Leaning Out I | Women in Global Practice

What does it mean to be a woman in the construction industry practicing globally in our time? What are the challenges and the opportunities that women who choose this path face and how do their successes and shortcomings affect the next generation? “Leaning Out” speakers will discuss these issues:

– Cultural differences and the role of working women in various parts of the world
– Cross-cultural unifying factors of working women
– How do different cultures perceive the working/traveling woman?
– Balancing travel and family with career growth opportunities
– Support network at home
– Image and profile of the company and the country one represents / the ideal of diversity
– Role as leaders / ambassadors of a “modern” society
– Titles and positions: what do they mean? How can they be useful? When are they necessary for a woman working abroad?
– Racing against the clock: does traveling across time-zones delay “settling in” and raise the volume on our biological clock?
– Cementing the client relationship and social bonding in mixed society
– Entering emerging markets and traditional/non-westernized societies

Introduction: Hana Kassem, AIA, Director, KPF, AIANY Global Dialogues Sub-Committee Co-Chair

Speakers:
Amale Andraos, Principal, WORKac
Aine Brazil, PE, LEED AP, Vice Chairman, Thornton Tomasetti
Yolande Daniels, Principal, Studio SOMA
Susan Lowance, AIA, Director, KPF
Pam Samuels, Senior Vice President, Related
Yvonne Szeto, FAIA, Principal, Pei Cobb Freed and Partners

Moderator: Cathleen McGuigan, Editor-in-Chief, Architectural Record

Concluding Remarks: Jill N. Lerner, FAIA, 2013 AIANY President, Principal, KPF

About the Series

Leaning Out was initiated in 2013 as a panel on and by women in the fields of architecture and construction. As part of the AIANY Global Dialogues Committee series of panels, each year’s topic reflects the Global Dialogues theme of the year. In turn, topics such as Global Practice, Identity and Profile, Education, Landscape Architecture, Academic Leadership, and Entrepreneurship, have been discussed by highly accomplished women in this field within a format that begins with presentations and is completed with a moderated panel discussion. Over 180 people attend the panel each year to listen to four or five panelists selected for their achievements in the field and ability to inspire generations to come. Leaning Out was initiated by Hana Kassem, AIA, Principal, KPF.

About the Speakers

Amale Andraos is a founding principal at WORK Architecture Company, which was started with her partner Dan Wood in 2003. WORKac has completed projects internationally including a masterplan for a new cultural center on New Holland Island in St. Petersburg, Russia, an international rollout for Diane von Fuerstenberg’s retail stores, and the Tokyo flagship store for Kate Spade Saturday. In addition, the firm recently won competitions for the Hua Qiang Bei Road Masterplan in Shenzhen, China; and an Assembly Hall in Libreville, Gabon to be finished for the 2014 Summit of the African Union.

Aine Brazil, PE, LEED AP has been responsible for the design and construction of high-rise offices, residential buildings, hotels, airrights projects with long-span transfer systems, hospitals and parking garages as Vice Chairman at Thornton Tomasetti. High on the list of accomplishments during her 30+ years of experience is the role she played in leading the structural engineering team for the design of more than three million square feet of high rise office development in the Times Square area. One of the projects Aine is currently working on is the Hudson Yards mixed-use development in New York.

Yolande Daniels is a co-founding design principal of studioSUMO an architecture office that is located in New York with projects in the United States, Japan and Brazil. studioSUMO has been the recipient of various awards including: Emerging Voices, Design Vanguard and Young Architects Forum, and the recipient of grants from the New York State Council on the Arts and New York Foundation for the Arts.

Susan Lowance, AIA, has over 18 years of experience as an architect in the programming, planning and design of institutional buildings with a focus on higher education. Since joining Kohn Pedersen Fox in 2000, she has worked on a variety of education projects, including professional schools (law and business) and science research buildings. Past projects include the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and the Chapman Graduate School of Business at Florida International University among others. Current international work includes projects in Doha and Shanghai.

Cathleen McGuigan is editor-in-chief of Architectural Record, the nation’s leading architecture publication for more than a century. McGuigan, who is the second woman to serve as editor in chief, was named to the post in 2011. Under her leadership, Record won the 2012 Grand Neal award, the top American Business Media award for overall excellence, as well as being named to the Media Power 50 list in B to B Magazine. McGuigan, a former Newsweek architecture critic and arts editor, has more than three decades of cultural journalism experience.

Pam Samuels is a Senior Vice President at The Related Companies, L.P. She joined Related in 2012, and leads acquisitions for its New York Development division with the company’s CEO. Ms. Samuels acquires existing assets suitable for investment and ground-up development. Samuels headed the development of One 57, One Hudson Yards, and 360 Tenth avenue among other projects in Manhattan as well as New York’s evolving neighborhoods.

Yvonne Szeto, FAIA, has spent her career advancing the firm’s tradition of thoughtfully considered and well-crafted architecture since joining Pei Cobb Freed more than 30 years ago. As the firm’s first female partner, her work has received numerous awards for design excellence. Recent projects include the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Fordham Law School, Spencer Museum of Art as well as works overseas in the Netherlands, France and Australia.