Join us for Best Practice, a virtual fireside chat series dedicated to practice operations at architecture firms and beyond. From pain points to potential, hear how leaders in the architecture and engineering industry are innovating through new business models and managerial techniques.

We’re chatting with Kim Yao FAIA, Megumi Tamanaha of Architecture Research Office about how to train the whole architect.

Architecture Research Office (ARO) is a New York City firm led by Stephen Cassell, Kim Yao, and Adam Yarinsky. ARO is a diverse collective united by their collaborative process, commitment to accountable action, and social and environmental responsibility. Research gives their work purpose and intention. Their architecture unites beauty and form with strategy and intelligence. Their office designs spaces that inspire people, further institutional missions, and advance equity and resilience. This philosophy has earned the firm over one hundred design awards including the 2020 AIA Architecture Firm Award, the AIA New York State Firm of the Year Award, and the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Architecture.

Kim Yao, FAIA holds an undergraduate degree in architecture from Columbia College: Columbia University and a Master of Architecture from Princeton University. She is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Architecture at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and has also taught at the School of Constructed Environments, Parsons the New School for Design, and Barnard College (2001-2011). She has lectured widely throughout the United States and abroad. Kim has been awarded the AIA New York (AIANY) Medal of Honor and the Beverly Willis Foundation Mentorship Award. She was President of AIANY in 2020 and serves on the Board of the Center for Architecture.

Megumi Tamanaha AIA, holds an undergraduate degree in architecture from the University of Washington and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University. Megumi joined the firm in 2000, and has since become the Studio Director, monitoring each project and ensuring conformance with ARO project delivery and design standards, as well as overseeing office personnel and management to lead office efficiency. Megumi has led multiple projects at Brooklyn Bridge Park and Brooklyn Botanic Garden, retail projects for Calvin Klein, a new synagogue for Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, several academic projects including the Princeton School of Architecture and Colorado College’s Packard Hall, and residences like Martha’s Vineyard House. Megumi has previous work experience in Tokyo and Seattle and has taught design studios at NJIT and Parson’s School of Design.

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