Adele Salierno Principal, Studio KU

With over 20 years of experience, Adele brings to the firm her international background and her ability to comprehend the delicate relationship between the modern and the historic. While Adele’s skills include the organization of all aspects of design and a deep understanding of scale and proportions, her passion lies in the dialogue between colors, materials, and textures. Adele is also a certified color consultant. Adele received her Architecture degree from University of Rome “La Sapienza” and subsequently obtained her Italian architectural license.

After beginning her career in Italy, Adele moved to the United States in 2006; her experience in San Francisco began at a renowned firm where she helpedmanage construction projects for high-end stores such as Bvlgari and Prada, and then she gainedexperience in the custom-high-end residential market.

At the end of 2019 Adele left her full time job to transition to her new role as Principal at StudioKu, and notwithstanding the pandemic-related challenges,the company succeeded in growing both number and size of commissions. Adele’s work has appeared on regional and online publications, and her projects can be found throughout the Bay Area. Adele is passionate about choosing materials, keeping up with industry trends, and working out details that are custom to each client's needs and goals. In her free time, she enjoys baking and hunting for inspiration - which she usually finds in unpredictable ways.

www.studio-ku.net

Finding balance in a growing firm

Adele will be sharing thoughts regarding pros and cons of working with firms of different sizes, and how eventually she found her own path.

After two experiences with mid-sized firms focusing on competitions and commercial work, Adele landed in a very small residential firm in San Francisco. With just a few people in the office, everyone needed to wear many hats. Adele was quickly exposed to a variety of tasks, from schematic design to construction documents, construction administration, and project management. In addition to the architectural experience, Adele familiarized herself with all the hidden needs of running a firm, starting with the everyday errands such as buying toner and fixing the printer, while continuing with more strategic responsibilities, like marketing, and maintaining relationships with industry partners and clients.

In the span of a decade, Adele witnessed the growth of the firm, and also had the opportunity to analyze the benefits against the headaches associated with firm growth. It felt natural at that moment to spread her wings and to take off on her own. The growth question of a firm is an eternal one; there’s a sweet spot between profitability, and the effort it takes to manage people in order to obtain it. Adele will share how she found her equilibrium, achieving a good work-life balance, and a fulfilling work life.

Celia Imrey Principal, Imrey Studio Planning & Design

Celia leads strategy, planning, and design at Imrey Studio LLC, and draws from her substantial experience with national and international cultural facilities. Celia is known for her award-winning work for museum, library, and educational facilities including the Louvre Lens Museum, Harlem School of the Arts / The Herb Alpert Center, and the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, along with her varied international work as the Global Head of Exhibition Design for Adjaye Associates where she worked from 2022 to 2023. She has created designs for over 50 museums, schools, libraries, and community centers - from site planning and architecture to permanent and temporary exhibits, and has designed displays and interpretive systems for almost every kind of object or story. She also has expertise in visitor experience design, art storage, and sustainable exhibition design. Celia has taught over 20 art and architecture studios and her work has been widely published in national and inter-nationalpublications. Her professional formation was through working for I. M. Pei, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, William McDonough & Partners, and Acconci Studio. Celia is a licensed architect in New York state.

www.imreystudio.com

time, Context, and Clients

Celia will reflect on pivotal lessons learned throughout her career designing cultural spaces. She will explore how she has developed an approach of factoring time into the design process. She’ll discuss the value of deep understanding of a site and its context.  She’ll talk about her experience achieving consensus with clients and how that affects her design process.  And finally, she’ll share about the specifics of exhibition design and what it means when people, architecture, and art interact within the same spaces. Celia will also share how she finds personal fulfillment in her work by not only serving her clients but also creating spaces that enrich the wider community—balancing artistic vision with social responsibility.

Laura Schesinger Principal, Glickman Schlesinger Architects

Prior to forming Glickman Schlesinger Architects, Lauren worked for Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (TWBTA), Rockwell Group, Tsao & McKown Architects, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). Her experience at TWBTA included the Phoenix Art Museum, the CV Starr East Asian Library at UC Berkeley, and Skirkanich Hall at the University of Pennsylvania. At Rockwell Group, she designed restaurants and at SOM, she worked on the Toronto Pearson Airport. She has taught at NYIT and participated in reviews at Harvard, Pratt, and Auburn. While at Harvard, where she received her Masters in Architecture, Lauren spent a semester at the ETH Zürich. Before pursuing her career as an architect, Lauren worked at the Boston VA Hospital where she interviewed Persian Gulf War Veterans for mental health studies and co-authored a paper on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome. She is a Board Member at the Williamsburg Neighborhood Nursery School.

www.glickmanschlesinger.com

Putting your eggs in one basket: The Pros and Cons of Owning an Architecture Company with your Spouse

Lauren’s journey has been anything but conventional - starting with aspirations ofbecoming a doctor and ultimately finding her calling as an architect. Today, she shares both her life and work with her husband, navigating the unique challenges and rewards of running a firm together. In her talk, Lauren will explore the delicate balance of managing a demanding profession while raising a family, highlighting the resilience, adaptability, and collaboration it takes to thrive in both spheres.

Emily Pearl Principal, Lundberg Design

Emily Pearl is a Principal at Lundberg Design, a full-service architecture and fabrication studio located in SanFrancisco’s historic Dogpatch neighborhood. The firm has its own dedicated 4,000square foot metal fabrication facility for custom design work and experimentation. Every project is centered on the qualities of materials – how they can be plied, bent and cut toproduce a visual and tactile result. The firm has designed a wide variety of buildings and spaces, inclusive of private residences, wineries, restaurants, corporate headquarters, sacred spaces, even SFMTA’s bus shelters. Emily’s interest in material qualities and assemblies began at anearly age and was honed in the sculpture studio, which eventually redirected her from a previously anticipated career in medicine. Sheis cofounder of The Craft, a women’s collaborative centered on the strengthening relationships and careers of women in building and design.

Emily is a Bay Area native and is licensed in California. She received her Master of Architecture with distinction from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and a B.A. in Studio Art with honors from Dartmouth College. She has also studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and has trained professionally in Tokyo, London, and San Francisco. She was co-chair of Womxn in Design (WiD) at Harvard, which initiated and propelled recurring workshops, exhibits, and symposium exploring topics including scarcity of womenin the professional field of architecture and their evolving roles internationally.

www.lundbergdesign.com

The Artist's Hand:Navigating a Career Built on Craft and Gut Instinct

In her talk, Emily will speak about what guided her to the position she is in today: the importance of not being too rigid, staying open to new opportunities, and following her gut instinct, which led her to an architectural career focused on the notion of craft, the importance of the artist's hand, and relishing in the challenge of atypical design opportunities.