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Alumni News Archives
The Architecture Department is pleased to recognize the extraordinary accomplishments of our alumni that span over an impressive fifty-six years. We trust that you will have as many memories and discoveries reading as we did compiling the news. We are proud of your achievements and hope that you will stay in touch with your Alma Matter by either contacting Henri T. de Hahn or through the Alumni News Submittal Form provided as a way to share your news.
Elderly Housing
From the portfolio of Julius W. (Jay) Mirza class of 1957. The project was completed in the 1970’s.
2008 Alumni News
2008
Nathaniel (Nate) Jakus After I return from my 1-month (July) backpacking trip through Europe (a loop from London Heathrow to as far east as Prague), I will start working mid-August for a CM firm based out of Boston called Shawmut Design & Construction. I will be starting in their CMST Program, which entails a 3-year comprehensive (salaried) training program.
Francisco Marvilla is working with PCR Design & Construction in Santa Maria, CA.
2007
Matthew (Matt) Alexander was hired by the Portland firm Hennebery Eddy Architects, Inc. as architectural staff member. Matt is currently working on Ford Hall at Willamette University and the Portland light rail South Terminus for TriMet.
Deric Mizokami is working with Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis Architects on a project in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China. The work was featured in a New York Times article on Thursday May 1st, 2008.
Jennifer Fleming is completing her M.Arch at the Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, New York City.
Jenny Hiser: I will be traveling to Bolivia as of February 08 to work with the Foundation of Sustainable Development. I will be living/volunteering in Cochabamba for a year working with a local group called Infante. They promote the defense, protection, and restoration of human rights, focusing on populations vulnerable to violence—women, children and high-risk males. I will send a web link to my blog once I have it up and running.
The mission of INFANTE is a social development institution that promotes the defense, protection, and restoration of human rights, focusing on populations vulnerable to violence—women, children and high-risk males. They do this through prevention and awareness activities, holistic support and public policy awareness, all with the aim to contribute to a greater human development and the construction of a socially just society based on cultural respect, equality and dignity.
David Iseri. On the evening of January 28th at a packed Williamsburg Music Hall, David Iseri and E. Sean Bailey of Konyk faced off against Paul Kim and James Adams of FXFowle in LVHRD's 4th annual Master-Disaster Architecture Duel - an event that mixed spectacle with architecture and alcohol. The winner's ikOnyk proposal and energetic presentation were imbued with the theatrical spirit of the night and convincingly won the favor of the crowd.
For more information, read the articles in both Archinect and Metropolis
Karl Johnson is doing a post-graduate study at Bruce Mau’s Institute without Boundaries in Toronto, Canada. Karl is working on housing in Costa Rica. The Institute without Boundaries is an interdisciplinary postgraduate program at the School of Design at George Brown College that challenges students to collaborate on global problems. Three years ago, our inaugural project, Massive Change, explored and sparked a discourse on the future of global design. Our second project, World House, confronts the issue of shelter for coming generations by developing housing systems that operate on the principles of sustainability, universality, technological responsiveness and ecological balance.
At the Institute, we envision a place where students, teachers, industry and community experts come together not only as creators and designers but also ambassadors of hope. We imagine how to live, learn, work, and play together as a global community. Our goal is to find alternative development patterns and a viable path to a sustaining future, and allow the world to re-envision the designer as a problem solver with the ability to effect positive change for humanity.
Kristin Shamieh: I'm currently living & working in Alameda, CA, at MBH Architects, which does a range of projects from Target stores to restaurants to high-rise residential buildings. It is a firm of about 250, with the majority in the Alameda office and the remainder in the Newport Beach office. I am in the Special Projects Studio - about 30 people. We do mixed-use projects mainly in San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose. Currently, I am scheduled to take the LEED Exam in June.
2006
Kevin Bates works with Craig R. Smith Architects & Associates in San Luis Obispo.
Samantha J. De Leuw, LEED AP is currently working at Anshen and Allen In San Francisco.
Nitsan Yomtov is currently working on an environmentally conscious house (rammed earth walls, cellulose and perlite insulation, cob, rainwater harvesting, lime and earthen plasters...) with some friends in Joshua Tree, California.
2002
Ryan Gobuty works as a Designer and Photographer at Gensler in Los Angeles. In addition to working for 3 years on the recently completed Creative Artists Agency headquarters at the 2000 Avenue of the Stars building in Century City, he has been assisting the firm with small photographic jobs, including construction photography at CAA and the new 60-story hotel & convention center at LA Live!, and finished photography at Quantas Airlines executive lounge at LAX, two office buildings in Hollywood, and will soon travel to Las Vegas for a 4-day shoot of three recently completed Gensler projects there.
For more information, read the article in INTERIOR DESIGN (February 2008) about Ryan's photography and articles in INTERIOR DESIGN (May 2007) and W Magazine ( February 2008) about the Creative Artists agency space.
Darci Hernandez joined Boulder Associates in their Sacramento office in 2003. She has designed a number of medical office buildings for Sutter Health in California. She is a licensed architect and LEED Accredited Professional. In February, Darci relocated to Orange County to serve clients in Southern California.
2000
Whitney M. Moon is studying at UCLA. All is going very well down here at UCLA. My first term was incredible eye-opening. I took three architectural theory seminars (taught by diane favro, stephen phillips and michael speaks) and an art history seminar (taught by george baker, one of the editors for "October.") George Baker's course was fascinating: it dealt with themes of temporality, and we read everyone from Aby Warburg to Edward Said to Walter Benjamin and Hal Foster. Michael Speaks, who just accepted the position of dean at Kentucky, is not only an incredibly bright and informative lecturer, but proved to be of great assistance with my research of the terms "affect" and "uncanny" in Stephen's class. Our core seminar, taught by Diane Favro, allowed me to research the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, which led to a lengthy interview with the funerary industry's poster boy, Tyler Cassity. Are you familiar with him? A really fascinating man, and what really struck me is that we shared a passion for the same cemetery:Igualada outside of Barcelona.
This term I am taking the MA/PhD core seminar with Sylvia Lavin, where we are designing proposals for an exhibition at the Canadian Center for Architecture on the IAUS archive. I also have a theory course with Sylvia. She is brilliant, and such an amazing lecturer. It is certain that we will learn an incredible amount from her. My last course is a theory seminar with Dana Cuff, where we are looking at what she terms "Radical Departures." A focus on the 60s (which everyone here at UCLA can't get enough of!) I am also doing some part time work with Dana, with the intent that I will be joining Dana and Roger Sherman with their cityLAB operation.
To sum it up, I cannot express how wonderful it is to be back in school. In fact, I am thinking I will apply to the PhD program too. But one step at a time.
1999
Kevin (Kuo-Hei) Tsai is Project Manager for Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects has been working in the Architecture and Urban Design Field for 10 years.
Kevin’s experience began in the Los Angeles office of Eric Owen Moss Architects, working closely with the principal on the master planning and construction documents for the Hayden Track in Culver City.
As project manager at Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects, Kevin manages several urban housing and commercial projects in the office. During his tenure at LOHA, since 1999, Mr. Tsai’s responsibilities have increased in a natural progression to oversee overall office management and production.
In 2006, Kevin was invited to participate in NEW BLOOD : Next Gen. This prestigious exhibit highlights the groundbreaking work of some of LA’s talented new architects.
1997
Liiy M. Livingston, AIA, LEEP AP, is currently transitioning from my position at ELS. My last day here will be Wednesday, February 6, 2008. My new position will be as a Sustainable Design Project Manager with an architectural engineering firm called HDR in San Francisco.
1995
Gerad K. Lee, AIA LEED AP, is an alumnus of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, with over 12 years of architectural experience in the design and production of Education, Resort, Residential, Commercial and Community architecture. As a LEED accredited professional and proponent of "green"/ sustainable design practices, he brings a strong sense of commitment, drive and creative passion to every project.
Having lived in tropical climates for over 20 years, he is familiar with tropical climate design and regional vernacular architecture. Paradoxically, his years of working at a firm renowned for ski resorts has given him extensive snow country design expertise. This ability to adapt to different climates and ecosystems allows him to design sustainable buildings that are more in tune with their surrounding environments. He approaches all projects holistically and believes that proper site analysis enables a design to be fine tuned and tailored to respond to its site.
Gerard was featured in the December 2007 issue of Asian Week under the title "Green Houses: Oakland Architect's Sustainable Buildings.
James R. Meyer, AIA, was featured in the February 2008 issue of Architectural Record. James is principal of LeanArch, an architectural firm located in Los Angeles, CA. Building for a future of electric cars and zero energy, James says that "While at SOM, I learned a lot about working at a huge firm on really big projects, where everything was so machined and refined. But with LeanArch, I wanted to get back to the sustainable techniques Cal Poly really pushed-rammed earth and hay-bale construction and such. Part of me shied away from that type of building at the tim as too California." LeanArch was recently featured in a new book, ‘Dream Homes of Los Angeles’ and we are starting to be featured in quite a few magazines.
For more information, read the article in Architectural Record.
1993
Keith E. Deutscher, AIA, is working in Boston, MA
1991
Laura Jespersen is the designer for the Murphy Auto Museum in Oxnard, CA- a family affair. As an architect she poured over ideas on how to transform the former factory space into a classic showroom modeled after a typical dealership in the ’40s. Her father started the museum after retiring from his practice as a neurosugeon.
Read more about the Oxnard Museum
Rebecca Ross is currently Principal and Director of the Retail Studio at MBH Architects. After stints at Soga & Associates and Kwan Henmi Architecture & Planning, Inc. she joined MBH Architects in 1997 as a Project Manager. She was promoted to Account Manager for a valued MBH client, Target Corporation, then named Senior Associate, then named Director of the Retail Studio in 2001, and was made a Principal in January 2006. The Retail Studio is the largest in the firm, with 40+ professional architects and designers who possess a wide range of educational and professional backgrounds. It is the only Studio with locations in both the Alameda and Newport Beach offices. In addition to Target Corporation, Rebecca has managed other accounts including Best Buy, Mervyns and Tullyâ•˙s. Over the past few years she has helped expand the MBH retail client base to include Trader Joeâ•˙s and Elephant Pharmacy. Rebecca has seen through to completion 500+ projects since joining MBH. She is also involved in frequent collaboration with clients regarding design and construction issues for hundreds of projects throughout the nation. Her project experience includes retail, mixed-use, educational, commercial, and residential projects.
1989
George Garcia, AIA: The firm of garcia architecture + design, founded in 1998 by George in San Luis Obispo, recently celebrated its official 10 year anniversary.
The firm is celebrating their milestone anniversary with public events planned throughout the year, including sponsorships spots on local public radio KCBX, as well as donations to the SLO Children’s Museum and Habitat for Humanity.
Over the years, the firm’s success has been both inspiring and humbling to its founder. "From the beginning, we have been blessed with an incredibly talented and diverse staff", states Mr. Garcia. Not surprising, the firm’s original "crew" was comprised entirely of Cal Poly alumni, including Tom DiSanto (’89 BArch), Chris Caccese (’86 BS Civil), and Clint Iwanicha (’97 ArchE), who were all instrumental in the early success of the firm. "Our dedicated staff, coupled with a fantastic client base, has truly been the very basis of our success these past 10 years." Recently completed local projects include the Edna Valley Market + Service Station on Tank Farm & Broad and the Vineyard/Trader Joes Center in Templeton. "While we are extremely proud of all our completed projects," Garcia stated, "I think our best work lies ahead." Projects currently on the boards include the Garden Street Terraces Mixed Use project, as well as the Railroad Square Rehabilitation project, which is scheduled to break ground later this Spring.
"We have and will continue to push the envelope of design. It’s important for us, our clients, and our community that we continually challenge ourselves to produce works of architecture that reach beyond the mere pragmatic. True architecture should inspire," commented Garcia. "It’s a goal we’ve pursued for the past 10 years, and will continue to do so in the future."
More information about the firm can be found at www.garciaarchitecture.com.
Georges Garcia, principal of Garcia Architecture, was presented with the 2008 American Institute of Architects, Central Coast Chapter (AIACCC) Award of Honor for Salon Lux located in San Luis Obispo. Please log onto the Power Point.
1986
Scott T. Dunlap, AIA and Director at Gensler San Francisco "is master of the mobile workspace." For more information, read the article in the Examiner
1985
Larry Donnell-Kilmer, AIA, is the Senior Technical Director for Gensler's office in Boston. Gensler has moved in October of 2007 into their new premises which has received a LEED Gold certification.
1984
Johanna Grawunder "is a designer and architect based in Milan, Italy and San Francisco. She was born in San Diego, California in 1961. Graduating in 1984 from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo with a bachelor's degree in Architecture, she completed her final year of studies in Florence, Italy and in 1985 moved to Milan. She worked with Sottsass Associates from 1985-2001, becoming a partner in 1989. At the Sottsass Studio she was involved primarily with architecture and interiors, co designing with Ettore Sottsass, many of the firm's most prestigious projects." For additional information, read the article in the March issue of DZINE.
1983
Tim Busse, AIA, CNU is the Town Architect for the New Town at St. Charles. Tim was integral in organizing the original town planning Charrette for the New Town at St. Charles with Duany, Plater-Zyberk & Company in February of 2003. In addition, Tim has led workshops with DPZ focusing on the architecture & urban design of New Town as well as leading the planning workshop for the Plaza at Noahb.
Tim recently returned from Liberty, Missouri where he participated in a DPZ town planning charrette for The New Town at Liberty. He has traveled extensively to study both historical & New Urbanist communities and attends many development-related events annually. He has also been an invited speaker for dozens of community & professional groups interested in New Town.
Tim has been with Whittaker Homes since 1994, serving as Vice President & Director of Architecture since 1999. He is a licensed Architect in Missouri & California.
Tim recently married Laura Lyon, an urban designer with H3 Studio in St. Louis. They currently reside in New Town in a cottage of Tim's design.
For more information, visit New Town at St. Charles.
1982
Dave Steller passed away January 19th 2008 from cancer. He was a great guy, architect, husband, and father! Dave was project architect for the new Construction Management building currently under construction and a good friend of the College. We regret he will not get to see the final project.
Keith Rivera practices in Santa Barbara, California, and is the winner of the Portland Courtyard Housing Design Competition. Keith returned in February to campus to participate in a series of reviews in Architecture and CRP and taught a class on the topic of housing. For additional information on the competition results, visit Portland Courtyard Housing Design Competition
1981
Duane Fisher is an Associate Partner with Langdon Wilson Architecture. Current clients include LAUSD, UCI, CSUF, LACCD encompassing academic spaces, physical education and recreation. The CSUF Recreation Center was awarded Best Practice for Sustainability by UC/CSU
1980
Robert (Bob) J. Condia, AIA, is Professor of Architecture in the College of Architecture Planning & Design at Kansas State University. Bob received this year the 2008 Undergraduate Outstanding Teaching Award.
For additional information visit Bob Condia
Wendy A. Ornelas, FAIA, is Associate Dean of the College of Architecture, Planning and Design, Associate Professor of Architecture, and Graduate Teaching Faculty at the College of Architecture Planning & Design at Kansas State University. Wendy and Robert Condia are founders of Condia + Ornelas Architects located in Manhattan, KS and San Diego, CA.
1978
Arthur Silvers, an architect who designed structures throughout California and also worked to end discrimination in housing and employment, died Jan. 18. Silvers earned a master's degree in engineering in at Cal Poly in 1978 and served on the faculty of Cal Poly's architecture department from 1978 until 1986.
Dana Willis is a Senior Resource Geologist at Newmont Mining Corp. Although I'm not currently practicing as an architect I maintain licenses in California and Washington. After graduating from Cal Poly I worked in several architectural and structural engineering firms in Sonoma County and decided to return to school to study geology. Shortly before graduating with a BS in geology from Sonoma State University I decided to work as a geologist and give architecture a rest. After my first field season in geology I was hooked!
After working for several years in geothermal exploration I went on to graduate school at Oregon State University and then went to work in the mining industry, mainly exploring for gold in the western US, and then working in several operating gold mines. Then it was off to work for an international mining consulting firm where I was able to spend much of my time traveling domestically and overseas. In one year I went from working on a large project in Brazil (including forays into the Amazon) to working on a diamond project in the Canadian Arctic in winter (a 135 degree change in temperature).
Following a downturn in mining worldwide I sort of returned to architecture, except instead of designing buildings I worked on finding out why buildings, their foundations, and their materials failed. I spent five years at Exponent Failure Analysis Associates working as both architect and geologist on a wide variety of projects, and no two were the same.
For the past five years I've been back in mining, this time as a resource geologist with Newmont Mining Corp. working in Nevada at several mines and most recently in Denver, CO. Now I'm part of a team working on developing a gold mine above the Arctic Circle in Canada.
It'˙s been a long strange trip from Cal Poly, but one that I wouldn'˙t trade for anything. Fortunately my training as an architect has served me well in my career because it built a solid foundation for critical thinking, problem solving, and working in multi-disciplinary teams.
1976
Michael R. Hilliard, AIA, has been practicing architecture in San Francisco for over thirty years. He founded Hilliard Architects in 1988. The firm designs a variety of projects. "We design spaces for the people who will be living there. We aim for a building which in its design, construction, and operation, makes a minimal draw on non-renewable resources and gives high priority to respecting the physical environment."
Richard Krantz, AIA is owner of Richard Krantz Architecture, Inc., a high-end custom residential firm in Newport Beach, CA. This small firm does new construction only.
1975
Victor Montgomery, AIA is president of RRM Design Group in San Luis Obispo. His firm was honored June 19th with four prestigious 2008 Los Angeles Architectural Awards for Fire Stations 13, 77, 83, and 82 for oustanding architecture in the Community Impact Category. RRM equally received on June 7th, the 2008 Honor of Excellence by the AIACCCC for the project San Jose Fire Station No. 34.
For more information, visit Press Release (.pdf)
Kelly Reynolds, AIA, is principal of Stafford, King, Wiese Architects located in Sacramento, CA.
Rob Rossi was named San Luis Obispo's Citizen of the Year at a special dinner in January 2008. Rob received the honor during the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce's annual dinner which was attended by about 450 people at Embassy Suites Hotel. For more information, read the article on the San Luis Obispo web site.
1974
John B. Luttrell, AIA, is a corporate architect and has been involved in the architectural field for over 32 years, serving WFC for the last two years. As a licensed architect and AIA member, John is responsible for managing the architecture, interiors and planning sectors of the design team. He graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a Bachelor of Architecture degree and has since continued his training, becoming NCARB certified and a California Restaurant Association (CRA) expert in kitchen design.
John has most recently designed complex commercial buildings and intrinsic residential remodels for WFC. Throughout his accomplished career, John completed projects for prestigious clients such as Universal Studios, McDonald's Restaurant, Hyatt Hotels, UCLA, USC, and IHOP restaurants. His work has been recognized via AIA Design Awards and City Beautification honors.
John participated as a juror at the 2008 April Open House Design Village with his colleague Eric Parlee (B.Arch 74). For more information, go to WFC Design Development Construction.
Eric Parlee, AIA, attended the Florence off-campus program during the academic year 1972-73. In 1984 Eric established his private practice in Santa Monica which focuses primarily on custom single family dwellings in established neighborhoods in the Coastal and West Los Angeles area. He received his Master of Architecture, Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of California Los Angeles and has served between 1987-93 as chair and member of The Architectural Review Board, City of Santa Monica, and between 1993-2000 served as a Member and Chair of Planning Commission, City of Santa Monica.
Eric participated as a juror at the 2008 April Open House Design Village with his colleague John Luttrell (B.Arch 74).
1973
Randoph C. Dettmer: I am very pleased to have been selected by LifeHOUSE Retirement Properties to head up the development of all of their California properties in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities. LifeHOUSE is based in Grand Rapids, MI and is expanding into the California market with the acquisition of nine properties from Chico to San Diego. Dettmer Architecture will be providing professional services including master planning, architectural design, preparation of construction documents, and construction administration for the rehabilitation of existing facilities and development of new projects. With over 20 years of experience in healthcare design throughout the western states, I am excited to be involved with LifeHOUSE, with their reputation for high quality projects and excellence in the marketplace. Also working on the projects will be my associate Doug Faner, Assoc AIA (Bach of Arch, Cal Poly ’03).
Pamer W. Hafdahl, AIA is principal of the Hawaii office in the town of Lihuye where Dough Haigh (Cal Poly grad.) runs the public works department and Randy Finlay (Cal Poly grad.) heads the largest construction company "Unlimited Construction." I am fortunate to have married Edie "Ignacio" Hofdaht who is also a California ex-patriot from Woodland, CA, near Sacramento. My small practice has benefited from early adoption of BIM delivery, using "Revit" since 2001. I enjoyed traveling in 2007 to San Antonio for the AIA Convention with my friend and colleague Ron Agor who also studied architecture at Cal Poly. We played in the COF golf tournament at La Cantera to begin the convention in San Antonio.
1971
Stephen Castellanos a Stockton native and Calaveras resident, has formed a campaign committee and will be a candidate for the San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustee Area 5. An architect, he was appointed in 2000 to the position of California State Architect. One of his responsibilities in the position was to approve community college building plans… Castellanos was educated in local schools, attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, returned to Stockton and formed an architectural practice with Linda Derivi, his wife of 30 years. They have two grown children.
Setsuo Tajima is principal of TEP CORP. Tajima Environmental Planning Corp. The company designs condominiums all over Japan.
Kirk Stathes, AIA is principal of Kirk Stathes Architect Inc., in Denver, CO. Graduation took me on a road trip where we settled in Reston, Virginia for two years. After being in VISTA (volunteers in service to america) and working at community design centers in Hawaii, Washington state, and Boulder, Colorado, I settled down in Denver. I was licensed in 1978 and have been working in the profession since. The Gods put me on a residential track, and that is 90% of my work. My web site is www.kirkstathes.com. There is no better credential than being a Cal Poly graduate. It is an instant acknowledgement of skill in the profession. My fantasy is to come back and teach at Cal Poly, but I never did go back for my masters (it was a 5 year bachelor then, with no masters available). Alas. One regret was not traveling overseas at the begriming of my career. There is so much to learn, but I did not know that then.