work during post-remote (GSD panel)

The pandemic has obviously affected the way we work, collaborate, and communicate with each other. We invested our hopes and solutions for when we return « back to normal ». But as we are experiencing this return, it is clear it is not yet post-covid (health continues to be a concern). At the same time the standards, norms, and priorities have changed, in many aspects, beyond health. How do we navigate through this transition? How do we create a desired place to work and how do we establish work and life balance? 

These are some of the ideas and questions that have emerged from our discussions with current students, recent graduates, and among ourselves. And led to the creation of the panel "Navigating the Life We Want Post-GSD." It has been a pleasure to co-organize the panel but mostly to hear how some of our brilliant participants address some of these concerns. 

 
Some of the questions dealt on how to build trust, how to maintain the access to the essential informality, how to be happy together, content while working? Others evolved around problems such as gender inequalities, labor that is left out, global/local supply chains, delays and interruptions, but also on positive view, speeding times (end of bureaucracy?) as well as opportunities for getting closer to each other (since we now know everything about each other)! 

The importance of the site visit, knowing the context where you work would seem essential for some of the previous generation architects, but it has not been a priority lately. The importance of culture specificity, understanding the other(s). One question that entails some of the above, and it is important during this new nomadism, is what and/or who is local nowadays? 
 
Personally, in times of uncertainty having people with whom you can navigate the crises together, is key.  As one of the panelists perfectly described it is all about « creating a dream together »!  

About the panel:

Navigating the Life We Want Post-GSD

Presented by the GSD Alumni Council’s Student/Alumni Xchange Committee

Tuesday, June 14, 2022

6:00 pm – 7:00 pm ET

Virtual Event, Zoom

How we work as professionals interested in the planning, design, construction, and management of a better built environment continues to change.

The paradigm of working long hours in a bustling studio environment without a life/work balance is a thing of the past. And yet, fully embracing technological solutions that (when left unchecked) risks a lifestyle disconnected from the collaboration and community needed to fulfill a happy work life and prosperous career.

There are other approaches that can achieve our desired outcomes, but our (post) Covid horizons require each of us to be more proactive in the shaping of these realities by working with our employers, employees, clients, investors, and partners. Come hear from a range of professionals at different points within their careers discuss this new paradigm and related options.

Moderator:

Brie Hensold MUP ’07, Co-Founding Principal, Agency Landscape + Planning, Cambridge, MA

Panelists:

Yannis Kitanis MArch ’09, Founding Principal, OKTANA, Athens, Greece

Kaley Blackstock AB ’10 ,MArch ’15, Sustainability Consultant, Gensler, Phoenix, AZ

Nina Chase MLA ’12, Co-Founding Principal, Merritt Chase, Pittsburgh, PA

Diana Ramirez Jasso PhD ’12, Dean, School of Architecture, Art, and Design at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico, Center-South Region

Once registered, attendees will receive a confirmation email containing a unique link to attend the panel discussion.

Sponsored by the GSD Alumni Council’s Student/Alumni Xchange Committee, GSD Development and Alumni Relations & GSD Career Services