Joan Blumenfeld

“The best results come about through a collaborative process, in design, in science and in life.”

#WomenWhoBuild, meet Joan Blumenfeld, FAIA, FIIDA,

Joan is a Principal at Perkins & Will, a global design practice with offices in 25 locations. An advocate for design excellence, Joan’s work has been published in Vanity Fair, the New York Times, and Architectural Record. She has won multiple awards from AIA, IIDA, Interior Design Magazine, and the Society of American Architects. A champion of sustainability, Joan has been the design advisor for the NYC Department of Health, the Center for Disease Control, and the GSA. She is also the President of the Beverly Willis Foundation and a board member for the Center for Active Design. She was named Legend of the Year in 2018 by Contract Magazine.

Joan sat down with ArchNative, virtually of course, to discuss her journey in design, how she continues to grow in her career, what her day to day looks like as a Principal at Perkins & Will, and her advice for young professionals starting in the field.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey in architecture? How did you get introduced to the field?

As a kid, I always liked to draw. I wanted to go to art school after high school but was convinced to do something more practical and go to college. My degree, in Philosophical Psychology, was hardly practical, and after waiting on tables for a number of years after graduation, my dad suggested I look at architecture. I had never met an architect, so I asked all my friends for referrals. Everyone I contacted was extremely gracious, and I ended up visiting six different architecture offices. It was a recession at the time, and every single one of them told me not to pursue it as a career, particularly as a woman. Being the visual person that I am, I ignored their words and fell in love with the drawings and models, as well as the modern and light filled studio spaces.

Can you tell us a little bit about your time in the Harvard GSD program. How did your time there influence the trajectory of your career?

The GSD was transformative for me. I was in a program along with people who had a four year degree in architecture, and I knew that I knew absolutely nothing. I gave myself the slack to be the class idiot for the first year; no question was too stupid for me to ask. But I loved everything about the program; the drawing, the history and theory, the wonderful professors, and most of all, my fellow students, some of whom are still my closest friends.

The program taught me how to think about design, and about the design process. It is an education that has been invaluable throughout my career.

Can you tell us about your role as Principal at Perkins & Will. What does your day to day look like?

For the past six years I have been working remotely from the Reno/Tahoe area, where we have no office

Before I moved out west I was in our New York office, where as a principal I pursued work, wrote contracts, dealt with staffing, interviewed and hired designers, mentored young staff (which I still do, even remotely), and most importantly, lead the design efforts on multiple projects. I was also on the Design Board, doing peer reviews, devising strategy for design improvement across the firm. I was one of a handful of designers who would travel to our various offices and review projects, architecture, interiors and urban design. The purpose was to use impartial eyes to in a sense recreate the school studio experience of design reviews. We would offer constructive suggestions, helping solve problems and providing feedback. It also gave me a good perspective about who was doing what, and which offices were doing well, which ones not so much and needed help. In addition, as the Firmwide Design Principal for Interiors I worked on strategy for improving the quality of the interiors work and for improving our practice in general.

Once I moved out west, prior to Covid, I was still traveling a lot as a member of the Design Board. I also worked on projects remotely, which was fairly unusual before Covid lockdowns made me just like everyone else.

You have been with the company for close to 16 years, how have you continued to grow in your role/career?

I am gradually stepping aside to allow younger folks to continue the work that I have done. Regardless, I keep up with the latest developments in design and in construction techniques, in sustainability and in designing for wellness, because I love designing and because I believe as architects we have a responsibility to address climate change. I have also had a separate thread through my career of being an activist and advocate; I am a policy junky and was president of NY Chapter of AIA, and have been on numerous boards focusing on designing better cities and spaces, on designing for wellness, and on bringing gender equity to the construction and design industries. I continue to be involved in some of those organizations, particularly the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation.

What has been your biggest challenge and your greatest triumph?

My biggest challenge has been in addressing the issue of gender inequality. There weren’t a lot of women in the field when I was a young architect, and there were many male partners who I encountered along the way who were not shy about saying that they were incapable of working with women (which at the time was not something that would raise eyebrows).

One of the biggest stereotypes we had to contend with 30-40 years ago was that women who had children would not return to the workplace. I was the first woman in my office to work while pregnant and then return to work, for each of my two children. There was no trajectory for a career path to follow, and the expectation was that I was only a temporary employee, biding my time until I became a mother.

Fortunately, we have moved beyond those limiting preconceptions, but I believe that one of the most difficult remaining obstacles is the dearth of female role models, and mentors or sponsors at senior levels, particularly for designers. We all have a tendency to empathize with what is familiar, and to promote someone who is most recognizably like ourselves. Design is principally a subjective enterprise, more disposed to the whims of subconscious judgement. This lack of patronage limits women’s options quickly, because without the support and encouragement of a senior level decision-maker, careers languish. We see women dropping out of the profession in midcareer, in frustration with a lack of opportunities.As I have gotten further along in my career, I have worked hard to address that issue head on, through my work with the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation.

My greatest triumph? That’s a hard one. I suppose being named Legend of the Year in 2018 by Contract Magazine was pretty good. But maybe it’s more being able to have a great career and a wonderful husband and two beautiful, happy adult children.

How do you approach each project?

I like to regard each project as an opportunity to think differently about what the solution should be. What has always been done is not usually the best way to do things for this particular client in this particular place! I love working with a great team of people, and collaboratively brainstorming ideas to innovate the best possible outcomes. The GSD was great for instilling in me a love for the design process itself; a patient and frustrating search for the narrative or conceptual framework that will carry the design from start to finish.

You have been the design advisor for the NYC Department of Health, the Center for Disease Control, and the GSA on various initiatives and standards. Can you tell us a little bit more about your work with these organizations?

The best results come about through a collaborative process, in design, in science and in life. Working with doctors, public health experts, and administrators brings a whole new dimension to design. We were trying to come up with a rating system for buildings, interiors and urban planning that would encourage health and physical fitness, would be accessible to non-professionals, and would be evidence based. Every point we came up with went through a vetting process—is there peer reviewed data that supports this? Is this the intervention that will bring the best results? My role as design advisor was to point us in the direction of what could be physically achieved without breaking the bank, within the limits of code, and that would not conflict with other necessary aspects of a normal building process.

You mentor young design professionals, what is your advice for those just starting in the field?

If I could have advised my younger self, I would have counseled patience. Architecture is a tough business for all of us, regardless of gender, and we all have to put up with a lot of nonsense. I thought I needed to be wildly successful at a young age, and my impatience pushed me to make some foolish decisions. I did not understand that it is a very long road to travel, and that being female might make it even longer.

Here are a few other pieces of advice I would give:

Find a mentor, a senior person in your firm who is in your corner. Meet with them periodically. Ask their advice when you feel stuck.
Find your voice—what is it that you are good at and that you enjoy professionally?
Volunteer internally in ways that make the firm/office better
Get involved outside the office with the design/construction community—start to know people outside your firm.

Kendall McCaugherty

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