School of Architecture Faculty
Karen YunJin Seong
Undergraduate Director
School of Architecture
Karen Seong is the Undergraduate Director at the School of Architecture, Academy of Art University, where she advocates for under-represented students. She is a proponent of online education as a means to meaningfully diversify the architectural profession. Her pedagogy of examining identity formation in architectural spaces, published by Axel Menges, asks students to tell their personal stories through studio projects. Prior to teaching, she held leadership positions with Skidmore Owings and Merrill in New York and in San Francisco working collaboratively with large international teams on award-winning projects ranging from high-rises to institutional buildings in the US and in the Middle East. She has previously taught at UC Berkeley and has been a guest critic at various institutions in the US and in Korea. She holds a Master of Architecture with distinction from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture with high honors from UC Berkeley. She was born in South Korea and lived in Malaysia before immigrating to the US at age 19.
Spring 2024 Part-Time Faculty
Adam Miller
Class
Position: Lecturer – Architecture
Industry Credits:
- Muschenheim Fellow, Taubman College AUP, University of Michigan, 2021-2023
- Race & Gender in the Built Environment Fellow, UT Austin School of Architecture, 2019-2021
- Invited Guest Lecture and Exhibition at Woodbury University, April 2024
- Fellowship Exhibition, Ann Arbor, MI, 2023
- Designed and Installed Faculty Exhibition at the University of Michigan, 2022
- Founder and Director of Pneu Stars Design Group, since 2014, creating public installations at music festivals, working with musicians such as Iggy Pop, DEVO, and filmmaker John Waters.
- Completed various buildings including a 10,000-sf ground-up addition and office space in Danville California, public parks, private homes, housing, interiors, restaurants, retail, and temporary structures
Archie Woo
Class
Position: Part Time Instructor
Industry Credits:
- AIASF, Community Alliance Award for Education, 2016
- AIASF, Presidential Commendation for work on California Supplemental Exam Seminars, 2006
- Taught California Supplemental Exam Seminars at AIASF from 2003 to 2020, helping thousands of candidates obtain their architect license in California.
- AIASF, Presidential Commendation for work on AIASF Mentorship Program, 2011
- Chaired the AIASF Mentorship Committee and established a pilot group mentorship program that seeks to build a network for established and emerging professionals beyond the office environment. The program had been a model for a lot of AIA chapters around the country
Ashley August
Class
Position: Part Time Instructor
Industry Credits:
- AIASF, Community Alliance Award for Education, 2016
- AIASF, Presidential Commendation for work on California Supplemental Exam Seminars, 2006
- Taught California Supplemental Exam Seminars at AIASF from 2003 to 2020, helping thousands of candidates obtain their architect license in California.
- AIASF, Presidential Commendation for work on AIASF Mentorship Program, 2011
- Chaired the AIASF Mentorship Committee and established a pilot group mentorship program that seeks to build a network for established and emerging professionals beyond the office environment. The program had been a model for a lot of AIA chapters around the country.
Carl Wilford
Class
Position: Part-time Structural Engineering Instructor
Industry Credits:
- Licensed Structural and Civil Engineer
- Vice President Thornton Tomasetti Structural Engineering group (retired)
- Structural Engineer-of-Record for over 50 healthcare and education projects
- Provided a safe water source for multiple villages in Mali, West Africa by designing and leading local volunteer construction teams to dig deep, reinforced concrete wells
Carl Wilford, PE, SE was a Vice President at Thornton Tomasetti. He joined 1993 and brings 25 years of structural engineering experience, with an emphasis on education and healthcare projects. Carl has extensive experience providing structural engineering for new buildings and seismic rehabilitation of existing buildings. He spent three years in West Africa, designing and managing the construction of education facilities and drinking water systems. His areas of expertise include commercial, education, healthcare, and construction administration. He has served as project manager for numerous large, multi-building campus projects. Carl is a licensed civil and structural engineer in California, and he serves as a registered Safety Assessment Program Evaluator for the California Emergency management Agency. He has also completed the Structural Plan Review course for the Division of the State Architect (DSA) and has served as a third-party plan reviewer for the DSA and OSHPD since 2006 Carl had been an active member of a number of professional organizations including the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California (SEAOC,) the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) for many years.
Clifford H. Minnick
Class
Position: Part-time Instructor
Industry Credits:
- California Architectural Licensure
- AIA Henry Adams Certificate of Merit, SCI_Arc
- Michael Winter Scholarship, SCI_Arc
Eric Reeder
Class
Position: Senior Instructor
Industry Credits:
- Foreign Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Architecture, Konkuk University Seoul, 2009-2015
- Visiting Lecturer, Hongik University, Department of Architecture, Seoul, 2009
- Visiting Lecturer, Hanyang University, Department of Architecture, Seoul, 2010
- CO|RE Collaborative Partner, 2005-2015
- BlueTruck Studio Director, 2015-2018
- ERa_ Eric Reeder Architect, 2018-present
- Lecturer, College of Architecture, UC Berkeley CED 2019-2022
- Senior Instructor, Academy of Art University, Graduate School of Architecture 2015-present
- www.ericreederarchitect.com
- Invited Exhibition: ACSA selected work for exhibition (Seoul, South Korea)
- Invited Public Exhibition (with Boris Oicherman): Local Circumstances
- Invited Public Exhibition: Gangwon Environmental Installation Art Invitational Artists Exhibition, 2013 (Publication reference in Korean)
- Book Publication: Adaptations Seoul, 2015 (Spacetime Publishers)
- Feature Article/ published work: Feature article C3 Magazine, ‘To Work’
- Professional publication/ published work: Residence Manhattan Beach (Architect in charge)
- Invited Exhibition/ published work: AAU Invited Exhibition, Seoul Biennale Architecture and Urbanism
- Recent Thesis student recognized and published work: (AAU graduate student Peter Hope, AIA East Bay Unbuilt student award for thesis work) Juxtapoz Magazine
- Invited Exhibition/ published work: Global Studios/ UC Berkeley CED studio, Seoul Biennale Architecture and Urbanism, 2021 ‘Seoul Biennale Blueprints’ ‘Migrations’
- Recent invited critic reviews: SCI-Arc, University of Indiana, Texas Tech University, University California, Berkeley/ CED, California College of the Arts
Website Links/Publications
Kate Bilyk
Class
Position: Part Time Faculty
Industry Credits:
- My work on betterment of housing models in Northern California. First project completed in 2021. 2nd project is ongoing.
- The creation of a consulting process that allows families to utilize a flexible and low-cost process of working with architects to make quality adjustments to their homes. The process is currently in its testing phase.
- My research work on extension of education on architecture for a wider audience.
- A series of completed building projects across the world as part of internationally renowned architecture practices, such as Casper Muller Kneer, Barkow Leibinger, Johnston Marklee and others.
- From the above listed projects, I am most proud of the Bozeman House in Montana, which was a project I co-designed and managed as part of Barkow Leibinger immediately after finishing my Master’s Degree. The project was widely published and celebrated.
- I am also very proud of the Trumpf Showroom in Hungary, a hybrid mass timber industry building and of Hanszen Residential College at Rice University, the first mass timber building on Rice’s campus.
- My 1-year-long thesis project at Princeton University.
- Co-teaching along with Pascal Flammer, Monica Ponce de Leon, and Julian Rose as Assistant Instructor for Master of Architecture Courses at Princeton University.
- Being one of the two first Cal Poly Pomona architectural alumni to be admitted to Princeton University architecture program.
- Placing 1st and 2nd places at Julius Shulman Emerging Talent Charette, representing Cal Poly Pomona.
- My work at the Department of Architecture’s Archive at Cal Poly Pomona and involvement with various activities at the Neutra VDL House in Los Angeles.
- Organization of a multitude of architectural field trips over the years for various groups and in various places around the world.
Website Links/Publications:
https://ordinaryplat.com/Returning-to-the-Neighborhood
https://www.platjournal.com/eightpointfive/building-as-continuous-quarry
https://www.archdaily.com/979419/5280-courtyard-house-barkow-leibinger
https://afasiaarchzine.com/2023/12/barkow-leibinger-trumpf-showroom-godollo/
https://www.baunetz-architekten.de/barkow-leibinger/31165/projekt/7993665
https://soa.princeton.edu/NINECONSTRUCTIONISTS
https://wda.princeton.edu/conference/2018/lina-bo-bardi-material-ideologies/
https://www.johnstonmarklee.com/work/knoll-LA
http://www.grahamfoundation.org/grantees/4868-intervention-contemporary-artists-and-the-modern-house
https://neutra-vdl.org/program/past/competing-utopias
https://bustler.net/news/4414/cal-poly-pomona-student-team-wins-2015-julius-shulman-award-for-the-first-time
https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8pn97ch/entire_text/
Kris Menos
Class
Position: Portfolio Specialist
Industry Credits:
- Co-Founder and Creative Director, Human Being Design, 2017 to present: a transdisciplinary practice at the intersection between individual and environ, engaging in both self-initiated and commissioned projects, including: housing, installations, everyday items, and memorial artifacts
- Graduate Fellowship, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Department of Architecture, 2015-2017
- AIANY Architecture School Exhibition at the Center for Architecture Gallery, 2013
- James Britton Memorial Award for Outstanding Thesis and Citation for Excellence in Thesis Design, Syracuse University School of Architecture, 2013
- School of Architecture Scholarship, Syracuse University, 2006-2012
Website Links/Publications:
https://humanbeingdesign.com/
Ryan Hong
Class
Position: Part Time Instructor
Industry Credits:
- Registered Architect in California – California Architects Board: 2019
Architecture school is fun. The academic environment during my architectural education, within the design studios and group discussions, was markedly distinct from my prior experience. Profound ideas and provocative dialogue were encouraged. The relationship between instructor and student, and among the students, created both a collaborative and competitive studio culture where novel ideas and innovation flourished. Academics and learning is deeply personal for me, I am constantly in pursuit of bettering myself as an architect and as a person. When creativity and inspiration are curbed, people make safe choices and they hold back. I want to teach students to be brave, fearless, to make strong choices, and to prepare them to experience various perspectives that architecture offers.
My role as a teacher is to guide ideas and speculation through representational mediums. Students will be challenged and encouraged to explore their ideas and to be critical of their own work as well as the work of their peers. It’s important for students to explore their ideas and come to their own conclusions as they welcome new perspectives.
Shahzia Sarwar Shazi
Class
Position: Part-Time Faculty
Industry Credits:
- Guest speaker presenting 2D and 3D Visualization in Urban Design and Planning at the Upstate New York APA Chapter Board visit to the University at Albany, SUNY, 2018.
- Won the Arizona Builder’s Alliance (ABA) Portfolio Competition Award 2009: University of Arizona, Tucson Arizona
- Graduate Tuition Scholarship, 2008 & 2009: University of Arizona
- Graduate Fellowship Award 2008 & 2009: University of Arizona
- University Merit Scholarship, 2002 & 2003: BRAC University, Department of Architecture
Website:
https://www.shahziasarwar.com/
Publications:
- Shahzia S. Shazi, Mark.P Frederickson, R.Larry Medlin, “Minimizing Urban Sprawl through Open Space Design Strategies: The Case of Tucson, Arizona”, The International Journal of Architectonic, Spatial & Environmental Design Volume 6, 2013.
- Kamrun Nahar, Sanwar A. Sunny, Shahzia S. Shazi, “Land Use Requirement and Urban Growth Implications for the Production of Biofuel in Bangladesh”, Canadian Journal on Scientific and Industrial Research Volume 2, No. 6, June 2011.
