Board Members

Brenna Martin-Schaffer, AIA, First Vice President
Gensler

Best way to overcome a creative block: My creative process is rooted in curiosity. So, if I’m feeling stuck, then I start asking questions until I’m far outside of my comfort zone. I’m always more creative when I’m slightly off balance. 

Favorite Pittsburgh space: I love the distinctive character of each of Pittsburgh’s urban parks – being surrounded by nature while hearing the layered energy of the City in the background reminds me of connectedness of everything.

Favorite food: I’ve been cooking my way through Eric Kim’s Korean American cookbook and his foods are quickly becoming some of my new favorite foods. Also, no matter how old I get, my mom’s foods are the best foods.

Favorite drink: Glenlivet 14 or green tea

Recommended reading: Some of my most frequently re-visited authors are Han Kang, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, and Haruki Murakami. My favorite books want multiple reads and hit differently every time.

 Mantra: “Whatever you choose to do, leave tracks. That means don’t do it just for yourself. You will want to leave the world a little better for your having lived.” – Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Catherine Wick, AIA, Secretary
IKM Architecture

Best way to overcome a creative block: Take a walk. Get away from the screen and get outside.

Time is valuable, why AIA?  We can achieve so much more together, and AIA is about leveraging our collective talents to build a robust design community. I find it very rewarding to be part of this effort.

Favorite Pittsburgh space: The Fred Rogers Memorial on the North Shore.

Most significant lesson learned: It’s not a sign of weakness to ask for help.

Favorite food: Japanese food, especially sushi and tempura zarusoba

Favorite drink: Pumpkin beer

Recommended reading: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. The house is as much a character as the people in the story.

Mantra: Know your value.

Christopher Pless, AIA, Second Vice President
NEXT architecture

Time is valuable, why AIA? Service and responsibility.  I’ve reached a phase in my career where I feel a responsibility to give back to my profession and the community of people who have invested their time to help me in my career and life.

Favorite food: Almost anything from a street vendor.

Favorite drink: A strong brown ale or an old fashioned, Woodford double oaked.

Recommended reading:  Jim the Boy, Tony Earley

Dario McPhee, AIA, Treasurer
Indovina Associates Architects

Most significant lesson learned: Jack of all trades is a master of none but oftentimes better than a master of one. Not to downplay specialists, because those persons are important also. However, the more years I’ve put in, the more I’ve been put in positions where I’ve had to understand a little bit about everything.

Best way to overcome a creative block: Go to sleep, think while doing so, wake up, try again.

Favorite food: Peas soup and dumpling! Growing up in the Bahamas, this dish was a big part of my diet. Peas soup is a tomato based soup comprised of meat, a bit of vegetables and dumplings. Once I moved abroad, my appreciation for the dish grew even more.

Favorite drink: Gentleman Jack…..because who doesn’t love a smooth whiskey on the rocks?!

Bob Shelton, AIA, Immediate Past President
Shelton Design/Build

Most significant lesson learned: A team of people that can work with mutual respect for each other’s talent creates a far stronger outcome than any one individual can provide.

Time is valuable, why AIA? Our profession is diverse, talented, and highly impactful. Anything that can strengthen the profession and in turn the community that surrounds it is something worth investing time into.

Favorite Pittsburgh space: Rotunda / Lobby of the Pennsylvanian. Not only does it represent so much of the city in a former time, it was also the location of my first job in the profession. I’ll always have memories of walking through that space.

Favorite drink: Old Fashioned, Bulleit.

Mantra: “It is not a problem; it is an opportunity for a creative solution.”

Stuart Coppedge, FAIA
Desmone

Most significant lesson learned: It’s not about me.

Best way to overcome a creative block: Forget about the problem for a while, get something done, and then come back to it.

Time is valuable, why AIA?: Because I believe the organization is a great way to serve both the profession and society. And as a side benefit, I’ve become friends with all kinds of amazing people.

Favorite Pittsburgh space: I’m still exploring and don’t have a favorite yet (but I’m really glad some engineer figured out that the inbound lanes of 376 needed to exit the Fort Pitt Tunned on TOP to capture one of America’s iconic city views).

Favorite food: Ice cream, but I rarely eat it.

Favorite drink: Smoked Old Fashioned

Summer reading list: I actually read more in the winter (summer is for being outside), but I enjoy books by Erik Larson, on Jon Krakuaer, Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Mantra: Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly.

Gretchen Kurzawa, AIA
CannonDesign

Best way to overcome a creative block: Talk to your colleagues, friends, or family. Sometimes, we get so deep into our own thoughts that we need someone else to pull us out. Sharing different ideas, even if they seem nonsensical, can often spark new insights and help you move forward.

Time is valuable, why AIA? Throughout my career, I have relied heavily on the AIA. As a student, AIAS helped me understand the profession and the various roles architects play beyond design. When I was job hunting, AIA provided insights into different firms, practices, and job openings. During my career, AIA kept me connected and informed about events and developments. AIA has always been there for me, and now it’s my turn to give back.

Favorite Pittsburgh space: Pittsburgh is my favorite place. It’s a diverse city with numerous neighborhoods, each rich in ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Every neighborhood has its own unique history, distinct foods, festivals, and characteristics.

Most significant lesson learned: “Listen thrice. Think twice. Speak once.” This is challenging for me because I love to talk. However, when I listen first and then contemplate, speaking becomes less important, and my experiences become more meaningful.

Favorite food: If it has sugar in it, chances are I’m going to like it!

Favorite drink: Almost anything with vodka…Cosmopolitan, Stoli Doli, Moscow Mule…

Mantra: A favorite quote from Mr. Rogers…”Nobody else can live the life you live.” Always remind yourself to value your own experiences and choices.

Christine Mondor, FAIA
EvolveEA

Most significant lesson learned:The race is really the prize. We all have a fundamental need to shape our built environment and we architects are uniquely prepared to lead those efforts. I recognize that the built environment influences what people do, how they feel, and what they believe, and we need to be deliberate about how we work, knowing that the process can be equally transformative to an organization or community. The race is really the prize.

Best way to overcome a creative block: Eat chocolate and read a book about someone who inspires me. I love NOMA chef Rene Redzepi’s book, A Work in Progress, where he chronicles how he and his team dream up novel dishes that challenge people’s expectations. I love that he is honest about the frustrations and the dishes that didn’t work out. Also love how he makes otherwise unappealing ingredients desirable!

Time is valuable, why AIA? There is an energy on the board that I appreciate. We architects are needed now more than ever and I enjoy being around folks who are equally inspired by this moment in time.

Favorite Pittsburgh space: Market Square is an amazing public space. This is the best place in the city to see such a rich layering of the old and the new…vernacular buildings and signature buildings…the intimate scale and the monumental scale. When people shape the space with festivals and furniture and farmer’s markets, it is never the same place twice.

Favorite food: Anything meal I am eating with my grown son and daughter…best food ever. Usually Mexican or Vietnamese.

Favorite drink: A morning cappuccino at a coffee shop. No matter how fancy my coffee equipment, a cuppa at a local coffee shop is amazing because I did not have to make it.

Summer reading list: I have a serious list…Reciprocal Landscapes: Stories of Materials Movement and Breathe: Investigations into our Tangled Futures, etc., but my summer reading guilty pleasure is any Clive Cussler historic adventure mystery. They are enjoyably predictable and the hero is always confident about the right thing to do. What an escape from reality!

Nikita Williamson, AIA
LGA Partners

Best way to overcome a creative block: Music! It helps to free my mind and helps me to get in a creative headspace.

Time is valuable, why AIA? I choose to invest my time where I can create meaningful impact, and I believe that the AIA does that through its commitment to professional growth, advocacy, and community.

Favorite Pittsburgh space: Point State Park – It feels like the central point of Pittsburgh.

Favorite food: A classic Bahamian dish – Fired fish, peas n’ rice, macaroni, and cole slaw.

Favorite drink: Vitamalt

Recommended reading: How Successful People Lead

Mantra: Everything happens for a reason!

Jeremy Ficca, AIA
Carnegie Mellon University

Emily Mathes, Assoc. AIA
Rothschild Doyno Collaborative

Time is valuable, why AIA? Community! We have so much to learn from and offer one another and AIA members provide a great network of support, learning, fellowship, and collaboration.

Best way to overcome a creative block: A good sleep, a morning sunrise, some good coffee, and worship or instrumental movie soundtrack music!

Favorite Pittsburgh space: Walking around Lawrenceville! The scale of the streetscape makes for a great urban space.

Most significant lesson learned: You never know what someone else is going through, so be a reason that they smile today!

Favorite food: Anything Italian!

Favorite drink: Cane’s sweet tea

Recommended reading: Urban Alchemy: Restoring Joy in America’s Sorted-Out Cities by Mindy Thompson Fullilove

Mantra: You got this!

Eric Phillips, AIA
Strada Architecture

Time is valuable, why AIA?Our profession is a difficult one. I rely on my AIA peers for guidance and fellowship, with continual opportunities to stretch my education and leadership capabilities. For me, an important aspect of the AIA is its outreach and a need to mentor the young architect pipeline, helping its members to lay out the foundation for their careers moving forward.

Favorite Pittsburgh spaces:Mellon Square, Randyland, Butler St. in Lawrenceville

Most Significant Lessons Learned: Know when to give yourself grace in a hard situation. Don’t take life (or work) too seriously – beauty can be built in joy as well as earnestness.

Favorite Drink: A Lustra with friends at Dancing Gnome Brewing

Favorite Food: Mr. Nick’s fried chicken sandwich. Find it and love it if you haven’t already.

Kent Suhrbier, FAIA
Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

Best way to overcome a creative block: Get on a bike. For me, at about mile 15 the conscious analytics get out of the way and the pattern that I was looking for emerges.

Time is valuable, why AIA? Architecture creates community, and fittingly we best realize Architecture through processes that actively engage and collaborate with a diverse community of clients, stakeholders, professionals, and makers. The AIA is an important steward of the discourse, mentorship, and inquiry that fuels this inclusive process.

Favorite Pittsburgh space: Mellon Square. A mid-century modern masterpiece by Simonds & Simonds with Mitchell & Ritchey that creates a fantastic urban space within an eclectic, but notable collection of Pittsburgh facades.

Most significant lesson learned: We all have very limited time and only so much creativity to contribute, so do it with rigor and intent. Create, reflect, and learn every day that you can.

Favorite food: Crepes (my mom’s recipe) with lemon and sugar on any quiet Sunday morning when my kids are home.

Favorite drink: Michter’s Rye Old Fashioned in a Penn + Fairmount (Jason Forck) glass, on a front porch, when I am fortunate to have all of these things.

Recommended reading: Currently reading  – Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne, but recommend for any designer –  Emotionally Durable Design: Objects, Experiences & Empathy by Jonathan Chapman, and I find simple comfort in –  Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby. Go Gunners…

Mantra: Don’t let complacency limit your creativity.

Endicott Reindl, Executive Director
AIA Pittsburgh

Best way to overcome a creative block: Draft three to five options and consider the merits of each. Give yourself some time, come back the next morning, and run with the option that resonates the most with you. 

Most significant lesson learned: Never assume!  Always ask and seek to learn. 

Kevin Kunak, Board Public Director
Asst. Director for Public History, Art & Design Division of the Dept. of City Planning

Best way to overcome a creative block: Take a break and go for a walk, preferably with a colleague to discuss solutions.

Favorite Pittsburgh space: The experiences along Strawberry Way – audio public art, asphalt murals, pop-up seating, Guastavino vaults, and the shortcut through the Smithfield-Liberty Garage (let’s bring back those blue pathway lights!)

Most significant lesson learned: Listening.

Favorite food: Anything on Dish Osteria’s menu.

Recommended reading: Bicycle Diaries – always appreciate how non-designers experience cities; Why We Sleep – puts into perspective why all-nighters are counter-productive to wellness; and looking forward to starting Gen X Pittsburgh by David Rullo, which looks at 1990s South Side culture post-steel industry.

Michael J. Cremonese, Esq.
Burke Cromer & Cremonese

Best way to overcome a creative block: Swimming.

Favorite Pittsburgh space: PNC Park.

Most Significant lesson learned: Be Confident. Be persistent.

Mantra: Every day is the best day!

Omar Khan, Professor and Head
School of Architecture, Carnegie Mellon University

Best way to overcome a creative block: Walk in the forest or a hot shower, preferably in that sequence if it’s a serious block. Doodling can assist.

Summer reading list: Novels by Susan Sontag. Just was reading some of her essays in Under the Sign of Saturn and was moved by her intellect and writing.

Most significant lesson learned: Your experiences don’t necessarily translate to others, never assume your truths are universal.

Favorite food: Chicken Curry

Favorite drink: Tea- hot and with milk.