Jonathan Parker, MArch ’10

How did your WashU education prepare you for your current role?
WashU exposed me to a wide range of ideas. It wasn’t polemical, and the program stressed fundamentals over a single approach. That open-mindedness prepared me to navigate the profession without limiting my experience, picking up skills from many sources until figuring out how I wanted to practice. I worked on a wide range of phases early in my career — from competitions to construction — and that’s helped me remain nimble.

What was your “aha" moment during your time at WashU? I don’t know that there was a single moment, but WashU nurtured a sense of curiosity that I’ve continued to draw from over the years. One example is that in my first studio with Heather Woofter and Dennis Crompton, a co-founder of Archigram, I saw how architecture can ask questions rather than provide answers. Though my professional work to this point hasn’t resembled what came out of that studio, it continues to affect my thinking, pushing me to reconsider seemingly obvious approaches.

What advice would you give a current high school or college student interested in your field?
Architects are usually hired to deliver and refine other peoples’ ideas, but there’s a lot of space between a project’s initial conception and what’s ultimately built. If you’re interested in shaping cities, buildings, or spaces, there are many ways to be involved at different points in the process — politics, finance, development, construction. Architects spend more time with a project than anyone else. I’d recommend considering where you want to be in that process and which aspects of a project you most want to impact.

What do you wish people knew about your field?
I wish people understood the range of necessary skills: aesthetics, craft, logistics, budgeting, coordination of complex consultant networks and stakeholder groups. Maintaining focus on project goals without being overwhelmed by managerial tasks is the hardest thing about producing good work, but it’s generally undervalued because few realize how much time and effort it requires.

What did you do after graduation, and how did you get where you are now?
I went to my hometown of Baltimore and worked for a six-person office, Read & Company, for two years. I mostly worked on small-scale projects for local universities, and I was lucky to have sustained mentorship there — learning how to interrogate details, draw technically, and communicate ideas through the profession’s particular processes. I moved to New York with my partner (and fellow WashU graduate) Bethany Mahre, and worked at Leroy Street Studio on high-end commercial and residential projects. Leroy Street Studio introduced me to larger budgets — what’s possible when given the time and resources to choose the best materials and systems — and it had a great studio atmosphere.

Ultimately, I decided I wanted to work on larger, public-facing projects. After about three years, I landed at Diller Scofidio + Renfro, where I worked largely on cultural projects and learned an interrogative way of practicing that I’ll carry on for the rest of my career. I joined Frida Escobedo’s studio three years ago when she was establishing a presence in New York to work on The Met. It’s been a really positive experience, as I’ve been helping to build the studio’s presence in New York while working on a complex and meaningful project.