Introduction to the S9 Architects / VOCON (Executive Architect) designed Cleveland Foundation, its mission to enhance the lives of all residents of Greater Cleveland and reasons for its strategic move to Midtown. 

Start conversations around how the academy and profession can together benefit one another and add value to the discipline, discourse, and delivery of what we do to advance the built environment and human condition challenges.

Raise awareness of challenges facing architects in view of changing technologies and expectations and how to increase diversity and inclusion in the discipline.

Introduction to new Kent State College of Architecture and Environmental Design leaders and their interests and role in elevating education in concert and collaboration with practice.

1 LU CEU

Cost: Free

Event Timing: Registration 5:00 pm, Panel Discussion 5:30-6:30 pm, Reception: 6:30-7:00 pm

Sharon Wohl, PhD, Associate Dean

Dr. Sharon Wohl joins us from the College of Design at Iowa State University, where she served as Interim Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Success. Alongside that role, she contributed as an Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture and to that department’s leadership as Undergraduate Coordinator. 

Dr. Wohl received her PhD in Spatial Planning and Strategy from Delft Technical University in the Netherlands. Wohl’s research examines how principles of complex adaptive systems can be operationalized within the built environment. Her expertise in complexity has been recognized in various ways:  through a research fellowship with the Institute for Advanced Studies in Amsterdam, invitations for speaking/guest lecture events, and through her academic appointment as a named FRK Faculty Fellow at ISU. Her research has been published in a variety of journals, including Planning Theory, Progress in Human Geography, and Space and Culture.  Prior to completing her doctorate degree, she practiced with the award-winning Canadian Architectural firm, 5468796 Architecture.

Sung Ho Kim, Architecture and Urban Design Program Director

Sung Ho Kim studied drawing and sculpture as a teenager at the Art Students League of New York and architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design Career Discovery Program. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Architecture from Rhode Island School of Design and an AA Diploma from Architectural Association of London, UK with Royal Institute of British Architects Part I and II. He also received his Master of Science in Architecture Studies from Massachusetts Institute of Technology conducting research in aeronautics and material science with history and theory of technology. He was a project designer for Nasrine Seraji in Paris, France and Wellington Reiter in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He served as a principal researcher for the Interrogative Design Group at Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT under Krzysztof Wodiczko. Sung Ho taught Industrial Design and Architecture at Rhode Island School of Design and was an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Northeastern University. He was a Visiting Professor of Architecture at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and Konkuk University in Seoul, Korea. Currently, he is a Raymond E. Maritz Professor of Architecture and Professor of Biology engaged in research with Biology Department at Washington University in St. Louis. He has been Co-Director of Axi:Ome of St. Louis with Heather Woofter since 2003. The practice pursues an expanded investigation of architecture and works across inter-disciplinary borders engaging a wide range of scales and diverse modes of practice, from built design projects to speculative research, developing over 81 projects and publishing 6 books and 22 articles. Axi:Ome recently completed 58,000 sf expansion of COCA in St. Louis, MO, and the current projects include a 180,000 sf Silverlake International High School in Hangzhou, China. The work of Axi:Ome has been recognized through numerous publications and awards including several St. Louis AIA Awards, Korean Institute of Architects Award and the I.D. Annual Design Review Design Distinction. Axi:Ome has been exhibited and presented at global venues including the 2nd Seoul International Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, 20th and 21st International Exhibition of Korean Institute of Architecture, Storrs Gallery in Charlotte, Schmidt Art Center Gallery in Belleville, RISD Museum, RISD Woods Gerry Gallery and OXO Tower Gallery in London among others.

Dawn Mayes, CUDC Director of Design Entrepreneurship and Inclusion

Dawn Mayes served as Senior Program Manager of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Cleveland Guardians’ Progressive Field renovations, advising team leadership on meeting and exceeding their goals for diversity and inclusion in large construction projects. She has also worked for local architecture firms including Robert P. Madison International and Ubiquitous Design, in addition to running her own business, Designs by Danico. 

Dawn grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio. She is an Army veteran, an artist, an entrepreneur, a proud Florida A&M University graduate, where she received her Bachelor’s of Architectural Studies, and an alumna of Kent State University where she received her Masters in Architecture with a Certificate in Urban Design. In early 2022, she was also awarded an Artist Residency for Karamu House’s Resident in the House program. She was recently accepted into CWRU Weatherhead Executive Leadership Development Experience which is an Executive Coaching certification program.