Joseph McKenley has joined Washington, D.C.-based GrizForm Design Architects as a project architect. In addition to practicing architecture, McKenley is a design studio lecturer and actively involved in the Washington, D.C. chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA|DC). He talked with officeinsight about growing up in a family of accountants, teaching the next generation of architects, and his transition from multifamily to hospitality.
Anna Zappia (AZ): Joseph, you grew up in Kingston, Jamaica. Can you tell me about your childhood there?
Joseph McKenley (JM): I grew up in a family of accountants; my mom, my dad, my grandma, my aunt, and my cousin are all accountants. My dad has an accounting firm in Jamaica. So, when I was a kid, I worked for him all summer, because he didn’t want me to stay home and just sit on the couch all day. I would work in his office doing filing and data entry and things like that. Early on though, I knew that it wasn’t something that I wanted to pursue as a career.
AZ: You certainly followed a different path. What sparked your interest in architecture?
JM: I think there were multiple influences. I generally liked the idea of houses. At one point I had a laptop with just over 2,000 pictures of houses saved in a picture folder. My parents bought a house and my grandmother moved in with us and I was able to watch and take part in the renovation of the house. I realized that if I was involved in architecture then maybe I could get the satisfaction of designing thousands of houses, rather than trying to own thousands of them.
Jamaica is a third-world country and I’ve been privileged enough to travel elsewhere. When I traveled, I saw the possibilities and what could be. My interest in designing all of these houses, and then seeing these different environments and comparing them to Jamaica, changed my thinking. I began to realize that as an architect, I could shape my own surroundings, design houses, and even design cities. This idea of being able to change the environment, that is how I got into architecture.
AZ: Did you go to architecture school right away? Tell me about your training.
JM: When I finished high school, I decided that architecture was what I wanted to do. I applied directly to the architecture school, the only architecture school in Jamaica at the time. I did my undergrad in Jamaica, then I did my master’s in the DC region at the University of Maryland. While I was there, I also did an internship at Bonstra | Haresign ARCHITECTS, an architecture firm in DC on 14th street. I continued that internship, which then led to a full-time job. I was there for almost four years after finishing my master’s degree, and now I’m at GrizForm Design Architects as of this summer.
AZ: Joseph, you are a lecturer at the University of Maryland. Did you always want to teach?
JM: I always thought teaching was something interesting and maybe something that I could do at some point. But it wasn’t something that I necessarily went after in the same manner that I did when I decided to become a licensed architect. It was an opportunity that presented itself to me, and after thinking about it, I knew it was an experience that could be really useful to me personally and in my career.
AZ: What has teaching been like for you? What are your impressions now that you are a teacher rather than a student?
JM: I think it all comes down to time. I think in school, as a student, you have the luxury of continually working at a design until you think it’s perfect. Then you present it for your final critique. Whereas, I think in the real world, things happen a lot faster. There’s a lot of work, a lot of deadlines. Being proficient and working faster – that comes with experience. Students are new at this so it takes a little bit more time for them to figure things out. Architects out of school for a while have gained experience, they’ve done it before, and they can design quickly. When you’re a student, you have more time to delve into the design than you might in the professional world.
I definitely tell my students that it gets easier with time and experience. We actually just wrapped up one of our first projects, and the deliverables list looked really extensive to the students. It was a lot of work, but I explained that you do need all of those drawings to talk about a project properly. It’s like a muscle. It’s really hard at first, but the more you exercise that design muscle and time management muscle, it just becomes second nature.
AZ: You are active in the Washington, D.C. chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA|DC), most recently serving as the 2021 vice chair for the Emerging Architects Committee (EAC). Can you tell me how you became involved and what you are doing now?
JM: I had this very strange feeling when I entered the working world because I had been a student for my entire life, I was good at it, and then all of a sudden I was done. As much as I thought I was prepared for it, it just felt like there was so much that I still did not know. I was really back at square one in a sense. I felt like I needed a roadmap, so I sought out the Emerging Architects Committee, because they are a group of recent grads and professionals up to 10 years after licensure.
I really enjoyed it, and continued to participate. I started having more of my own ideas for how to mentor my peers. I took on more leadership roles, working my way up from outreach advisor to vice chair, and next year I will be the chair. I have seen the impact of that mentorship and how it has made us better. Not better at our jobs, but just better at being professionals in the working world. That’s why it continues to be important to me to work with the Emerging Architects Committee, and to eventually lead the committee, because I see the tremendous benefits of it.
AZ: The work you are doing now at GrizForm Design Architects is different for you. Can you tell me about the work you are doing now?
JM: The work that I do at GrizForm is very different from what I did at my previous job. I was working on multifamily projects. I wondered if I should stay in that sector and continue to hone my skills there, or if I should take the risk and do more interior architecture in the hospitality sector, which is GrizForm’s specialty. I was a bit hesitant at first, but then I met Griz Dwight, the principal and owner of the firm. The way he described the design approach and the spirit of the office, I immediately had this sense that the team enjoyed being innovative and creative. It just sounded like an amazing atmosphere to be in.
The overall structure and the project phases are basically the same. Now, the work is more detailed, and I am focusing on the tactile user experience. I am learning a lot of new rules of thumb, but I am picking it up pretty quickly.