Summer season brings new staff
This summer has brought so much light to the OPN studios between the sunshine and smiling new faces. We have added multiple new members to the OPN team the past few months in all 5 studios. Our newest additions come from across the country and around the world, enhancing our collective creativity with their variety of perspectives and experiences.
Monique Rannow, OPN Cedar Rapids
Where did you go to school? Kirkwood Community College
What inspires your work? In my spare time, when I make anything by hand (paintings, ceramics, crochet, woodworking), I get my inspiration from nature, music, and movies. In the office, I am inspired by the dedication and creativity of the people I work with.
Do you have a mantra or saying that you remind yourself of during projects? The details that matter, matter to me.
What are you reading right now? Book 14 of 40 in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series
If you were a cake, which flavor would you be and why? I would be Tiramisu because I have just the right amount of pep.
Ian Van Kooten Laughead, OPN Des Moines
Where are you originally from? Des Moines, IA
What do you like about your industry? Architecture is a profession of consummate problem solvers, genuinely interested in making the world a better place.
Do you have a mantra or saying that you remind yourself of during projects? “Less, but better” -Dieter Rams
What inspires your work? There’s a lot of responsibility embedded in design, and reminding oneself of that makes for a better project from start to finish.
What are you reading right now? Christopher Isherwood’s The Berlin Stories
Amber Jordan, OPN Des Moines
Where are you originally from? Ames, Iowa
What do you like about the industry? I have always been intrigued by architecture. There was a brief period of time when I considered pursuing a degree in architecture at Iowa State, but decided to go the marketing route instead. I think it’s safe to say I combined the best of both worlds when I took my first job as a Marketing Coordinator at an architecture firm in Boston!
Where did you go to school? Iowa State University
If you could eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? Pasta – I cannot live without it!
Do you have a mantra or saying that you remind yourself of during projects? “Stop being afraid of what could go wrong, and start being excited about what could go right.”
Louis Liu, OPN Cedar Rapids
Where are you originally from? Taiwan
What inspires your work? Everything I see, touch, or even smell could inspire my work. What inspires and motivates my work the most is the emotion from not only people but also other creatures or even objects.
Which phase of a project is your favorite? Concept thinking and building story
If you could eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? Fried chicken
Do you have a mantra or saying that you remind yourself of during projects? “When going forward, don’t forget to look at the beginning.”
Peter Miller, OPN Madison
Where are you originally from? Ames, Iowa
What inspires your work? Learning from the social and physical processes that create a sense of place and time.
What do you like about your industry? The opportunities to collaborate on projects that require a combination of creativity, social and cultural awareness, and technical problem solving. Architecture is a field where I believe that no two days will be entirely the same with no shortage of new and interesting things to learn about and experience.
What are you reading right now? The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
What’s your favorite landmark and why? Erwin Wurm’s “Gurken” in Salzburg, Austria because there’s something beautiful and funny about happening upon these ordinary objects as sculptures in the middle of an old urban context.
Eric Nofsinger, OPN Madison
Where did you go to school? Northern Illinois University (B.A.), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (M.Arch)
What inspires your work? The people around me. Great design doesn’t happen in a bubble–engaging in teamwork and bouncing ideas around creates the feedback loop that pushes a project further.
What do you like about your industry? It seeks ways to be ambassadors and implementers of positive change in the world.
What are you reading right now? Tiamat’s Wrath, Book 8 in The Expanse
If there was a movie about your life, who would star as you? Ty Burrell playing Phil Dunphy playing me.
Ruth Kuswara, OPN Des Moines
Where are you originally from? Jakarta, Indonesia
What do you like about the industry? Architecture has the power to add value to the world that directly impact the lives of many. It has the power to create beautiful spaces that improve the health and well-being of people, empower them to live, work, play, worship in the best possible ways.
Which phase of a project is your favorite? I would say that my favorite phase of a project is design development. I love figuring out the details of a design and imagining what it may look like once everything comes together.
What are you reading right now? Gentle and Lowly by Dane C Ortlund
If you could eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? I’d say sushi because I can literally put anything, roll ‘em up with some rice and seaweed, and call it a sushi roll!
Jill Bills, OPN Minneapolis
Where are you originally from? Rockwell, Iowa
What inspires your work? Clients – creating spaces for them that meet their needs, exceed their expectations and enhance their daily lives in ways they didn’t even imagine at the start of the project.
What is one way you’d like architecture or design evolve? Architects have unique problem-solving skills that could be applied to much more than just physical buildings.
What are you reading right now? The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
If you could eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? Pizza
Cody Goedken, OPN Madison
Where are you originally from? Worthington, Iowa
What inspires your work? I enjoy architecture because of the ability to enhance the spaces we inhabit and experience through a multitude of methods.
What do you like about your industry? What inspires my work is to enhance life by creating experiences through spatial design. Adding meaning and heart to the spaces we experience.
When did you know you wanted to be an architect or designer? I knew I wanted to be an architect/designer when I was in high school because I always thought I was going to be an engineer, but once I had to really start thinking about college I realized that I was passionate about creativity as well as turning that creativity into reality.
If you were a cake, which flavor would you be and why? If I were a cake, I would be a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Mainly just because it’s my favorite cake but also because it is very versatile.
Braden Cooper, OPN Des Moines
Where are you originally from? Des Moines, Iowa
What do you like about your industry? The relentless sense of optimism and ingenuity you find in the people we share the profession with.
Any past experience or notable projects? Working on historic and contemporary projects in Rome at STARTT Architects.
When did you know you wanted to be an architect or designer? As long as I can remember!
If there was a movie about your life, who would star as you? Tom Hanks, everyone likes Tom Hanks movies.
Rachel Segerstrom, OPN Iowa City
Where did you go to school? University of Northern Iowa
What inspires your work? Traveling – seeing beautiful landscapes, architecture/design, and experiencing different cultures always leave me in awe and challenge me to create a similar response within the spaces I design.
Which phase of a project is your favorite? Seeing the clients/users reactions to their new space
What are you reading right now? Where the Crawdad Sings
If you were a cake, which flavor would you be and why? Funfetti, it’s delicious and I always love to have some fun
Jacob Gasper, OPN Des Moines
Where are you originally from? Manchester, Iowa
What do you like about your industry? I enjoy design because it gives passionate people from different backgrounds to dream, create, and collaborate together.
Any past experience or notable projects? Previously I worked at STARTT in Rome, Italy on several notable historic buildings across Italy.
When did you know you wanted to be an architect or designer? Originally, I became interested in Architecture from my fascination with the skyscrapers in Chicago, especially growing up in a small town. In school, however, I knew I wanted to be an architect when I realized that architecture encompasses so much more than just buildings (urban design, research, landscapes, installations, digital fabrication…)