AIA Florida Southwest Coffee Talk

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PODCAST SERIES

"Ultimately it means that you're really celebrating what's unique about a place, and really focused in on those experiences, understanding the multiple generations and the choices people make about where they spend their time and money."
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- Tim McCarthy, AIA, RIBA, LEED AP

Winter 2025

...I've always been a lifelong learner and I've always been someone who believed in the profession of architecture, I had a professor at Cooper Union and one of the things that he always instilled in us was the idea of the social contract. The idea, we have a certain skill set, we have a certain way of thinking, and that we should utilize that and pass those pieces of knowledge if you will on to the next generations.
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- Ramon Sacristan, Professor

SPRING 2025

... It's about people, humanity, and community. Listen to them and provide what the community needs. We as architects need to promote ourselves. We need to explain what we do, how we do it, what architecture is about, and why it's important. 

- Stephen Hruby, AIA









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WINTER 2022

"...one of the more interesting things and more difficult things to understand was while learning the practice of architecture, also learning the business of architecture... It's a functioning machine, and if you don't take care of it, you don't understand the processes that have to go through on the business aspect. That's a challenge I still face today, it's an ever evolving career. So, we're always learning, we're always evolving."
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- Brian Ahmedic, Assoc. AIA
2025 President
AIA Florida Southwest

Fall 2025

... I would say the absolute best advice I could give is have a very hard work ethic, keep your balance in life, but have a very hard work ethic, but become an expert in something. There's all kinds of things you could become an expert in. Maybe you're an expert in theater design, or you're an expert in churches, or an expert in city planning, components, parks, or single family and so forth. Eventually, as your firm grows, you can become an expert in several different things with different mindsets, but I owe a lot of my success to being an expert.
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- Matthew Kragh, AIA

SPRING 2024

... I like to sign my clients up to magazines. It starts to expose them to what architecture should be as opposed to what they think. I'll also give them books, they start to flip through and now you've engaged them in this creative style dialog and becomes more about ideas and lifestyle than stylistic elements.
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- James Knafo, AIA
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SUMMER 2022

"It became my life's goal to educate the public about the value of architects and architecture. I find that we as architects don't value ourselves, but we forget to tell people why we are valuable, and I like to talk a lot about storytelling. I think it's a very much a skill set that all architects must learn once they become an architect, so that they tell the story of who they are and what they need to do to educate the public about who they are and what they're doing, and they can't be afraid of it.
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- Joyce Owens, FAIA

SUMMER 2025

... "Its how you site the building, how it responded to the South Florida environment; a building built in Naples shouldn’t look like a building in Minneapolis. You’re dealing with different climates and the building should respond to that...I think that we as Architects and I think the AIA nationally has done a good job of making Architects understand that we have a role to play in it; that sustainability and doing things to stop the warming of the earth and moving away from fossil fuels is the problem of our lifetime and of our children's lifetime, a big systemic problem."

- David Corban, AIA

WINTER 2024

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WRITTEN SERIES

... Let go of Rigidity.   When in a position of leadership, come in open to other ideas, validate their opinions and work towards the goal of collaboration.  Being too rigid can get in the way of this. 

- Ryan Richards, AIA






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OCTOBER 2021

... An architect’s methodologies around analysis and problem solving are a finely honed and comprehensive skill set.  It is my contention that the architect’s skills are universally applicable to solving a variety of complexities within our society.  I believe it is our role as architects to imagine and apply our problem-solving talents to more aspects of society and life. 

- Dr. Tyler F. Patak, AIA

DECEMBER 2020

... Visionary. That is what I expect them to be. They must think ahead and again, and subsequently should have every tool possible so they can keep moving forward.  It is important to explain the layers of the architectural thought processes around why decisions come to be. We must not shy away from unravelling, understanding and/or questioning complexities. There are reasons why some solutions work, and others never will.  


- Andrea Clark Brown, AIA

SPRING 2021

... From a CA perspective BIM, Navisworks and other clash detection programs are important today in assisting the Contractor and Architect in Finding Items to be addressed prior to finding it during construction."  

- Stephanie McPherson, AIA




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OCTOBER 2020

​... As part of this effort, I love going into our schools and introducing the kids to the profession, let them know it is an option. We need the next generation creativity and passion.

- Natali Garcia







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MARCH 2021

... I enjoy listening to podcasts, currently my favorite architectural podcasts are Archispeak, Life of an Architect, and Inside the Firm. 

- Wojciech [Peter] Kulicki, AIA







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AUGUST 2020