Kim Yao of Architecture Research Office | Milgard Hall in Tacoma | A School for Everyone
Courtesy of Architecture Research Office
A Place For Everyone
Today we welcome Kim Yao to the podcast, partner at Architecture Research Office, ARO, in New York City. We will be talking about Milgard Hall, the 55,000 square foot Interdisciplinary STEM building at the University of Washington - Tacoma campus. It combines the School of Engineering & Technology and the Milgard Business School, and the Global Innovation and Design Lab together, as a hub for entrepreneurship on campus. Listen in as we discuss creating an infrastructure that creates more flexibility for the future of academia in a post-covid society as well as the self-reflection necessary in our industry to create buildings that feel more inclusive to all people.
“Buildings are for people. We focus on working with our clients as collaborators to define goals and principles for a project that resonates with them, that are about their goals, not our goals as architects.”
Courtesy of Architecture Research Office
About Kim Yao
Kim Yao is a partner at Architecture Research Office, ARO, in New York City. ARO was honored by the American Institute of Architects as the firm of the year in 2020. She teaches at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. She serves on the board of the Center for Architecture and on the board of AIA New York, where she was previously the president.
Courtesy of Architecture Research Office
Episode Timestamps
3:54 – Looking back over this amazing arc of time you've been at Arrow, what are the highlights of your time there?
6:24 – What were your impressions of the University of Washington at the outset of the project?
10:54 – Could you talk about what you were asked to do in the initial prompt, and how that perhaps changed over the course of the design process?
17:07 – What are the milestones that you work toward as a designer in the design process? And then during the construction process, what are the major things that are happening?
20:55 – Mass timber has played an important role in this project in terms of materials. Can you explain what mass timber is and why you chose it?
25:14 – Are there ways as an architect to physically make a building look and feel more accessible?
28:42 – Why should public institutions spend taxpayer dollars on beautiful finishes and high design?
31:34 – The greatest critique of our industry is that, in our worst senses, we can be a tool of oppression and of suppression by building the wrong way. What are your thoughts on that?
35:17 – How have you thought about designing for a digital and virtual education on this specific project that we talked about today, but more broadly, in the sweep of university projects you'll be doing in the next couple of years?
41:48 – Are there types of university buildings that will never change, or rather, they will never stop being made?
43:43 – What advice do you have for those particular new hires at your firm, and more broadly, listeners who might be starting their first jobs?
Connect with Kim Yao:
LinkedIn (Kim Yao)
ARO
Instagram (ARO)
Donate to Asian American Recovery Fund
Courtesy of Architecture Research Office
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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