Join us at Lore Leimert Park on October 4th for a panel discussion with three folks who made the shift from an architecture education into careers in fields outside of architecture.
An Architecture education requires a considerable amount of discipline. It tends to be rigorous and demanding, covering a wide range of skills necessary to successfully design buildings and houses. Structures that need to provide safe shelter will need to comply with State and Local Building Codes, while using materials efficiently and creating work that contributes to the artistic dialogue that spans centuries.
We quickly learn that as our skills grow in architecture school, we can use the same skills in other fields. And the experimental spirit that drives us through deadlines, readings and presentations, can be extremely beneficial when we work on other activities we are passionate about.
L.A. Forum for Architecture and Urban Design have collaborated with Lore to bring together a trio of passionate former architecture students who are now living successful lives in fields that don’t require checking the Building Code every day. We look forward to spending time with the community that Lore has nurtured, as we learn about these unique journeys.
Our participants:
Kara Bartelt
Kara is a design-trained executive, entrepreneur and hospitality leader whose career spans architecture, product design, brand experience and operations. She holds a B.S. in Art and Design from MIT and a Master of Architecture from Yale, and formerly taught at USC School of Architecture.
Her work has included architectural practice, co-founding multidisciplinary design studio Lettuce Office, where she designed a solar array art installation for Occidental College, and creating her own product business, ToHold. She began her hospitality career at Ace Hotel, Downtown Los Angeles, bringing her design and technical background into hotel operations. Most recently, she served as General Manager of The Hoxton, Downtown LA, helping launch the hotel before leading its commercial and operating business for five years and translating a global lifestyle brand for Los Angeles.
Across these roles, the common thread has been building places, products, teams and businesses that connect people to place.
Joe Brown
Joe is a choreographer, dancer, actor, model and educator. After studying Mechanical Engineering at MIT, and getting a Master of Architecture at SCI_Arc, Joe began his shift into Dance.
Joe is the founder of Stroll Groove, a high-energy immersive performance group whose performances range from classic, nostalgic hits of the 1970s-2000s to the culture & rhythms of Stepping, African, Dancehall, & more!
Stroll Groove’s projects have included competitions on NBC World of Dance (Season 1); feature choreography & dancers in Beyoncé’s Homecoming tour, and major commercial spots for companies including The Gap and Door Dash.
Lauren Rosenbloom
Lauren is a production designer for film, television, and experiential design, creating spaces built to carry story in their bones. She holds a BFA from the University of Oregon and a Master of Architecture from SCI-Arc.
As a Supervising Art Director, Lauren worked on Marvel's Werewolf by Night and Apple TV+'s Fly Me to the Moon. As an Art Director, she worked on The Gray Man, The Electric State, and Greyhound. Today her work centers on production design for independent films and large-scale experiential installations, most recently a 35,000-square-foot field of daisies for Olivia Rodrigo's inaugural Daisy Chain Festival.
Lauren translates story into built environments and delivers prestige-level design on budgets of every size, knowing exactly where to spend and where to imply.
Our panel will be moderated by L.A. Forum Board Member Roberto Paz, AIA. Roberto also went through a career change, in the opposite direction, from Medicine to Architecture.
L.A. Forum is very grateful for the support we’ve received from Lore Leimert Park’s Dario Scolari and Grace Warren. We look forward to many more collaborations with Lore.
