Interview with Katherine Hogan, AIA
Founder and Principal, katherine hogan architects
Raleigh, North Carolina
Our next speaker spotlight features architect Katherine Hogan, founder and principal of Katherine Hogan Architects, based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her studio strives for craft in architecture at any scale and a design process that is sensitive to culture and the impact to that place. Their body of work encompasses renovation of existing structures and public projects that still display high design using minimal resources.
Read more about Katherine in our Q&A below.
First, would you give a short summary of what you’ll be speaking about at the AIA TN conference and its importance for architects?
The lecture focuses on our hybrid approach to practice and the expanded role of the architect. Our primary focus and our passion is architecture, but in order to realize projects in our place, in addition to the architect we take on the role of the contractor, owner and sometimes the developer. We believe that good design can happen at any scale and budget, and the empirical insights from the field have shaped our approach to practice.
In your experience working on community driven projects, what have been your greatest rewards, challenges and/or valuable lessons you’ve gathered?
One of the most valuable lessons is that good ideas can come from anyone and everyone at the table. We engage in a participatory process of design, where many voices of the project stakeholders can be heard. The greatest reward has been seeing the end users of the space feel ownership and know that they had a significant influence on the design outcome.
What has been the biggest lesson you’ve learned from the pandemic for your design practice?
We learned how important it is to have in person meetings and a collaborative office that works together in person. However, we also learned how to communicate a method of design via virtual meetings when this in person collaboration was not possible. We realized how helpful a quick virtual meeting can be to the process and allowed us to connect with people that were not local.
Now that travel and social gatherings are officially back, where and what have you made a point to go and do?
During the pandemic, we had a van RV which allowed us to still visit architecture and accommodate online school for our kids. Now we still visit architecture but can travel further to do so. We enjoy the ability to attend more in person lectures and conferences again.
As you work on larger scale projects, how do you make sure to stay inventive and not lose your approach to crafted design?
We make sure to maintain an iterative process of design. We are influenced by the lessons learned from previous projects and we still look to back-feed insights from materials and construction into our design process.
What other interests outside of design do you have that contribute to your work?
Family, cooking, being together. Travel to learn from other places and other projects.
Would you share some advice to younger architects or those new to architecture about the profession and the process of design?
It is a passion career. It is important to work hard at the craft of architecture which comes through a process that is not always linear. It takes practice and many mistakes to get better as a designer. It is important to acknowledge that it is a practice of architecture. It is invaluable to visit architecture and learn from other architects and projects.
All project images courtesy of katherine hogan architects.
2023 AIA Tennessee Conference on Architecture
After living with the isolation of an ongoing pandemic, how can we celebrate, explore, and learn from spaces that bring people together and promote joy in a community setting. The types of spaces that showcase some of the greatest human accomplishments – from performance to food to hospitality. We want to highlight the places that unite rather than divide.
Katherine Hogan, AIA will present her session on Wednesday, August 2nd at 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM.