Getting to know more Young Architect Award winners

Each year, the Young Architects Award recognizes AIA members in the early stage of their architectural career who have shown exceptional leadership in design, planning, education, and service to the profession.

In the second part of our series about getting to know the 2024 Young Architect Award recipients, you’ll learn about what makes each one tick, why they were drawn to architecture, and what their dream projects are. 

Highlighted in this installment are Megan Martin-Campbell, AIA; Danny Wicke, AIA; George Gard, AIA; Rachelle Hassan Ain, AIA; and Melvalean McLemore, AIA. 

The first installment of the series is here. Be on the lookout for additional installments in the near future. 

What first drew you to architecture?

Martin-Campbell: I was drawn to architecture through a combination of early childhood interests; creative expression through art and the rationalization through mathematics and science. Each of these mind sets fascinates me still. My approach to architecture blends them.  

I have always had a passion to visualize and make things; be that a watercolor painting, growing a plant, or building a model. As those skills developed over time those interests expanded to space making and human habitat. 

Wicke: Well, I think it was two parts, the more emotional part is that I have an uncle that was an architect, he was the Project Architect for the Grand Central Station Renovation & the Muhammad Ali Museum in Louisville, that I always admired and looked up to. I loved seeing what he was working on during holidays together.

The more calculated reason was the idea that it was work that you could sit down and grind through, a pursuit that is logical and strategic, while also subjective, creative, and less constraining that other traditional professions always appealed to me. I always enjoyed the arts but am a logical and strategic person and struggled with seeing the path to a successful career as an artist.

Architecture always represented a career that was a compelling intersection of a more traditional career path and the more open-ended nature of the creative arts. 

Gard: My half-joking answer has always been that growing up I wanted to be a chef, but decided the late hours were not for me—thus architecture school was, at the time, a bit of a surprise. While that’s true, I think I have always loved a good project. Whether a meal, a building, or a neighborhood—the creative and intellectual exercise required when there is no single correct answer, and you need to bring something into being, is a thrill.

Ain: Sensibility to materiality was imprinted in my childhood. My father’s family in Egypt were GC’s. As little girls, my sisters and I used to play around piles of sand, brick, and other building materials.  

McLemore: I initially intended to pursue engineering but accidentally stumbled into architecture due to a mishap on my Texas Common application. However, after unexpectedly getting into the College of Architecture, I discovered a passion for the field, thanks to its blend of creativity and problem-solving that was unlike the more straightforward formulaic problem-solving I had been used to in my high school engineering program.

What is the most fulfilling aspect of being an architect?

Martin-Campbell: Creating spaces that allow people to thrive. Talking with people about their needs, how they operate, and their dreams is fascinating to me. Then, helping them visualize and implement space for that aspect of their lives. 

Wicke: I believe the education component. While I was teaching, I always enjoyed helping students find their path and voice, as a practicing architect I still find that role as an architectural “guide”, whether for our clients or our young staff, compelling. 

It certainly isn’t instant gratification, but I believe most things that are rewarding or fulfilling don’t come easy but rather take lots of time and hard work. Empowering people to be the best version of themselves creates a great culture and environment to work in and leads to work that is thoughtful, appropriate, and empathetic to its users. 

Gard: I consider myself fortunate to revel in many of the day-to-day aspects of architecture, design, and project delivery—not just the big moments. I get a lot of joy out of the process and the design work, even when only I see some of it. I also enjoy detailing as the fundamental unit that reifies the design intent, the process and discoveries in research, and solving challenging questions as a team—on paper and in the field. Throughout these areas its the moments where theory and practice come together that most excite me.

Ain: Collaborative problem solving with colleagues, clients, and consultants. This is  especially fulfilling when we’re working to improve quality of life for future residents or the sustainable performance of a project. 

McLemore: The most fulfilling aspect of being an architect is being able to engage and collaborate in meaningful ways with diverse groups of people both inside and outside of my firm. Whether I am mentoring, helping a client realize their vision, or working with peers across the industry to promote equity, the people-centered opportunities for collaboration, service, and advocacy make architecture very rewarding for me.

What is your favorite representation of architecture in culture?

Martin-Campbell: The representation that comes to mind is the cultural trend of experiences over products or things. The lean toward experiences has a symbiotic relationship with architecture and how design can evoke an emotional response. 

Wicke: I must say I am biased based on my background, but I find the Rural Studio’s model and ethic to be my favorite representation of what I believe our profession can be. It is equal parts empowering for both the students and communities served while also being honest and humble in its outlook on the role of architecture with a capital A. The program leans into the beauty of vernacular/regional architecture learning from their environment and embracing all the good it has to offer rather than trying so hard to reinvent or force their specific perspective. 

Gard: There's a lot of cinema that that uses architecture effectively as a motif or character—often in extremes—much of which I enjoy. However, less seriously, a few years ago there was a scene in the TV show American Horror Story (no stranger to architecture-as-antagonist) where a homeowner comes before a town council on Cape Cod and proposes to paint their house “Mountain Peak White” instead of the town-approved “Simply White.” A council person holds up the two samples, which appear to be identical, but council members instead comment “have you lost your mind”, “it’s a scandal that you would even ask”, and “you might as well paint it orange”, before another cackles and slams their gavel down, declaring “motion denied.” It’s a caricature, but one that for me added a lot of texture to how the council in a town canonically beset by a plague of failed creatives approaches their role. 

Ain: I just learned about The House that Herman Built and have been thinking about this collaboration a lot - the underlying racist injustice that led to Herman Wallace’s incarceration, his unrealized aspirations, and Jackie Sumell’s collaboration with him, and the beautiful ideas underlying the design. “What kind of a house does a man who lives in a 6’x9’ cell dream of?”  

McLemore: My favorite representation of architecture in culture is public spaces. The places where all are welcome. Whether it's a library, park, or plaza, these spaces foster social interaction, connection, and well-being within communities. They embody inclusivity and provide environments where individuals from all walks of life can gather and thrive together.

What is your dream project?

Martin-Campbell: Any project that actively engages with the community about design to address social, environmental, and cultural issues. 

Wicke: I am not sure I have a dream project. I have built my career to this point around the idea that every project is an opportunity to reflect on how we think and approach our work. I love finding the opportunities in each project to get a little better, finding the lessons each project holds which are all unique.

That said I am quite taken with the projects that people overlook or discard,  those projects really challenge us to be clear, concise, and intentional with our architectural moves as those projects typically only have room for one or two opportunities. I always walk away from these projects feeling the proudest as they require us to really dig deep on what matters and what will make the biggest impact for the client or user. 

Gard: Rather than being specific to a program type, or set of program types, most of my work—much of which I consider dream projects—involves existing buildings as a primary protagonist. To go from a great project to a dream project, I look for additional factors which may or may not exist in combination: opportunities to investigate low total carbon, an interesting cultural program, strong urban context and action, opportunities to benefit the lives of users, opportunities for ambitious bespoke first-principles design, and impacting significant existing architecture. My work at MASS MoCA and with artist James Turell, ongoing work for Gund Hall at the GSD, and careful infill housing at Frost Terrace in Cambridge hit a lot of these for me and represent work that I hope to continue to do.

Ain: I tend to think in terms of directions I want to go in rather than projects, as every new project is an opportunity to push inquiries. I think about the social and moral responsibility we have to understand the links between design, social justice, the environment, and the built environment, so an “ideal project” for me would forefront these issues. 

McLemore: I actually haven’t thought about this much, but I suppose my dream project would be community-based with a healthy budget and timeline. The project would aim to be transformative, not just in its program and aesthetics but also in the lives it touches – creating meaningful and lasting change for the community it serves. Additionally, I imagine this is a project I would do with my husband, who is also an architect.