Are You Learning Something or Are You Having Fun?
In a captivating phone conversation with Hana Kassem, principal of KPF, she explained to us the importance of asking yourself that simple question. In addition to this, we had the incredible opportunity of learning about her path, policies she would like to change, and lessons learned. With more than 20 years of experience, Hana has led design teams on local and international projects. She also serves as Director of Design Excellence in AIANY and has served as co-chair of the Global Dialogues committee. Hana is on the Van Alen Institute’s Board of Trustees, and is an active member in promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in the profession. She is also co‐editor of the collection of essays Architect d.b.a | On Re‐defining the Roles of the Architect Today.
Hana Kassem
How did you get to where you are?
I met this woman 18 years ago at spin class, who worked at KPF. She said, “You’re very resilient and strong” – this was at 6am on my bike! She invited me to visit the office and encouraged me to apply - she thought it would be a good fit. I had no idea that I would be there almost two decades later and be a Principal of the firm. But, she was right because in a way, it takes a lot of resilience to be a woman architect in a corporate firm. You learn a lot about being flexible, adaptable, and about your strengths and weaknesses. I feel like growing within the firm and having that perspective has pushed me to cultivating, supporting, and promoting very deserving women in the office along their paths. The landscape is quite different from when I started. One of my goals after becoming a Principal was that I wanted to help move the firm in a more gender balanced direction. The partnership has made a concerted effort in making that .
What do you think works best and what are some policies you want to change?
I think that the policy changes we have made are huge – there’s a lot more flexibility in allowing people to work remotely and a lot of micro-adjustments based on people’s needs. I would also say that rather than something I would like to change but more of something I would like to instate would be that in any given meeting that anyone attends, they say something. By doing so, younger team members would learn to develop their point of view, become more engaged in the project, and figure out what they actually bring to the table, and that’s really important in terms of their growth and development. The second thing related to that is I would like to have training for public speaking in design as an architect earlier in one’s career because it’s something that not everyone is natural at, and it is not taught in architecture school. Yet, it’s one of the most important tools that we have as architects. So much relays on convincing a client or having a good delivery in the presentation of a project, and I feel like some very interesting designs have never seen the light of day because of poor presentation skills and vice versa. A lot of very bad designs can be built. It would be useful for people to get that training earlier in their careers. Those are two initiatives that I would like to make happen, and I think they would help a lot of women especially those who tend to be a little more self-effacing and not as outspoken. It would be hugely beneficial.
Were those skills something you had naturally or something you had to work at?
No, I did not have them naturally. I struggled with them, and I had two pieces of advice. One from Bill Pedersen who said, “All you have to do is find one person in the audience that you feel comfortable looking at, that you might know, and talk to them. Talk to that one person.” The other piece of advice is from Jill Lerner who I also worked extensively and continuously with. She said a while ago when it was the norm to have only men and one woman in a room, “It really helps as a woman if you stand up, talk, and show your presence – people will pay more attention and people will be more focused on what you are saying.” Those were the two pieces of advice that I got, but that was it! It’s very simple and I still remember that, and I still use them.
What advantages o r disadvantages do emerging professionals have in their skills?
One thing that I see that is a common negative is the over reliance on polished imagery to convey designs. There is a reluctance to make ugly but good sketches or physical models by hand. Don’t get me wrong – I’m a firm believer of all the advances we made with computer aided design. I love virtual reality and augmented reality. I use all of that, but it’s equally important to have a direct hand to mind translation. I feel that drawing and physical models are ways to investigate. Both students and young designers need to really embrace the messiness of it all. There’s a lot that’s lost in the first tentative steps and people jump too quickly to the polished image and the aesthetic of things. I think that’s the real challenge that young designers face – this bombardment of imagery. Not to say, you shouldn’t be looking at online databases. You should look at everything, but you should also find a way to have your own voice and figure out what you are really seeking beyond pretty pictures.
What were some of the challenges that you faced and how did you overcome them?
For me, one of my biggest challenges was learning to listen well - to listen over the loud voice in my head. Learning how to follow when someone else was leading - that was a huge challenge for me early on as an architect. But, I took the challenge and it really taught me how to be ultra-sensitive to things that matter the most to any given person. I would carve out a space beyond those lines that would allow for my own growth and development as a designer. Little by little that space that I carved out, grew. It grew with mutual understanding and trust between me as a young designer and the partner that I was working with. That kind of investigation could grow to the point that it became the main design solution. First, what needed to be established was that there was a leader, and it was not me. I had to listen, and I had to follow in a way that gives back something; that creates a space for my voice to occupy. No good designer is going to shut down collaboration, but you have to collaborate in a way that makes sense.
The second challenge was finding a way to establish myself as a leader in the design field, while being iterative, and risk taking in my work. To do that, you need to build confidence in your team and amongst your colleagues. You need to be able to share your vision so that it can become a collective. It’s easy to lead with confidence if you are treading on a path already known, but for me and my design process, there’s no obvious solution. I need to think of the problem from scratch and bring a fresh set of eyes and questions. It is investigative, and your team has to be on board and trust you on that journey. Because architecture is team based, you can’t get to that part alone without the support and collaboration of the people around you. Finding a way to lead without giving up on being experimental, taking risks, and still having everyone support you - doing that was a challenge. Sometimes it continues to be so, but it’s very rewarding once things work out.
Were there any disadvantages or advantages to being a woman?
This is a tricky question because as an architect, you are a decision maker. The act of drawing is a selection process - it implies that certain elements are pushed aside or enhanced. You make decisions with every line you draw and the materials you use. The question is: do people find decisiveness to be a quality associated with and praised in women? I’m generalizing, but I would dare to say that the answer is usually no. Decisiveness is not what comes to mind when people are praising women. If you are both a woman and an architect, inherently you are a misfit. At that point, you have two possibilities. One is you take it as, “I’ve broken the preconception, and I’m a misfit.” You can use that to establish your voice as unique without any labels or expectations attached to it because you’ve broken the norm. You’re already out there. To me that’s an advantage of being a woman because by being a destabilizing agent, it makes room for your own unique voice. People are not expecting you to say what the person next to you just said, so they will be more prepared for something innovative to come out of you. You’re already labeled as “the other”, so you might as well have a unique point of view. Some might go the other way where you adhere to the most socially, culturally, more “expected of a woman” way. Then you might become soft spoken and adverse to taking risks because you want to be accepted. That’s the opposite route. It becomes a disadvantage because you might be sacrificing your own voice in order to fit in. I’ve seen it both ways. I’ve seen women that in a way succeeded and advanced, but then found that their voice got lost. I’ve seen the other way too - women that take the harder path but have really established their voice. Both can work, both will lead somewhere, but it depends what your goals are and how you define “success.”
Do you have any tips for leaders? What tips would you give to emerging professionals?
For tips to leaders, we talked about being able to share a vision with your team. That’s very important for a leader; that it is not your vision, it’s a vision that becomes your team’s as well. That’s how you are going to get the most engagement and the most out of everybody. Then it’s rewarding for them, and it’s a win-win situation. The team works better together, and everyone feels like they are getting out of it what they put in. But it has to be theirs at some point - they have to digest it and make it their own. It can’t be, “Oh I’m building someone else’s vision. This is my project leader’s idea and I’m just doing my job.” At some point there will be long hours or changes – there will be what is perceived as sacrifices, but these same issues would not be perceived as sacrifices because everyone is personally engaged in the project. It becomes their mission. I think that that is very important as a leader to do.
For emerging professionals, I will give the basic advice which I use on myself. In any given situation, job, task, or project, you have to ask yourself two questions. And, if the answer to both is “no”, then you have to change that situation. And those two questions are these: Are you learning something or are you having fun? If it’s neither, then you have to change it. You have to be able to answer “yes” to at least one of them. Otherwise, you are wasting your time and time is too precious. You might not be learning something, but you’re having fun. That’s ok. A different part of you grows when you have fun. It’s important to have fun - people underestimate it. That’s a basic and simple piece of advice, but I find it to be useful.
Talking about having fun and related to that is another thing. There is a culture change that is happening where people used to sacrifice everything for the work and for architecture. They would spend all day, all night, all weekend in the studio. With the younger generation, balancing the range of experiences that you have is important to them. That’s a good thing. To be a good architect, you have to have a full range of experiences. First-hand experiences that are good or bad, in exciting or boring environments with different conditions of light. You won’t get that sitting at your desk the whole time. It’s great that the younger generation has that priority with balancing their lives. But, it also takes a strong drive to be an architect. You have to remain passionate about it and all those experiences make you a better architect. Sitting at your desk and working through the problem is part of it, but you also have to be absorbing and collecting from the outside. That idea of a multiplicity of experiences and having fun is being able to expose yourself and bring it back to your work. It’s a very exciting field, and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else because I feel like architecture is everything. It touches everything.