Daniela Holt Voith

“There has been a long period of faceless, placeless design, which has led to unsustainable building types. As we confront the environmental crisis that we’re in, architecture has to be addressed. As we address it, the building styles, materials and responses are going to become more localized.”

Daniela Holt Voith, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C, IIDA, is a founding partner of Voith & Mactavish Architects LLP, who believes that great architecture reflects innovation in the context of tradition. Her award-winning work ranges from the creation of high-tech Ivy League classrooms through the thoughtful design of bespoke single-family residential commissions. She is President of the ICAA Philadelphia Chapter and serves on the Board of the Design Leadership Foundation.

ArchNative sat down with Daniela to discuss her career in Architecture, co-founding Voith & Mactavish Architects, what she sees for the future of the field, and her advice for women looking to build their careers in this space.

Tell us a little bit about what interested you in a career in Architecture?

 This goes way back to my high school years when I was interested in two things—anthropology and fashion design. My folks told me to think about it and decide what I wanted to do. I was interested in the way people interact and how they do things together. The people and fashion thing didn’t compute so much, but architecture did. Also, I had a personal connection with anthropology since my father’s mother was friends with Margaret Mead. This Influenced me, as well as the other strong female connections from my background.

You had studied with Charles Moore, Caesar Pelli and Marc Simon. How did they have an effect on your philosophical and design position in your career?

VMA Hamilton Math & Science Center// Photo Credit: Jeffrey Totaro

 The person who made me start thinking about architectural philosophy and design was none of these people. Barbara Miller, an architectural historian and the head of my department at Bryn Mawr, taught me a lot about cities and the relationship of architecture to cities. She exposed me to an enormous amount of background thinking. So when I got to architecture school, I studied with Charles Moore, and Simon was a teaching assistant. I was interested in his centrist approach to architecture and how he loved talking to people and designing spaces. In the end, I didn’t buy the jokiness of it, but since then, the architectural form has carried a meaning with me. Quotes by architects, architectural styles and snippets of architectural forms started to interest me. That was something that was the avant-garde of thinking in Philadelphia at the time. Taking historical architecture as a source of inspiration and directly designing those styles was the most radical thing, which was in direct contrast to modernism. This is why I was attracted to Tony Atkin’s work and John Blatteau's. That had been a consistent thing in my practice.

Ceasar Pelli was the opposite of Charles Moore—very refined and dignified and interested in eccentric architecture. This was, again for people, but pretty conservative. He was doing large corporate buildings and felt that the architectural practice should not push the edge; it should be used and loved and welcome. So I did take from him this sense of dignity and refinement.

Tell us a little bit about your time at Atkin, Voith & Associate and how the firm influenced or shaped your own practice?

When I got out of architecture school, I worked with an interior designer and then went to work with Tony Atkins. Two of us worked together, and built up a practice within three years. I negotiated a partnership deal with him, and we went on to win the Progressive Architecture Awards. We entered the Brooklyn museum competition, which was a prestigious thing. We were published in Progressive Architecture magazine. Some of the philosophies I talked about were at the center of this avant-garde approach to design. We did some great work together, and Tony was an amazing designer. At some point we had a disagreement about what my role should be – he wanted me to do business development. Hence we broke apart, and I left with Cameron McTavish, one of the employees we had there, to start a new practice. It was a handshake deal at six o’clock in the morning. It was like starting all over again. No one thought we would last more than six months, but we did. But like I said, it was a very seminal time, and I made great friends and relationships.

You had co-founded Voith & Mactavish Architects, LLP. Tell us a little bit about the process of starting your own firm. What were the greatest challenges?

Academy of Music

Starting a business with two people, and we were working from the front room of my house. My husband had developed business management software so that we could keep track of our billings. It was hand-to-mouth for a while. But pretty quickly, we moved out of the house to the center city office, facing similar business challenges as now— looking for the next project, clients stiffing us for a lot of money, finding staff and so on. When I started working with Tony, we had no computer, and now we’re all about our computer system. There has been a tremendous change in the way business is accomplished. There’s been a huge learning curve, and I always jump on technology as soon as possible. At each point, there have been growing pains. Running an architecture firm is like running through a jungle with a machete and clearing your path, and somewhere there’s is a sheer cliff somewhere you don’t know about.

Academia has been a huge part of your career. What do you love most about teaching? How do you balance your time as a professor with running your own firm?

I’ve done a lot of teaching at Penn, Drexel, and Bryn Mawr under the auspices of the same department as the one I majored in. I have always loved not just teaching but also going to school from the age of 3. I’m also very interested in designing academic buildings. I found teaching at three institutions and working a little much and decided to keep teaching only at Bryn Mawr. The students are inspiring and the work done in the classroom is reflected in my own studio. There is a core amount of information and methodology that I teach with Samuel Olshin of Atkin Olshin Schade Architects. We’ve been teaching together for a long time, and it keeps me involved in academics. I often hire students which is a side benefit.

What has been the most personally impactful project that you have worked on in your career?

It’s a series of projects. My involvement with the Millbrook School has been the most unique relationship and fruitful project. I’ve done a set of projects for them, including three comprehensive master plans. Major projects include a new head of schools house, an alumni building, a dining hall, a student center, a dormitory, and a math and science building. But the most interesting part is doing the planning work and designing the building and then looking at how the building might impact the future. There has always been a pretty set approach to the client side – everything should look the same but better. For example, the dining hall is not visible on campus, but an amazing space unfolds as you go down the long beautiful hall. Similarly, the theatre building, which looks like a one-storey building is two-storey and unfolds beneath you. The school recently won a patronage award from the Trumbauer Awards Program for the AIA Philadelphia Chapter AIA, which acknowledges the long-term commitment to traditional design and preservation of an architecturally important campus.

Lehigh University College of Business

Historic Preservation is a huge part of your practice. Tell us a little bit about this type of work and what it entails?

 When Cameron and I started, much of the work we were doing was typical old house additions. Much of it was taking the beautiful housing stock of Philadelphia and adapting to contemporary life. Work consisted of enlarging the kitchens to incorporate the dining area and entertainment into the core of the house. Through this, we learned a lot about historic houses. We now have a director of preservation and partner, John Cluver. He’s interested in the sustainable side of historic preservation–bringing these buildings to contemporary standards regarding heating and cooling, which is necessary and technically complicated. I’m interested in how incredibly beautiful and lovable these buildings, built with care and craftsmanship are. For example, the work we did at Yale University, Dwight Hall, was about bringing new life to that building and helping to restore the chapel itself. It was about making the ancillary spaces work much better for the student community and education outreach. The original purpose of it was a campus library. But we brought historic preservation and sustainability into play while also accommodating the new program.

The Pennington School, Kenneth K.T. Yen Humanities Building

What do you see for the future of the Architecture field? What do you see for the future of Philadelphia's architecture scene?

There has been a long period of faceless, placeless design, which has led to unsustainable building types. As we confront the environmental crisis that we’re in, architecture has to be addressed. As we address it, the building styles, materials and responses are going to become more localized. It’s almost a modern approach to indigenous design. Incorporating technologies and exploring new environments—living under the ocean, in space—will become a reality rather than fiction. We will have to adapt to completely different types of environments altogether.

Philadelphia is an old and relatively poor city that’s quite diverse and has great bones to it. I see the need for the city to address inequality and social issues that are prevalent. One of the great things is that residential and commercial are intermixed, which is essential in business. The city is expanding and continuing to expand. Philadelphia worked hard to embed sustainable issues in the zoning code. I see a lot of positive energies in the major campuses such as Temple University, City Corp etc.

Thorndale Farm Corporate Offices

What is your one piece of advice for women who are looking to build their career in this space?

Everybody, man and woman, have their own strengths and weaknesses. You need to think about what excites you, and what you’re passionate about and stick to that.

My two pieces of advice that my mom told me when I was growing up:

First, have strong moral cores – you must be uptight, straight, strong and true. Second, college girls can do anything – don’t fight against yourself or limit yourself by your own vision.

One piece of literature you would recommend?

I can’t answer this question, I don’t have a favourite. People should read voraciously, and they will enjoy, discover and learn fabulous things that way.