Jack Whalen of Michael Graves Architecture & Design | Next Gen Interview
Courtesy of Gensler
The Next Generation of Sustainable Architecture
Today, I’m chatting with another next-gen architectural designer at Michael Graves Architecture and Design, Jack Whalen. We discuss his time as a mentee in the ACE Mentor Program, how his work at dRemodeling in Philadelphia helped prepare him for his role at Michael Graves, and his vision for sustainable architecture.
Jack also shares the spectrum of what his days look like and what he enjoys most about working at Michael Graves. He says that one day he might be working on a project locally in Princeton or New York City, and the next he’s on a call with clients in Egypt or Qatar. One of the things that excite him most about Michael Graves is that he can make an impact on sustainability efforts and be on the cutting edge of new technology in the field.
We discuss possible solutions for making sustainable architecture more readily available and affordable. We also talk about the possibility of phasing sustainable practices into architectural code to update the industry standards and the responsibility that we have in the global north to slow carbon emissions. Listen in to hear more about Jack’s journey to becoming an architectural designer and his innovative ideas for making sustainability more mainstream.
“Right now, one of my biggest things would want sustainability to become more readily available and affordable, especially to affordable housing. With a lot of high-end design it’s something that is often considered, but it’s not always something that is, is mainstream. And until we can get it to that point, it’s really hard to implement sustainability across the board.”
About Jack Whalen
Jack Whalen is an architectural designer at Michael Graves Architecture and Design. He joined the firm in 2021 after completing his Bachelor of Architecture degree at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. As a student, he ran his own business doing architectural visualizations, and also made models for dRemodeling and Designblendz in Philadelphia. Outside of designing, he worked for the ACE Mentor Program.
Episode Timestamps
2:20 – What was your path to working at Michael Graves Architecture?
5:00 – Tell me what your day-to-day life looks like.
7:56 – What do you hope to accomplish with the career that you have in front of you?
11:55 – If you had the opportunity to do something to advance sustainability faster and actually make it a bigger game-changer than it is, what would you recommend that our industry does?
About your host:
Atif Qadir is the Founder & CEO of Commonplace, a technology company making it easy for commercial real estate professionals to find and use the $100B of real estate incentives given out every year in the US.
His work has been covered by Technology Review, The Real Deal, Commercial Observer, and Propmodo. He’s also a frequent speaker on the future of buildings and cities on popular industry podcasts and at conferences, including this past year at the Commercial Observer National DEI Conference, Yale AREA Conference, Columbia Real Estate Symposium, Open Data Week NYC and Austin Design Week.
About Commonplace
Commonplace is a founding sponsor of American Building. It is a 100% minority-owned, real estate technology company founded in 2020 to make financing social impact development projects across the US easier. It is funded by venture capital investors Hometeam Ventures, Park West Asset Management, New York Ventures and Shadow Ventures.
About Michael Graves
The world-famous design firm Michael Graves is also a founding sponsor of American Building. Its namesake, the iconoclastic designer Michael Graves, FAIA was a fierce advocate for people-centric design. His work defines a generation of American architecture and includes the Portland Building, the Humana Building and the Denver Public Library. The 1st season of American Building was filmed live at The Warehouse, his historic home in Princeton, New Jersey:
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