in the past. Building enclosures were always expected to be durable and address issues like energy efficiency, daylighting, indoor air quality, fire safety, thermal comfort, and carbon footprint, but when designing for a federal client there are considerable additional hurdles to overcome. With the successful completion of multiple federal projects completed recently, this panel will explore those challenges and showcase best practices for designing federal enclosure.

• 
  Speaker
  Doug Gerlach, AIA, LEED AP, CPHC
  Senior Associate
  Snow Kreilich

  Doug Gerlach, AIA, LEED AP, CPHC

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  Doug’s design work is rooted in a deep curiosity about the physical, cultural, and organizational context of the work. Through a research-driven and iterative process, Doug seeks holistic design solutions that mine this context and find design opportunity in technical, budgetary, and site constraints. His past projects demonstrate a commitment to the careful execution of these solutions through a tireless refinement of construction detail, and collaborative integration of building systems into a cohesive whole.Doug’s professional experience is diverse in scale and use, ranging from single family residences to complex governmental, educational and arts facilities. Past projects include Northrop Performing Arts Center at the University of Minnesota, Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center at Macalester College, Marlboro Music Festival Musician’s Cottages, Huss Center for the Performing Arts at Saint Paul Academy, and the Café/Entry Expansion of the Walker Arts Center. Doug’s work has been published nationally and recognized with multiple AIA Minnesota and AIA Wisconsin awards, and an AIA National Interior Award.

• 
  Speaker
  Sarah Berseth, PE
  Mechanical Engineer
  HGA

  Sarah Berseth, PE

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  Sarah Berseth, PE, is a Mechanical Engineer at HGA, where she directs mechanical infrastructure and energy systems for corporate offices, historic renovations, and office tenant improvements. She specializes in energy modeling and sustainability in coordination with the firm’s architecture and engineering teams to develop high-performance buildings and facades that contribute to occupant wellbeing. Among her notable public projects are the , in progress in Baltimore County, Maryland, with GSA; the Ramsey County Library-Shoreview in Minnesota, which won a national First Place Technology Award from ASHRAE; and the B.H. Whipple Federal Office Building Modernization in Minneapolis, which won a GSA Citation in Engineering Design Award. Additionally, Berseth serves as Minneapolis Office Director, overseeing daily administrative and operational functions of the 240-person office. Berseth has a Bachelor of Architectural Engineering from Pennsylvania State University. She joined HGA in 2004.

• 
  Speaker
  Sean Garrett, NCARB, PMP, LEED AP (BD+C), BECxP, GSA, PBS
  Office of Design & Construction
  General Services Administration

  Sean Garrett, NCARB, PMP, LEED AP (BD+C), BECxP, GSA, PBS

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  A licensed architect and subject matter expert with the U.S. General Services Administration’s Public Buildings Service, Sean provides design quality assurance for GSA’s capital construction program nationwide with an emphasis on the delivery of high-performance building enclosure systems. Sean reviews designs, oversees commissioning, and conducts forensic investigations of building failures. Sean co-authored the revised “GSA Commissioning Guide” (September 2020), and he founded GSA’s Building Enclosure Working Group as a venue for continuing education. As past Chief Architect for GSA’s Mid-Atlantic region, Sean oversaw the implementation of national Design Excellence policies and provided leadership, analysis, and technical direction for regional design programs and projects. In the last decade, Sean has led the selection of architects, engineers, and construction contractors for federal projects with an estimated total construction value of more than one billion dollars. Sean resides in Philadelphia with an 11-year-old quarterback and their 90-lb golden retriever, Champ.

• 
  Co-chair
  Don Semple, AIA
  Partner
  Krueck Sexton Partners

  Don Semple, AIA

  ×

  

  Don joined the firm upon graduating from the College of Architecture, at Kansas State University, in 2006. As part of his education, he spent time studying abroad in Finland, taking in the works of great Scandinavian Architects like Aalto, Saarinen, Asplund, and Lewerentz. Along with his background in construction, woodworking and sculpture, Scandinavia left in indelible mark on Don; bringing to the fore an insatiable curiosity in the human relationship to light, form, environment, detail, and materiality. Throughout his years with the office, Don has been fortunate to contribute to a wide variety of projects at all phases of development. A few of the notable projects he’s worked on include the Spertus Institute, 1100 First Street, 1730 Pennsylvania Avenue, Chicago Children’s Museum at Grant Park, Eisenhower Memorial competition, and the GSA Federal Office Building in Florida. Currently Don is working on projects for the Department of State, and our renovation of Franklin Center Lobby. Don teaches online classes for blackspectacles.com, and co–teaches with Mark Sexton at Northwestern University. He’s an active volunteer in his local community of Logan Square, leading the design efforts to rebuild the square toward a more pedestrian and bike–friendly urban hub.

• 
  Co-chair
  Mark Holsinger, LEED AP
  Director, Design Leader
  Omniplan

  Mark Holsinger, LEED AP

  ×

  

  Mark is a Senior Design Leader and an expert in understanding the design vision and translating it through the visualization, master planning and throughout the life of the project. Mark has worked in many project sectors and excels in public spaces. Mark is especially adept at listening carefully to the needs of the client and transforming their dreams into a reality. In a former career, Mark designed and fabricated custom furniture and architectural pieces, giving him a unique background and perspective on design, from the macro to the micro-level. A few of Marks notable and award-winning projects include The Boardwalk at Granite Park and The Dallas Holocaust & Human Rights Museum. Mark’s favorite architects are Jean Prouve/Charles & Ray Eames. When Mark isn’t designing, he’s welding, making things, and spending time with his young twins.