Architecture trailblazers on leadership and longevity

In recognition of Women’s History Month, AIA asked five design groundbreakers about their current objectives, their recommendations for the next generation of leaders, and advice from others that has helped them sustain their success.

Zena Howard, FAIA
Firmwide practice leader, cultural and civic practice, Perkins&Will
Durham, N.C.

AIA: What are near- and long-term priorities for you and your firm?

Howard: We are leading clients through complexities that we haven’t seen in decades. We aim to, as our CEO puts it, “deliver outcomes, not just promises.”

Second, we are expanding our collaborations across disciplines and with community-based partners, like artists, policymakers, and historians. But we are also incorporating technology into our work. Our clients are asking for deeper technical insights. This year, we’re launching our unified AI platform firmwide.

We will also intensify work on our Living Design platform. The imperative for healthy and regenerative environments is more urgent than ever. Finally, we will connect our research and practice more closely. We recently published research on neuroinclusive design focused on women’s health.

What advice would you give architects who aspire to start their own firm or move into a leadership role?

You need both mentors and advocates. Mentors teach and guide us, and advocates invest in and support us.

Choose a path based on your values, purpose, and talent—and not on status, compensation, or others’ expectations of where you should be. Aim for sustained success rather than momentary promotions or ad hoc business ventures.

What advice has helped you sustain your own success and drive?

I created an acronym, HAVE, after someone asked, “Can you have it all?” I used to think that in this profession, every person is out for themselves, but now I carve out time to Help others. Next, my success has been largely due to my Associations with great people and organizations.

My parents taught me to stay true to my Values; if you are working toward your values, you will always feel like you’re fulfilling your purpose. Finally, you must stay Engaged. As a woman and an African American, I experience a dozen things every month or two that can be offensive. Stay focused on the work and don’t let an errant comment distract you.

Laura Nassri Warren, AIA
President and founder, The Warren Group Architects
McAllen, Texas

AIA: What are near- and long-term priorities for you and your firm?

Warren: I’ve been intrigued by AI and quantum technology. I love physics, and I want to see what is possible with the proper and responsible use of AI to help us better serve our clients.

What advice would you give architects who aspire to move into leadership or start their own firm?

Know what you’re capable of and respect what you don’t know. Invest in yourself and understand the role you aspire to. Be honest with your company’s leadership and ask to participate. When you’re given an opportunity, it may not be the right time, but any position in leadership will encounter roadblocks. How you react marks the type of leader you will be.

If you want to start a firm, my entrepreneur father would say, “You need a great attorney, accountant, and priest.” You have to keep your fiduciary responsibilities in line to protect you should you need it, and you must always have your moral compass.

What advice has helped you sustain your own success and drive?

When my firm started to win larger projects, somebody said, “Oh, she must be sleeping around”—which was sad and disgusting. I told my client, a developer and multi-business owner, “This is the gossip that’s going around. If you choose to terminate my contract, I understand.”

To my surprise, he laughed and said, “Get used to it. The only way some people justify their mediocrity or lack of success is by putting down other people’s efforts. I’m saying, ‘Get used to it,’ because you’re going to continue going up.”

Hana Kassem, FAIA
Principal, KPF
New York

AIA: What are near- and long-term priorities for you and your firm?

Kassem: Our mission has been to create environments at a variety of scales that foster connection and exchange between people, a sense of belonging, and an attachment to place. KPF has been pioneering the transformation of central business districts into central social districts—places that invite cross-pollination across socioeconomic groups, cultures, interests, and purposes. 

We do this through our attention to context, craft, and the performance of the buildings and districts. We look at their impact on the environment and how those environments, in turn, impact people.

What advice would you give architects who aspire to start their own firm or move into a leadership role?

Listen to your own voice and find the questions that keep you curious and motivated. These questions can develop early, even during your first studio in school. If you’re attentive to it, you’ll find a certain thread that connects everything you’re drawn to. Recognizing that thread goes a long way to identifying your particular mission. If leadership is the tool that allows you to progress that mission further, fantastic.

What advice has helped you sustain your own success and drive?

Be genuine in what you investigate. That way, nothing that you do—be it in academia, practice, or research—will ever be a waste of time. Everything will build toward making you who you are and, ideally, provide scaffolding for the next generation.

Jenny Wu
Principal at Oyler Wu Collaborative and founder of LACE by Jenny Wu
Los Angeles

AIA: What are near- and long-term priorities for you and your firm?

Wu: In the last 20 years, we’ve built our office with intention. Much of our early work was hands-on, design-focused, and small and unusual. That has led us to today, where we’re working on much larger projects in the U.S. and abroad. We’re moving into more cultural projects, as well as more public projects that interface with the local community.

What advice would you give architects who aspire to start their own firm or move into a leadership role?

Architecture is a long road. Dwayne [Oyler] and I both worked for quite a while before we started our firm. You have to understand the trade, learn how to put things together, and navigate how to work with clients, consultants, and contractors.

If you want to move into leadership, you cannot be afraid to take on responsibility even if you might not feel equipped at the moment to do it. Sometimes you have to jump right in and learn on the job.

What advice has helped you sustain your own success and drive?

Stay true to your long-term vision. Be selective about the projects you take on, and turn down projects that don't align with your vision.

Being intentional about your geography can make all the difference. When your surroundings work for you, balancing work and life becomes that much easier.

Carol Ross Barney, FAIA
Design principal and founder, Ross Barney Architects
Chicago

AIA: What are near- and long-term priorities for you and your firm?

Barney: Our long-term priority is to establish a new generation of leadership. We’ve created a culture that is worth continuing and a vision for what architecture can be. We’re working on projects that affect the quality of life for communities, and we’re most comfortable working with clients with those same priorities.

What advice would you give architects who aspire to move into leadership or start their own firm?

Find the work that makes you happy. If you wait around for your name to be called, it probably won’t happen. Any definition of leadership has to include being a self-starter.

Starting your own firm is very romantic and challenging. I would only do it once. It’s so much work.

Architecture, the profession, is no harder on women than society in general. Though my younger colleagues may not face the same obstacles I did, the ceiling changes. The obstacles will be different, but they’ll still be there.

What advice has helped you sustain your own success and drive?

I had good support in my life, which set my attitude toward challenges. My mother was a typical postwar mother—she had eight children—but she never spoke about any barriers for us. 

I also had great mentors, including Natalie de Blois and Gertrude Kerbis. I was really good friends with Natalie, and watching her navigate her professional and personal lives was interesting because there was no instruction manual about being the only woman in an architecture firm and starting a family.

I also had male mentors, including my first boss, John Holabird, and my friend Kenneth Groggs, one of the founders of NOMA. When we were both starting firms, Ken opened his Rolodex and said, “These are the people you need to call on.”

I asked, “Why are you doing this?” And he said, “The more of us [minority and women architects] that are out there, the better.” I was impressed by his openness to share that information. It was inspirational.

Responses have been edited and condensed for clarity.

Wanda Lau is a freelance writer covering architecture and design and a former editor of ARCHITECT magazine. She lives outside Chicago.