7:00PM — Embassy of Finland - Washington, DC
Integrated Design Think Tank
Overview
The School of Architecture + Design invited Advisory Board members, sponsors, and corporate affiliates for a discussion with leading design professionals at the Embassy of Finland in Washington, D.C. on May 30, 2008. Four featured speakers followed a welcome by Ambassador Pekka Lintu. Speakers included, Jim Cramer of The Greenway Group, who moderated the discussion, Mike Hughes of the Martin Agency, Craig Schwitter of Buro Happold, and Robert Zahner of A Zahner Company. Participants from fields that ranged from creatively promoting products to innovative means of fabrication discussed contemporary issues affecting their practices and the role of inventive thinking in their approach to those issues.
Jim Cramer
Principal and Chairman
Greenway Group, Atlanta GA
Cramer has authored several books, including Design + Enterprise, Seeking a New Reality in Architecture. Jim is currently the president of the Design Futures Council, and the former CEO of The American Institute of Architects.
Since 1982 the Greenway Group has become a principal source of information on the built environment in the United States. It is one of the country’s leading strategy consulting and business networking firms for the design and construction industry.
Mike Hughes
President and Creative Director
The Martin Agency, Richmond VA
Hughes is known for his outstanding strategic ideas and brilliant creative executions that go beyond traditional media. Adweek calls Mike one of nine best creative directors in America.
The Martin Agency’s work embodies the power of inventive thinking. Ideas that consumers talk about, clients prosper from and the people who work there are proud of. Authors of the “Virginia is for Lovers” slogan and Wrangler logo, they created the GEICO gecko and the UPS “Brown” ads.
Craig Schwitter
Principal
Buro Happold, New York NY
Schwitter is recognized for his innovative work in specialized structures that entail the creative possibilities of engineering. In 2001 Craig was named the Bedford Distinguished Chair at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York.
Buro Happold’s approach is holistic, combining different disciplines into one, integrated team. Dedicated to research, they continually explore new methods of construction, materials and thinking that address the changing needs of our time worldwide.
Robert Zahner
Senior vice-President of Operations
A. Zahner Company, Kansas City MO
Zahner and two of his siblings are the fourth generation to run the company. Robert has been instrumental in adapting management practices to match the changes in fabrication.
For over a century, A. Zahner Company has pioneered advances in the architectural metal industry that combine new technologies with its expertise in sheet metal. Renown for their creative engineering and innovative fabrication, they play an essential part of the most complex buildings in the world.
Participants
Jim Cramer, Greenway Group
Mike Hughes, The Martin Agency
Robert Zahner, A Zahner Company
Craig Schwitter, Buro Happold
John O’Mera, Häfele America
Brian Lee, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Gary Fisher, Skanska
Gaylon White, Eastman Chemical
Sally Wilson, CB Richard Ellis
Pekka Lintu, Embassy of Finland
Pekka Hako, Embassy of Finland
Anita Honkanen, Embassy of Finland
Vernon Mays, Architect Magazine
Steven Carlidge, Shore Point Architecture
John Crouse, CMSS Architects
Allan Kehrt, KSS Architects
Jim McCalla, Moseley Architects
Robert Reuter, Reuter Design
Kevin Sullivan, Payette
Jane Wright, Hanbury, Evans, Wright, Vlattus & Company
School of Architecture + Design
Scott Poole, Director
Kathryn Albright, Assistant Director & Foundation Program Chair
Robert Dunay, Industrial Design Program Chair
Michael Ermann, Architecture 2/3 Program Chair
Brian Katen, Landscape Architecture Program Chair
Terry Surjan, Architecture 4/5 Program Chair
Steve Thompson, Graduate Program Chair
Jaan Holt, Director, Washington Alexandria Architecture Center
Allison Ransom, Architecture Undergraduate Student
Meredith Baber, Architecture Undergraduate Student