Architecture & the Built Environment Academy

Lisa Phillips, NCIDQ

Lisa Phillips, NCIDQ is an Associate Professor of Interior Design at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. She has a Bachelor of Architecture degree and Master of Education degree, both from Temple University. Ms. Phillips has over twenty years of experience teaching in interior design and has won multiple teaching awards, including DesignIntelligence’s 25 Most Admired Educators for 2017-18. She currently teaches design studios, visualization courses, and capstone research and programming. Her areas of research include design pedagogy and environmental psychology topics related to materials, sensory design, stress and the user experience.

Richard Newton, RLA, ASLA, RIBA, LEED AP

Richard has been a member of OLIN for more than two decade and has been an integral part of some of the studio’s signature projects—including the plaza at the Anthony J. Celebrezze Federal Building in Cleveland, Ohio; Brancusi Ensemble in Târgu-Jiu, Romania; Syracuse Connective Corridor in Syracuse, New York;  the new Medical Quad at Duke University, Durham, NC., the Mount Vernon Place Restoration Master Plan in Baltimore, Maryland, the Olmsted Restoration and Vision Plan for Beardsley Park in Bridgeport, CT, Yale University’s new Pauli Murray and Benjamin Franklin colleges in New Haven, CT.  His recent work includes the landscape for the Lutnick Library at Haverford College, Haverford, PA., Shumway Hall of the Mcintire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA., Stuart Weitzman Plaza at the University of Pennsylvania, the Harrison Garden at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology and Singer Hall at Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA.  His current work includes a new entry plaza for the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building of the New York Public Library, New York, NY, the second phase of the restoration and revitalization of Rodney Square in Wilmington, DE and landscapes for Martin Hall at Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA.

Richard earned a Diploma in Architecture from Manchester Metropolitan University in the UK, and then went on to receive a Master of Landscape Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. He actively serves as an Adjunct Professor at Thomas Jefferson University winning an Award for Outstanding Adjunct teaching in 2019. He has made presentations at ASLA conferences, the Scott Arboretum, Lehigh University and the Community Design Center in Rochester NY. He has served as an invited juror at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University and as a visiting studio professor at the Department of Architecture, Design and Engineering of Universidad de Monterrey in Mexico.

Alexandra Zahn, MArch

Alexandra Zahn is a passionate Landscape Architect who believes the beauty of landscape architecture is its ability to bring disparate people together and that by engaging citizens, we can co-create not just places- but communities. Trained as an artist at the Maryland Institute College of Art, she then went on to get a dual degree from the University of Pennsylvania in architecture and Landscape. She is committed to beautiful, inclusive, and equitable parks and public spaces. She worked on several projects with these ideals in mind at the firms of CMG, Studio Bryan Hanes, Tom Leader Studio, and OLIN. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Jefferson and Creative Director of Park in a Truck.

Erike De Veyra, Assoc. AIA, SEED

Erike is an experienced designer, connector, and public programming manager with over a decade of engaging and educating people through design experiences. Throughout her career, these experiences have varied in medium—exhibitions, temporary installations, Pecha Kucha style talks, roundtable talks, online communications, conferences, buildings, charrettes, and workshops—and all of it for ages 0-99 and upward! Erike organizes the worldwide event PARK(ing) Day in Philadelphia to celebrate parks and public space in 180 square feet of street parking. Check out these pop-up parks at PARKingDayPHL. Her most recent position was at the Center for Architecture and Design in Philadelphia, managing DesignPhiladelphia (the oldest festival of its kind in the country), facilitating family design workshops and special projects support for exhibitions and summer programs in Philadelphia neighborhoods.

Erike completed a Bachelor of Architecture with a minor in Photography from Jefferson. She serves on Jefferson’s College of Architecture & the Built Environment Advancement (CABE) Council and was honored in the inaugural cohort of Philly Girls Do Good—recognizing and celebrating women leaders in design and community development. In the fall of 2017, through the Public Interest Design Institute, and became a Social Economic Environmental Design (SEED) Certified Professional. Erike is currently pursuing a Master’s in Design Thinking and Entrepreneurship and working on a Studio for the Non-Designer. Her grad school cohort may know her more distinctly as “chief sensei.”

Most recent projects include presenting “Studio for the Non-Designer" at Fast Forward >> Philly during DesignPhiladelphia; content and exhibition design for DesignPhiladelphia exhibitions: ‘Design is Inclusive’ multidisciplinary exhibition featuring local designers of color and neighborhoods in Philadelphia, and ‘One Thing,” an emerging, multidisciplinary design challenge and exhibition. And the ‘Outside the Box’ traveling exhibition and curation of Philadelphia designers at the DesignTO (Toronto) Festival and WantedDesign during NYCxDESIGN.

Kimberlee Douglas, ASLA, RLA, LEED AP

Kim Douglas received a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. Upon graduation she joined Olin Partnership, an international design firm, where she worked as the lead designer on several award-winning projects including the LEED certified Winter Garden and Plaza at the Comcast Center in Philadelphia. 

Currently, Kim is the Director of the landscape architecture program. She was awarded the Anton Germinshuizen, Stantec Term Chair in landscape architecture which allows her to continue her research on the effects of contact with nature on children. She is the director of the Lab for Urban and Social Innovation which believes all communities have the right to an ecologically, socially, economically healthy community. The Lab works with underserved communities in need of design services which ensures students experience real projects. 

David Bertram, RA 

David Bertram is licensed architect. After several years working as a carpenter and timber-framer, David returned to graduate school to complete Master degrees in both Architecture and Construction Management.

He teaches at Thomas Jefferson University and the Community College of Philadelphia.

His interests include building renovations, structural engineering, and digital modelling.

Chitsanzo Isaac BArch, MScs. Urban Management

Hailing from Malawi, Chitsanzo Isaac has had some world experience in the fields of Architectural Design and Urban Management. She has fifteen years of work experience varying from architectural, graphic, interior, urban and landscape design; development work and cooperation; as well as teaching (undergraduate) freshman to senior years in Malawi and the US.

Her university teaching experience includes:

• One and a half years teaching D5 (The Urban studio) & D6 (the Tectonics studio), and one year co-teaching D10 (The Malawi Global studio) at Thomas Jefferson University
• Five years of hands-on experience in teaching Design Studio, Art, and Urban Studies at the University of Malawi
• Presenting a TEDx talk on the subject of "The Architecture Student and the City"

"I have a passion for teaching, sharing knowledge, and using creative methods to help students learn (while continuously learning and growing myself). I believe that everything is connected, and that social equity is the key to true sustainable development and design. I see cities as places of opportunity and laboratories for learning and discovery.

My strength lies in weaving real-life social aspects of the community into the design process, as well as exploring strong meaningful concepts through the spatial study of models, sketches, and analytical research.

When I am not teaching, you will find me mentoring students from my alma mater, the CCNY Spitzer School of Architecture, connecting with the outdoors, as well as spending time with family."

Shannon McLain, BArch

Shannon McLain is an Adjunct Professor at Thomas Jefferson University, teaching multi-disciplinary design studios focusing on empathy, and the story of place as part of the design process. Her design philosophy centers on improving the quality of life of communities through scale explorations and human-centered design. Shannon researches inclusive innovation, presenting Neuro-inclusive Co-creation practices at the UIA World Congress of Architects, and consulting for Open Inclusion as a community leader. Shannon works at Hinge Collective, a design firm focused on community engagement and the power of public spaces. 

Julianne Peters, NCIDQ

Julianne Peters, NCIDQ is an Interior Designer at Stantec and the Founder of Design Success Network, a continuing education provider for interior designers. Julianne has ten years of experience working in a variety of sectors including healthcare, education, workplace, retail, and civic projects across North America. Julianne has a BS in Interior Design from Jefferson where she returns regularly to mentor current students and participate in project critiques. She has a Healthier Materials and Sustainable Building Certification from Parsons School of Design at The New School and is currently pursuing a Master of Architecture degree from Arizona State University. Julianne leads design workshops for her local Tool Library and teaches exam prep for interior designers across the country. Julianne lives in Philadelphia, PA with her partner and their three dogs. She is excited to bring her design and teaching experience to the CABE Summer Academy!

Natalia Quinteros, Assoc. AIA

Natalia Quinteros practiced as an exhibition designer for the Philadelphia Museum of Art working closely with the contemporary department for five years before establishing Philadelphia Small Works Gallery. Natalia specializes in designing spatial narratives for exhibitions and working with living artists for contemporary installations across various mediums and genres of artistic exploration.

Natalia transitioned to exhibition design for the PMA via the architecture design/build world in Philadelphia as a practicing designer of city planning, community engagement projects, community development corporation led projects, historic preservation, retrofit design, surveying/assessing existing conditions of existing structures, and an academic adjunct professor of architecture studio. Natalia is born and raised in South Philadelphia, a South America first generation Girls’ High Girl, graduate of the Community College of Philadelphia Architecture Department, and University of Pennsylvania PennDesign BFA and M.Arch. Currently, Natalia is an Exhibition Designer, Co-Curator, and Founding Co-Director of Philadelphia Small Works Gallery.