Making A Social Impact

The path to becoming an architect is as broad as it is long and for some, it is a road best navigated alongside their passions. Emerging professional Sara Loy knew she wanted to work in architecture and set about pursuing her career with an internship that later turned into employment at the Los Angles office of Architecture firm Pfeiffer. 

Loy’s dedication to her work complimented her passion for design, eventually leading her to seek out opportunities to share her skills beyond the firm. Similar to a design problem, she started with what she knew. During her time at Pfeifer she had the opportunity to get to know colleague Jim Sarratori, RA. and learn about his non-profit work as Operations Director for the Los Angeles Chapter of Open Architecture Collaborative (OACLA). 

OACLA is a chapter of the non-profit formerly known as Architecture for Humanity. Each chapter located across the globe, works to positively affect change in their communities and cities focusing on issues relevant to their specific needs. As Loy describes the goals of OACLA, excitement spills from her voice. “We offer pro bono design and architecture services for community good. The intention is not to take work away from professional architects, but to bring architecture to non-profits and individuals who need it for a project that is serving the community that they wouldn’t otherwise have access to.” 

Access to professionals with design and planning skills is a fundamental component in many not for profit projects but it isn’t their only goal. 

OAC (National) Mission Statement:

We develop educational programming for designers and architects to grow as leaders and changemakers while simultaneously producing placemaking programs with community developers and associations to inspire ownership and civic engagement in traditionally marginalized communities. 

Loy agrees. “We work to empower emerging professionals to have a platform where they can act as a project manager at an early stage of their professional life.  I met Jim (at Pfeiffer) and because he got to know me in a professional capacity at work he knew that I had strong ethics and would be dedicated to the cause.” These types of experiences are critical to the development of emerging professionals. When Loy first wanted to work with OACLA she began as a volunteer assisting with the planning of a joint fundraising event. She helped to plan it and her success led her to become an event coordinator for the group. She soon began to take on larger responsibilities and within six months she became their Marketing Outreach Director.  

The types of soft skills required by these roles are hard to teach and most new professionals don’t get the opportunity within their first few years. Many emerging professionals find that after graduation, even voicing their opinion can be challenging, especially if they don’t know what that opinion is yet. Kevin J Singh, an Associate Professor of Architecture in the School of Design at Louisiana Tech University expressed this key piece of advice in his ebook, Beginning Your Career in Architecture: Candid Advice for Emerging Professionals.  “As an emerging professional recently thrown into the mix of seasoned veterans in the field, it is hard to find your voice and share your opinions. For the first couple of years, it will seem like you should already know the answer to the questions you ask. Everyone was once in your shoes and continuing to ask questions will propel your knowledge and skills forward.” (Kevin J Singh. “Beginning Your Career in Architecture: 3 Candid Pieces of Advice for Emerging Professionals” 4 Dec 2015. ArchDaily. Accessed 5 April 2018. <https://www.archdaily.com/778295/beginning-your-career-in-architecture-3-candid-pieces-of-advice-for-emerging-professionals) 

The rewards from doing things outside of a job can be two-fold. Loy asserts that, “by not allowing money to be a motivator, the personal reason (to get involved) could be to help the community or to gain experience in high levels of the profession.”  Participation is important for emerging professionals and roles such as the one taken on by Loy entail tangible skills she can put on a resume. “It gives future employers and your current employer confidence in your skills. There are huge benefits to your professional career by doing work outside your daily job. It also gives you the ability to interact with other emerging professionals and higher up professionals to act as mentors. They can help you on that next step in your career. “   

An example of a current project with OACLA describes the ways these outside volunteer opportunities can reward an emerging professional. Because each chapter is looking at what the individual community needs are, the LA chapter has focused on homelessness.  The world of transitional housing and shelters is challenging to navigate especially when it involves “a maze of interested parties” as Architect Hannah Wood describes in her article Architects of Social Responsibility: Views of Humanitarian Architecture in Practice that was published in 2017 by Nonprofit Quarterly. OACLA worked with Home At Last an organization that finds shelters and long-term housing and immediate need shelters as part of a larger initiative. Loy explains, “We worked with Home At Last on a project at the Avalon Carver Community Center in South LA. They had unused space and wanted to open a homeless shelter within it. In the interim of working on a larger project for them, we did a bed and bathroom layout so that within the course of a month we were able to get 100 beds into their center. Now, it’s at almost full capacity. We teach our processes as well to help the community members to be able to move forward.” These interactions with non-profits not only allow individuals engaged in the field of architecture to give back, it is also reciprocated as a learning process together. Loy recalls a challenge they went up against early in the planning of the shelter. “We went to the city and did code research. We found out the zoning of that area. We took this information and gave them advice on whether they should even try to build homeless housing space in certain centers that they operate.” 

The community center is part of a very important narrative to the people in the area. Founded in the 1950’s by Mary B. Henry it nearly closed down before it was re-invigorated by the new executive director Jamico Elder. He approached Open Architecture Collaborative after an Internet search. Elder has a strong vision of the center as a place that can spread positive growth for the people of that community. It is because of OACLA that Loy is directly part of that expanding vision. 

Working for a non-profit can involve hours of time and commitment in addition to workloads and studying for exams. Loy makes the time. On the influence of her work at OACLA she says, “of course my work at Pfeiffer helped a lot with me being able to function in my role at OACLA so now becoming a Director I’m learning a lot of skills that are helping me. I spoke at Dwell on Design recently and have also met with Deputy Mayor Brenda Shockley to discuss the Avalon Carver Community Center. It is helping me to use my new skills in public speaking and building my confidence in my ability to lead. So for instance, I went to a conference for Pfeiffer recently, and now I’m much more confidant networking with other professionals. It is pushing me to ask at work to participate more in leadership roles such as going on interviews and interacting more with the client and taking a larger project management role.” 

In addition to the many benefits of participating in outside community-based work, Open Architecture Collaborative is committed to making it a key foundation in an emerging professional’s career. Their recent $20,000 Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts will launch a pilot program called Pathways to Equity: A leadership development program for community design practitioners. The program description is to support the planning and implementation of a hybrid platform of in-person engagement and online education for the growth of emerging leaders in the Community Design field. A partnership between the Open Architecture Collaborative (OAC) and the Association for Community Design (ACD) will compile and organize knowledge and expertise in the community design fields into online courses and in person guided engagements for participants to apply acquired tactics and build leadership skills under the mentorship of long-standing practitioners and community-based partners. (Open Architecture Collaborative, 2018) 

Whether an emerging professional can spare a few hours to help plan an event or dedicates 10+ hours to take on a position as a director, the truth is that it helps to curate a career and amplify their voice. This is a way to stretch into new and challenging endeavors while making an impact that can last for generations.