Meet our YDC Co-Chairs

The Young Designers Core was founded in 2000 by young designers who saw potential to enhance the professional development of emerging professionals in the firm. As a grassroots initiative, the YDC has maintained a great level of autonomy and innovation, even as the architectural and economic climate has changed around it. The most successful facet of the YDC model has been its adaptability; over the past 17 years the program has been able to transform and change to cater to the current needs of the firm. The underlying mission of the group has always stayed the same; to elevate young designers, but the methods have not. From year to year, the YDC’s focus may shift from education, to mentorship, to career advancement, or even to community and culture building. The events and opportunities that the YDC offers changes to align with this focus every year.

The YDC is led by two people, co-chairs, with alternating two-year term periods to ensure an easy transition between leadership that we feel helps keep our group thriving. Today, we wanted to introduce and learn a little more about our current co-chairs – Steven Karvelius and Justin Miller.

What drew you to become an YDC co-chair?
Over the years, the YDC has helped shape the culture and create a sense of community among our entire office. It regularly brings everyone together for events ranging from educational talks to our annual bocce ball tournament.  I think it’s important to really know the people we work with and to have fun in the office. I wanted to do my part to make sure that culture continues.

What is one of your favorite YDC event?
I like the events that give us the opportunity to connect with others, particularly those who I don’t see or work with on a regular basis. The Thanksgiving Potluck is our biggest event because the whole office comes together in one room – something that just doesn’t happen very often. I also really enjoy the annual softball game because we see another (competitive) side of our colleagues.

If you could eat lunch with one architect, living or deceased, who would it be?
I would invite Ludwig Mies van der Rohe to eat lunch at our apartment. We would prepare a thoughtful meal and then invite him to spend the afternoon in our home.  My wife and I both attended architecture school at IIT in Chicago and truly enjoyed going through the foundation of his original curriculum. They instilled in us a deep appreciation of his work.

The sky is the limit: what would you redesign?
I would redesign the American Flag. It would be an opportunity to create a visual representation that more clearly communicates the ideas for which the country stands. It would be a difficult task for many reasons, and so I don’t think it’ll happen any time soon.

What do you do in your free time?
My wife and I like to seek out really great food. We love cooking, eating at interesting restaurants and even just grocery shopping. It doesn’t really qualify as “free time”, but traveling to interesting places and eating the local food is even better. I also enjoy playing soccer, badminton and racquetball. I am also content just walking around the city looking at the many strange (but great) conditions that emerge in the built environment.

What drew you to become an YDC co-chair?
The opportunity really just fell in my lap. I was approached by the previous co-chair, and asked if I was interested in being the new co-chair. I happily accepted the position because I’ve always liked to have my hands in a little bit of everything, especially those activities outside of the usual day to day work-based tasks. I think it’s incredibly important to have a strong studio culture, which should encourage a good work/life balance. I also felt that I could be a good champion for Payette healthcare design within the YDC, and alongside Steven, we could help keep a strong link between the Healthcare side of the office and the Science + Education side of the office.

What is one of your favorite YDC event?
‘Life Before Payette’ – I feel this is the strongest event that encourages Payette staff to feel more like a family rather than just co-workers. We ask the young designers in the office to put together a brief presentation about their life before they joined the Payette Team. Presenters tell the audience where they’re from/grew up, where they went to school, if they have any hobbies outside of work, other places they’ve worked, etc. It’s a very personal presentation that always opens the audiences’ eyes to the talent we have here at Payette. We’ve had some presenters not even do a typical slide show – but instead chose to display their passions by playing a musical instrument or singing a song. We’re planning on developing a similar event that is geared more towards the senior staff, who can present what they’ve done over the years since they’ve joined the Payette team.

If you could eat lunch with one architect, living or deceased, who would it be?
Craig Dykers (founding partner of Snohetta) – he gave an amazing talk at the architecture school I attended. I also pulled a funny quote from that presentation that I’ve pretty much adopted as one of my own architectural mantras. I’ll even buy the first lunch if he’s interested!

The sky is the limit: what would you redesign?
The MBTA Subway System (the T) – pretty much everything about it.

What do you do in your free time?
Binge Anime or Harry Potter, and listen to any song by Bastille. I also like developing fun design ideas that I like to keep in my back pocket for rainy days.