#50 - Design is in the Details with Vanessa Kassabian, Principal at DLR Group

Vanessa Kassabian is a Cultural+Performing Arts design leader
based out of DLR Group's New York office. She works closely with
teams across the firm to facilitate design discussions and
provide critical guidance on considerations around site,
programming, massing, aesthetics, and execution. Vanessa has
extensive experience designing for significant cultural programs
throughout the United States, as well as in Canada and Mexico. As
a strong proponent of collaboration and an integrated design
approach, Vanessa works to foster client, consultant, and
internal design team relationships from concept design to
construction completion.


Born and raised in Texas, Vanessa is an active member of the
American Institute of Architects and a LEED Accredited
Professional. As a champion for the power of design, Vanessa
focuses a great deal of her time on educating and mentoring the
next generation of designers and has served as a visiting
professor at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and a
guest lecturer at the Haifa International Waterfront Conference
in Haifa, Israel. She previously led a research-based design
workshop at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Environmental
Design, and has served as a studio critic at Columbia University,
the Pratt Institute, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Syracuse
University, and the University of Pennsylvania.


In this episode we talk about:


- Vanessa’s design philosophy, and how it has been shaped by her
previous experiences at OMA/REX and Snohetta, and now at DLR
Group


- How to build a strong design culture 


- What we miss about being in the office


- How to increase diversity in design leadership, and Vanessa’s
advice for emerging professionals who want to become Designers


- How we need to expand the notion of what constitutes “design”


- If you can teach someone to be a good designer


- What Vanessa finds most rewarding about being an architect


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