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.

Luisina is an award-winning architect that started her professional career in Washington D.C. working on modern residential design.  Graduate school at Rice University brought her to Houston and Page.  Her prolific time at Page has run the gamut on project scale and program complexity including international master plans to laboratory buildings for national academic clients, and regional pediatric hospitals to municipal aviation facilities.

Luisina co-leads the Design Studio in the Houston office, and it doesn’t take long to recognize that she thrives in a team environment and excels at rallying her colleagues behind a cause and integrated process to get a job done.  Luisina is inspired daily by being part of a studio that aspires to make lives better through design by challenging prescribed ideas and staying engaged on advances in the architecture and construction industry.  Her work demonstrates a genuine interest in meeting clients’ goals, working creatively within established budgets, and developing high performing building designs that act as responsible stewards of natural resources.

While her experience ranges from mixed use housing and hospitality projects to repositioning corporate office buildings, Luisina’s favorite program types lie in the Academic market sector.  Her passion for inspiring young minds comes across in her work creating engaging learning spaces for all ages.  Her design process revolves around the fundamental notion that the learning environment is part of the curriculum.  In the last decade, she has completed work on several child development centers for various Fortune 500 clients and the experience has been extremely enlightening and influenced her design thinking across all the market sectors in which she works.

Mentoring others, encouraging professional growth, and fostering a collaborative environment are fundamental drivers for Luisina.  She was one of the founding members of a group at Page focusing on women in leadership development.  She also has served in leadership roles such as AIA Houston Board Member and Chair of the Design Awards Committee for AIA Houston Chapter, which afforded her a valuable opportunity to observe the annual design awards jury deliberations.  Knowing that professional development goes beyond the workplace, she has volunteered in several youth organizations that expose elementary school girls to a wide range of careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, math, and of course, art.

Aaron Seward is Editor-in-Chief of The Architect’s Newspaper. Seward is an award-winning editor whose career has centered on interpreting architecture for the profession and the general public. He was editor of Texas Architect magazine for six years and prior to that held several positions at AN, including executive editor. In addition to those publications, Seward’s writing on architecture, culture, and the built environment has appeared in Architect, Curbed, Domus, Metropolis, and other publications. He has a BA in Literature, Writing and the Arts from The New School for Social Research.

Julie Freund is an architectural sales representative for YKK AP covering the greater Houston area and surrounding counties, as well as Lake Charles, LA. She has over ten years of experience in residential and commercial glass and glazing. In her role, Julie provides sales and customer support to the glazing community. Additionally, she provides design and engineering support to the architectural community as well as AIA approved continuing education courses. She is also a docent with the Architecture Center Houston.

Suzanne’s ability to translate myriad sources of information into a concise project delivery plan goes unrivaled due to her years of technical experience, and devotion to her clients and team members. Since joining Gensler in 2008, Suzanne has championed some of the firm’s most prominent, large-scale projects including Shanghai Tower, Halliburton North Belt Campus, and most recently, the repositioning of Houston Center. She also serves on the Firmwide and Regional Large Project Committees for her expertise on large, complex projects.

As Principal, Suzanne leads teams in Gensler Houston’s Community studio focused on complex projects in the science, education, and culture sectors. Based on her successes in creating collegial corporate campuses and specialty labs — from occupational training to research to quality and testing — clients like Aspen Aerogels, TechnipFMC, and Halliburton have come to rely on Suzanne’s expertise to deliver spaces that bring people together for learning and innovation.

Dean Strombom, FAIA, LEED® BD&C
Strategy Leader, Principal

With a Gensler career spanning four decades and a portfolio of more than 50 million square feet, Dean leads the planning and design of corporate campuses, commercial office buildings, workplace interiors and mixed-use developments. He is the South Central Region’s strategic advisor to the Consulting + Real Estate practice area, and a Houston office leader. A highly regarded workplace performance specialist and frequent speaker at industry events across the U.S., Dean leverages his unique blend of education in psychology, sociology and architecture to offer strategic real estate and design insight. He is co-author of The Commercial Real Estate Revolution and formerly chaired the Advisory Board of the University Of Houston Graduate School Of Real Estate at Bauer College. Dean is actively involved in Houston chapters of professional organizations including NAIOP, ULI, HOLBA, AIA and CoreNet.

Cameron joined RIOS in 2014 after honing his skills in Palm Springs, CA as a lead project designer working on commercial, civic, and educational projects. He enjoys wearing multiple hats within the office, where there are always opportuni- ties to explore projects of varying types, scales, and experiences.

Born and raised in Michigan, Cam received his Bachelor of Science in Architecture and Master of Architecture from the University of Michigan, and is still partial to the summertime lake life and snowy winters of his home state. His educational background in digital fabrication techniques and computational design remains a tangential interest for him and can be found embedded in his work.

Ben’s experience spans a wide range of project types and scales, but there is a consistent focus on spatial experience, providing natural light where possible and exploring the character of a spaces. Ben conceptualizes the design in 3-dimensions through an inquisitive process of breaking down the big picture design intent into its individual components. It is through this thought process that technical architectural elements and building systems can be married seamlessly and be either concealed or celebrated. Open dialogue and exploration with the client, users, design team and contractor create a cohesive and thoughtful design while also giving ownership to all parties.

Ben received his Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Environmental Design from The University of Houston in 2008, but his fascination with the built environment started much earlier in life. Early childhood was filled with custom Lego and erector set creations and helping his father with woodworking projects in the garage. The desire to create hand crafted objects in his free time continues to this day designing/building custom furniture projects and building robotics with his two children. It is a strong belief that we can establish a stronger understanding of how to design by physically building things. The digital design process can be somewhat blinding in that it will show you what you want to see, but the physical design process can show you what can be.

Luisina is an award-winning architect that started her professional career in Washington D.C. working on modern residential design.  Graduate school at Rice University brought her to Houston and Page.  Her prolific time at Page has run the gamut on project scale and program complexity including international master plans to laboratory buildings for national academic clients, and regional pediatric hospitals to municipal aviation facilities.

Luisina co-leads the Design Studio in the Houston office, and it doesn’t take long to recognize that she thrives in a team environment and excels at rallying her colleagues behind a cause and integrated process to get a job done.  Luisina is inspired daily by being part of a studio that aspires to make lives better through design by challenging prescribed ideas and staying engaged on advances in the architecture and construction industry.  Her work demonstrates a genuine interest in meeting clients’ goals, working creatively within established budgets, and developing high performing building designs that act as responsible stewards of natural resources.

While her experience ranges from mixed use housing and hospitality projects to repositioning corporate office buildings, Luisina’s favorite program types lie in the Academic market sector.  Her passion for inspiring young minds comes across in her work creating engaging learning spaces for all ages.  Her design process revolves around the fundamental notion that the learning environment is part of the curriculum.  In the last decade, she has completed work on several child development centers for various Fortune 500 clients and the experience has been extremely enlightening and influenced her design thinking across all the market sectors in which she works.

Mentoring others, encouraging professional growth, and fostering a collaborative environment are fundamental drivers for Luisina.  She was one of the founding members of a group at Page focusing on women in leadership development.  She also has served in leadership roles such as AIA Houston Board Member and Chair of the Design Awards Committee for AIA Houston Chapter, which afforded her a valuable opportunity to observe the annual design awards jury deliberations.  Knowing that professional development goes beyond the workplace, she has volunteered in several youth organizations that expose elementary school girls to a wide range of careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, math, and of course, art.

Mo is a senior building performance analyst at Page Southerland Page. Prior to joining the Houston office, Mo was a researcher and co-instructor at the department of Civil engineering at McMaster University in Canada where he also received his PhD. His research focuses on the integration of autonomous systems with design and multi-objective optimization platforms. His work has been published in Energy and Buildings, Transportation Research, and the IEEE, he also serves as a reviewer for several journals. Mo holds a bachelor’s and a Master of Architectural Engineering from Cairo University. He has practiced in numerous roles with engineering and architecture firms and organizations in Canada and the Middle East, including NGA in Toronto, and RCS limited consultants. Mo is also the co-founder of the Canadian Design Bureau Collaborative.

Alfonso is a registered architect with a strong interest and experience in Resilience / High Performance Based Design, Building Performance Modeling & Simulations (Daylight/Glare, Solar, CFD, Thermal and Energy Modeling), Performance Parametrics, Solar Form Finding and Performance Oriented Design Integration.

He has been involved in over 180 LEED and non – LEED projects in the US, Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia. He has written whitepapers and presented at prestigious conferences such as SIMBuild, Advanced Building Skins, the Performance Huddle and PLEA among others..

Alfonso has taught Environmental Technologies at the graduate level and, as invited design juror, he has also participated in design critiques on both graduate and undergraduate levels at the University of Houston, PVAMU, University of DC and the Pratt Institute in New York. He was a Tutor and the Coordinator of the Architectural Association Visiting School Houston.

He is a graduate of the Sustainable Environmental Design Master program at the Architectural Association in London as well as the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design at the University of Houston. Alfonso is a LEED Accredited Professional.

Jenni has had a protective dedication to the environment since the start of her education, specifically choosing the University of Oregon for its sustainability-driven architecture program. She now commits her energy and time to the Building Science Team at Page, assisting clients in anything ranging from achieving LEED building certification to decarbonization and optimizing daylight. Beyond client relationship-building, she is happily teaching fellow colleagues and students about impactful and resilient sustainable design. Ultimately, she strives to be a resource to all those around her and is actively working towards a more sustainable and equitable world that works for everyone.

Prior to joining GATE Precast, Marc served as an Outside Sales Engineer for nine years serving the industrial market, oil & gas, chemical, aggregates, cement manufacturing and power industries. His sales management experience is invaluable in his current role working with architects, contractors and owners in the early stages of design.
Education: University at Albany, Bachelor of Arts: Mathematics (2006)

Brian White is the Technical Manager for the Americas Insulating Glass team at H.B. Fuller Company, where he manages research and development and technical service for North America. Brian has been with H.B. Fuller for 10 years, starting as a scientist developing insulating glass sealants and gaining experience and familiarity within the fenestration industry. Currently, he is active in the Insulating Glass Manufacturer’s Alliance (IGMA), Insulating Glass Certification Council (IGCC), American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA), and supports activities in ASTM and the National Glass Association (NGA). He earned his B.A. in Biochemistry from St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Minnesota.

John Rovi has nearly two decades of progressive experience in the fenestration and exterior façade industry. His roles in project management, facade consulting, and most recently in architectural business development for Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope® provide a wide breadth of industry expertise. John frequently presents technical yet easy-to-understand topics to the architectural community, engineers, developers, and owners. His audiences have ranged from 15 to 1,250 people spanning five countries. Over the past nine years, John has also written the blog “Mind Your Business” for USGlass Magazine, providing practical advice on sales, presentations, marketing, and how to drive success both personally and professionally.

Aaron Seward is Editor-in-Chief of The Architect’s Newspaper. Seward is an award-winning editor whose career has centered on interpreting architecture for the profession and the general public. He was editor of Texas Architect magazine for six years and prior to that held several positions at AN, including executive editor. In addition to those publications, Seward’s writing on architecture, culture, and the built environment has appeared in Architect, Curbed, Domus, Metropolis, and other publications. He has a BA in Literature, Writing and the Arts from The New School for Social Research.

John J. Hand, P.E., S.E., LEED AP, is an Associate with Arup with over 16 years experience and leads Arup’s South Region Structural Discipline. His background includes the structural design of Arup’s first steel and CLT project in the Americas at Houston Endowment Headquarters. John has worked on numerous steel, mass timber, and hybrid mass timber building projects across the United States and internationally across multiple markets. With a background in architecture, John collaborates at several architectural university programs and is passionate about fully integrated multi-disciplinary designs.

Rives Taylor, FAIA, LEED Fellow has more than 35 years’ experience in institutional and commercial architecture with 30 years spent focusing on strategic planning, programming, and sustainable design, scaled from facility operations to campus and city planning. A Texas-practicing architect/educator, Rives directs Gensler’s Firmwide Design Resilience Task Force and leads the Gensler Research Institute Resilience Center. He casts a wide net in elevating both the why and how of sustainable design, including students, faculty, professionals, public officials, and the general public. In over 30 years as an adjunct professor at the University of Houston and visiting professor at Rice University, Rives has influenced more than 6,000 students in his technical and high-performance design studios and seminars.

The approaches Rives developed for Gensler not only affect the firm’s extensive practice but also influence clients’ building decisions worldwide. He developed a firm-wide green practice primer called “The Four Tiers of Sustainability,” led the inclusion of sustainable design in the firm’s in-house education program, and in partnership with Architecture 2030 and the Design Futures Council, developed an “eco-charrette” process and developed a building performance metric that is now used in all of Gensler’s projects. He is part of the editorial team that produces the annual “Climate Action Through Design”

Rives has been a general member and occasional board member of the ULI Sustainable Development product council for over 8 years. Locally he has been the inaugural director of the Houston ULI Chapter Building Healthy Places Council. He has engaged in two Professional Advisory Panels for Broward County and for the Duwamish River (Seattle) resilience focus.

In 2015 Rives led Gensler’s delegation to the Paris Climate Conference/Agreement and led the editorial team for the “Impact by Design” publications annually (recent publication: https://www.gensler.com/research-insight/sustainability/2018 ). He is also part of the leadership team rolling out the Gensler Cities Climate Challenge (GC3)

Rives developed design and construction standards for clients such as ExxonMobil, Walmart, ThyssenKrupp, and Toyota are now embedded in those clients’ protocols and are followed worldwide.

Michael Oerth, AIA, LEED AP, is a Technical Architect, and Associate Principal at Skidmore Owing & Merrill. Michael has been with SOM since 2005 and brings over 28 years of domestic and international experience on projects ranging from luxury residential towers, civic buildings, mixed-use, life-science and offices. Michael’s approach as a Technical Architect is informed by his interests in object-making, emerging technology, sustainable design and he has worked on a number of projects that have utilized innovative techniques for energy management. His projects include towers and mixed-use complexes in the US and China. Notable projects include the Agile headquarters in Guangzhou, China; 500 Folsom, 49 South Van Ness in San Francisco and Ralph S. O’Connor New Engineering and Science building at Rice University. He currently is a Professor of Practice at North Carolina State University.

George Ristow is the campus architect at Rice University, overseeing campus planning, design, and preservation of buildings and grounds. George has 18 years of experience in planning and design of higher education facilities and environments. He spent several years at KieranTimberlake in Philadelphia, and in Gensler’s Houston office, prior to joining Rice’s administration in 2017.

In his role as University Architect, George facilitates design consultant selection for major capital projects with Rice’s senior leadership and the Buildings and Grounds Committee of the Board, including several recent design competitions. During project design, he also coordinates design review and milestone approval processes with campus stakeholders and Trustees. He has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, and has served on several design juries. George has a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Michigan and a Master in Architecture from Yale University.

Rives Taylor, FAIA, LEED Fellow has more than 35 years’ experience in institutional and commercial architecture with 30 years spent focusing on strategic planning, programming, and sustainable design, scaled from facility operations to campus and city planning. A Texas-practicing architect/educator, Rives directs Gensler’s Firmwide Design Resilience Task Force and leads the Gensler Research Institute Resilience Center. He casts a wide net in elevating both the why and how of sustainable design, including students, faculty, professionals, public officials, and the general public. In over 30 years as an adjunct professor at the University of Houston and visiting professor at Rice University, Rives has influenced more than 6,000 students in his technical and high-performance design studios and seminars.

The approaches Rives developed for Gensler not only affect the firm’s extensive practice but also influence clients’ building decisions worldwide. He developed a firm-wide green practice primer called “The Four Tiers of Sustainability,” led the inclusion of sustainable design in the firm’s in-house education program, and in partnership with Architecture 2030 and the Design Futures Council, developed an “eco-charrette” process and developed a building performance metric that is now used in all of Gensler’s projects. He is part of the editorial team that produces the annual “Climate Action Through Design”

Rives has been a general member and occasional board member of the ULI Sustainable Development product council for over 8 years. Locally he has been the inaugural director of the Houston ULI Chapter Building Healthy Places Council. He has engaged in two Professional Advisory Panels for Broward County and for the Duwamish River (Seattle) resilience focus.

In 2015 Rives led Gensler’s delegation to the Paris Climate Conference/Agreement and led the editorial team for the “Impact by Design” publications annually (recent publication: https://www.gensler.com/research-insight/sustainability/2018 ). He is also part of the leadership team rolling out the Gensler Cities Climate Challenge (GC3)

Rives developed design and construction standards for clients such as ExxonMobil, Walmart, ThyssenKrupp, and Toyota are now embedded in those clients’ protocols and are followed worldwide.

Elliott Hodges studied at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco (BArch- Distinction) and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (MArch – Honours). He has 22 years of professional experience working in San Francisco, New York and London, UK. Since 2006 Elliott has been working with Farshid Moussavi, first with FOA and now with FMA. Now currently a director, Elliott has managed many of the firm’s major projects, leading external design teams for developments that range in value from £3M to £200M. Elliott’s completed work for FMA includes the acclaimed Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland, USA, Harrods World, London, and flagship stores for Victoria Beckham in London and Hong Kong. He has worked on other notable projects such as the 130 Fenchurch Street office tower, and the Zabludowicz Collection Gallery- both projects in London, UK. Presently he serves as the Design Architect Project Manager for the Ismaili Cultural Center in Houston, which is currently under construction and scheduled for completion in q4 2024.

Jeff Clarke is a Partner at Michael Hsu Office of Architecture, where he has been a critical member of the team since 2013. Jeff has overseen a variety of master planning, architecture, public realm, and interior projects. His notable projects include Montrose Collective, MKT, RiNo Mixed Use and South Congress Hotel. He is additionally overseeing the firm’s public realm consultancy with the Austin Transit Partnership. Jeff is the team lead for Quality Control and serves on the firm’s Sustainability leadership team. Jeff additionally provides executive oversight of the firm’s Houston area projects.

Evan Peterson is a Principal at Radom Capital LLC.

Evan oversees the firm’s development, design, and construction management functions. Throughout his career, Evan has led multidisciplinary teams in the development of over one million square feet of mixed-use office, retail, and master-planned projects.

Evan joined Radom Capital in 2017 and brings a passion for development, place making, exceptional design, project delivery, and collaboration to each of his projects. He has served as the development lead in a variety of complex mixed-use projects. The most rewarding part of his role is creating transformational developments that enrich communities.

Evan currently serves on the board of Bike Houston and helps effectuate change to improve Houston’s bike infrastructure. As an active member of the Urban Land Institute, Evan serves on the ULI Houston Capital Markets Committee as well as the South Main Alliance Technical Assistance Panel. He has taught design seminars at Louisiana State University College of Art and Design and Harbin Technical University School of Architecture. Prior to joining Radom Capital, Evan practiced landscape architecture at SWA group where he was responsible for project management of various urban design studies and master planned communities. He received his Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University.

Luisina is an award-winning architect that started her professional career in Washington D.C. working on modern residential design.  Graduate school at Rice University brought her to Houston and Page.  Her prolific time at Page has run the gamut on project scale and program complexity including international master plans to laboratory buildings for national academic clients, and regional pediatric hospitals to municipal aviation facilities.

Luisina co-leads the Design Studio in the Houston office, and it doesn’t take long to recognize that she thrives in a team environment and excels at rallying her colleagues behind a cause and integrated process to get a job done.  Luisina is inspired daily by being part of a studio that aspires to make lives better through design by challenging prescribed ideas and staying engaged on advances in the architecture and construction industry.  Her work demonstrates a genuine interest in meeting clients’ goals, working creatively within established budgets, and developing high performing building designs that act as responsible stewards of natural resources.

While her experience ranges from mixed use housing and hospitality projects to repositioning corporate office buildings, Luisina’s favorite program types lie in the Academic market sector.  Her passion for inspiring young minds comes across in her work creating engaging learning spaces for all ages.  Her design process revolves around the fundamental notion that the learning environment is part of the curriculum.  In the last decade, she has completed work on several child development centers for various Fortune 500 clients and the experience has been extremely enlightening and influenced her design thinking across all the market sectors in which she works.

Mentoring others, encouraging professional growth, and fostering a collaborative environment are fundamental drivers for Luisina.  She was one of the founding members of a group at Page focusing on women in leadership development.  She also has served in leadership roles such as AIA Houston Board Member and Chair of the Design Awards Committee for AIA Houston Chapter, which afforded her a valuable opportunity to observe the annual design awards jury deliberations.  Knowing that professional development goes beyond the workplace, she has volunteered in several youth organizations that expose elementary school girls to a wide range of careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, math, and of course, art.

Rives Taylor, FAIA, LEED Fellow has more than 35 years’ experience in institutional and commercial architecture with 30 years spent focusing on strategic planning, programming, and sustainable design, scaled from facility operations to campus and city planning. A Texas-practicing architect/educator, Rives directs Gensler’s Firmwide Design Resilience Task Force and leads the Gensler Research Institute Resilience Center. He casts a wide net in elevating both the why and how of sustainable design, including students, faculty, professionals, public officials, and the general public. In over 30 years as an adjunct professor at the University of Houston and visiting professor at Rice University, Rives has influenced more than 6,000 students in his technical and high-performance design studios and seminars.

The approaches Rives developed for Gensler not only affect the firm’s extensive practice but also influence clients’ building decisions worldwide. He developed a firm-wide green practice primer called “The Four Tiers of Sustainability,” led the inclusion of sustainable design in the firm’s in-house education program, and in partnership with Architecture 2030 and the Design Futures Council, developed an “eco-charrette” process and developed a building performance metric that is now used in all of Gensler’s projects. He is part of the editorial team that produces the annual “Climate Action Through Design”

Rives has been a general member and occasional board member of the ULI Sustainable Development product council for over 8 years. Locally he has been the inaugural director of the Houston ULI Chapter Building Healthy Places Council. He has engaged in two Professional Advisory Panels for Broward County and for the Duwamish River (Seattle) resilience focus.

In 2015 Rives led Gensler’s delegation to the Paris Climate Conference/Agreement and led the editorial team for the “Impact by Design” publications annually (recent publication: https://www.gensler.com/research-insight/sustainability/2018 ). He is also part of the leadership team rolling out the Gensler Cities Climate Challenge (GC3)

Rives developed design and construction standards for clients such as ExxonMobil, Walmart, ThyssenKrupp, and Toyota are now embedded in those clients’ protocols and are followed worldwide.

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.