Join Talisha Sainvil, AIA, as she sits down with Jonathan Marvel, FAIA. In addition to being the Founding Principal of MARVEL, Jonathan is the co-founder of two non-profits, born out of the increase in natural disasters affecting his homeland of Puerto Rico. Marvel’s organizations are using his background in architecture to aid Puerto Rico in becoming more resilient. Marvel discusses how he found architecture and how he is using his passion to give back to the community.  

https://resilientpowerpr.org/

https://protechos.org/

In alignment with July’s Visibility Campaign, Community is Strength, Talisha interviewed Baxter Hankin, graduate student of real estate development at NYU, originally from Connecticut. He received a degree in architecture from Syracuse University in 2020 and worked at Robert A. M. Stern Architects. Given his time spent in Syracuse, Baxter has long been considering what it would take to prepare potential climate receiver places for the future. This prompted him to found the Climate Receiver Places Project at PLACE Initiative, where he both manages this project and serves on PLACE Initiative's board. 

PLACE Initiative is focused on the role that place plays in climate change and equity. This youth-led group builds upon years of collaboration, ideation, and action from a diverse cross section of place-focused professionals. Electric cars and renewable energy alone will not be sufficient to meet our 2050 climate goals, and we believe that urbanism is the missing link. Neither can our climate goals be achieved when much of our society is held down by racial and social injustice. With the climate and social crises accelerating, the impact that urban growth and development policy plays on our planet’s and society’s future must be addressed. PLACE Initiative hopes to motivate a new generation that deeply believes climate and social solutions can wait no longer.

https://placeinitiative.org/

In honor of National Volunteer Month, Talisha sits down with Sarah Bruce, AIA, who transitioned from a traditional role in architecture into an alternate career path after having done volunteer work with Syracuse Habitat for Humanity.