At the end of October, the entire Feldman Architecture team was lucky enough to head down to Asilomar, a beautiful conference ground, hotel, and coastal architectural wonder (designed by Julia Morgan) for three days of design, lectures, workshops, and beach-side bonding at the Monterey Design Conference– one of the most highly respected and attended biennial architecture and design conferences in the US.
The conference hosted a dynamic and engaging list of speakers. Some FA favorites included Alberto Kalach from Kalach & Taller de Arquitectura X who discussed his beautiful work in Mexico City, as well as his take on the future of urban planning, and on the other side of the spectrum, Gregg Pasquarelli from SHoP, with some incredible insights on his firm’s innovative large scale commercial work at Barclays Center and Uber headquarters. The diversity of presenters, topics, and approaches to architecture was incredible, and our designers left every session conspiring about new ideas and exciting takeaways, looking forward to applying new perspectives to our future work.
Smaller breakout sessions on topics like sound in architecture, public art, and the 2030 Challenge also provided for conversation and networking – we were able to connect with old friends and make some new from all over the world.
The grounds were tranquil and relaxing- and our team was able to take advantage of our beach-side locale by having an impromptu happy hour on the beach, and visiting a local breweries after the daily sessions ended.
While in the area, the entire team toured some favorite Feldman Architecture projects- including Butterfly House and House Ocho (the first home Jonathan Feldman ever designed). And to close out the weekend, on Sunday afternoon a small group from FA hosted a modern home tour – in which conference goers were bused into the beautiful Santa Lucia Preserve to visit Ranch OH, as well as two other stunning homes designed by Aidlin Darling and Piechota Architects. The tour ended up being a mini vacation for all involved- with some of the FA staff taking a dip in the Ranch OH pool!
Feldman Architecture was proud to be one of the only firms that sent all of their employees the conference, exposing designers and staff of every level to the newest and best ideas from the brightest in our industry. The team left with a shared sense of gratitude for our firm- and a feeling of rejuvenation and excitement to get back to work.
