Meet the 2024 Young Architects Forum Chair!
Name: Mike Sweterlitsch
Firm: Rothschild Doyno Collaborative
Years in practice: 6.5
Education: B.S.+M.Arch. Kent State University
AIA Committees you’ve served on: I have been an active member of YAF since I graduated in 2017
Favorite thing about YAF: All the meaningful connections, and wonderful people I met over the years. I hope that we can assist people with important transitions in their life, whether that is by helping college students transition to a career in architecture, or by helping professionals become licensed, or by assisting licensed individuals in their transition to a new position. Everyone has a different relationship to YAF and everyone wants something a little different out of it.
Why should young architects join YAF? YAF has the flexibility to be what people in our industry want and need it to be. We are a group whose goal is really to make sure everyone feels a sense of support and community regardless of experience level. Our focus each year changes based on what we hear, and our structure allows us to change direction based on feedback. In the past our sessions included building tours, portfolio reviews, ARE prep sessions, Carpenter Center classes, happy hours, and many other unique events. We encourage people to reach out if there is anything they would like to see.
Your first job: Architecture wise, my first job was working at the Dicks Sporting Goods Headquarters for a summer.
Favorite tool (can be digital, drafting, physical,…): Sargent VBM No. 14 Jack Plane.
Favorite building: Ricardo Bofill – Cement Factory La Fabrica
Favorite outdoor space: Krka National Park in Croatia
Architect you’d like to have coffee with: Leonardo da Vinci, assuming I can learn Italian
What do you like to do when you’re not working? Woodworking and casual pickup hockey
Best gift to give an architect: A plane ticket to a new destination
If you hadn’t become an architect, what would you have been? A Physical Therapist or Furniture Maker
If you could live anywhere in the world, where? If money is no object either Lake Como or New York City, or alternate between the two!
What’s on your iPod/Pandora/Spotify? Top listens right now are Nickel Creek, Warpaint, The Beths, Sade, and anything classified as contemporary jazz.
Advice to young architects: Come to at least one YAF event this year and sign up for the YAF newsletter to stay up to date with our events (or look for yellow color coded events on the AIA calendar). Anyone is welcome at our events regardless of AIA membership or background.
Architectural quote to practice by: The ideal space must contain elements of magic, serenity, sorcery and mystery. -Luis Barragan
