In this live recording of the XXLA Architects Podcast, I visit the Free School of Architecture at WUHO Gallery on July 24, 2018 and have a discussion with some of the participants to hear more about this innovative 6 week experience.
Participants in the episode (listed in no particular order):
Alejandra Ramirez, Nathan Halimi, Naveen Agrawal, Jacob Gulezian, Joy Matashi, Simon Glaiser, Katya Zirulnik, Jay Henderson, Tessa Forde (FSA 2018 Organizer), and Luciana Varkulja. Special thanks to Vi Phan for visual documentation.
Margot Siegel was born in 1932 in Germany, and as a child, she went on to live in Paris and then New York, as her family fled from Nazi occupation. She describes herself as always being somewhat of an outsider, having experienced the shock of new countries and cultures, and then becoming an architect in a time where it was highly unusual to be a woman and an architect. She attended Pratt Institute, graduating with her architecture degree in 1955. Finding that others weren’t giving her the opportunities she desired, she formed her own practice in 1972 and volunteered her time to obtain a HUD grant to form the Los Angeles Community Design Center. After 14 years on her own, with clients like the YWCA and East 60th Street Community Center, Margot partnered with Kate Diamond and Norma Sklarek to form Siegel Sklarek Diamond, Architects which later became Siegel Diamond Architects until 1999. The firm was celebrated for being one of the largest women-owned architecture firms in the nation at the time. Margot also played a formative role in West Hollywood’s history as she formed a committee to draft its Community Plan, which was later adopted when the city was incorporated. If all that wasn’t enough, she was also in the ski patrol, was the first woman board member and officer of AIA|LA, was active with the AWA, and so much more.
