Meet our 2022 Presenters!

Fast Forward 2022 Presenters

Andrew Donaldson- Evans

Andrew Donaldson-Evans believes that exceptional design should be commonplace. As a principal and regional director of design at EwingCole, he challenges expectations and pushes boundaries to find a better way for clients, institutions, and communities. With two decades in architectural practice, his portfolio includes a variety of built work, from the Smithsonian’s first LEED platinum building, the Mathis Lab at SERC, to more recent local projects in Philadelphia such as the Mast II Tacony Charter School, University of Pennsylvania’s Boathouse, the Penn Squash Center, and William Penn Charter School’s Athletic & Wellness Center. A member of the AIA and a LEED Accredited Professional, Andrew holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and French, as well as a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. He currently resides in South Philadelphia with his family in a row house that can only be described as his longest running project.

Presenting

Power to the People

Electric vehicles are quickly helping to reduce our carbon footprint, but with 90% of electric vehicle owners also owning a private garage, the EV revolution remains a largely suburban phenomenon. In a dense city like Philadelphia, electric vehicle ownership skews heavily towards affluent drivers and neighborhoods where private parking spaces and garages offer easy access for recharging. But for the average Philadelphian, it just makes no sense. How can Philadelphia move beyond the internal combustion engine and create a model for integrating electric vehicles into the typical urban streetscape? This vision for Fast Forward Philadelphia not only proposes to solve that problem, but to incrementally, yet entirely, reimagine the urban streetscape. Reconsidering the role of the automobile; integrating alternative modes of transportation; and weaving electrical, stormwater, and landscape infrastructures into a new construct has the potential to change the character and experience for inhabitants of our row-house city in an era of climate change. Not only could we usher in more sustainable modes of transportation; we could offer the chance for greater social equity and climate justice as we build towards a greener future across all neighborhoods in Philadelphia.

Ian Smith + Rob Fleming

Ian Smith, Principal, Ian Smith Design Group (IS-DG)

Ian Smith is the founding principal of IS-DG, an award-winning design architecture firm in Philadelphia, PA. Ian’s combined accomplishments include architect, author, and educator. Ian continues to serve the civic discourse through teaching occasionally at local universities in addition to his current appointments on the Philadelphia Preservation Alliance Board, PhilaNOMA, and the Edmund Bacon Urban Design committee.

Rob Fleming, Chief Sustainability Officer, Ian Smith Design Group (IS-DG)

Rob Fleming is an award-winning educator, author, keynote speaker, sustainability advocate, and architect. In all his work, Rob strives to: Advocate for social equity in the built environment; Regenerate the natural world, Design beautiful places; and Bring economic viability to sustainability projects.

Presenting

Preservation Sustainability: Saving the Future By Saving the Past

Philadelphia is the birthplace of Preservation Sustainability, a new design movement focused on saving the future by saving the past. That’s right, those thousands and thousands of old buildings in Philadelphia’s vibrant neighborhoods hold the key to unlock the sustainable future we all seek. Embedded in the floors, walls, ceilings, and roofs of each Philadelphia building is a treasure trove of embodied energy and sequestered CO 2 . Embodied energy is the energy used to construct a building. Carbon sequestration is the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide. Every time an old building is demolished to make way for a new building, the embodied energy is wasted and the sequestered CO 2 is emitted into the atmosphere. In addition to the negative environmental effects, the destruction of old buildings tears at the heart of the physical and social fabric of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods. This must stop now! We, the founders of Preservation Sustainability propose a multi- scale, transformative approach to future development in Philadelphia: Preserve every building; Invest in every community; and Protect our planet. To achieve this, we will: Expand the Historic Preservation movement to include every building; Broaden the sustainable design movement to foster more inclusive pathways to green buildings; and Introduce radical new urban policies that encourage preservation and environmental sustainability in every Philadelphia neighborhood.

Tricia Maloney

Tricia Maloney is director of visual arts at Fitler Club, an urban private membership club that combines world-class entertainment, engagement, dining, wellness, and business offerings under one roof for a diverse and vibrant community. She coordinates the club’s Artists in Residence Program, along with all art-related programming and curation of installations throughout the club. The club serves as a nontraditional gallery space, housing works from co-founder Michael Forman’s personal art collection. For the past 12 years she has managed the Forman Family Collection, including artwork inventories, installations, insurance and education. She is a certified yoga teacher and mom to two rescue cats, Missi and Pippi.

Presenting

A New Approach to Philadelphia Art and Artists

Philadelphia’s art is world class, from our storied museums to chic galleries to the thousands of murals that adorn our outdoor canvases. But we’ve never had a single place where the fruits of these disparate artistic worlds can come together, and where the artists themselves can find a supportive artistic community while being exposed to an even wider audience. Since opening its doors in 2019, Fitler Club has taken a new approach to Philadelphia art and artists, covering every wall and surface with unique creations—while redefining the ideas of both an art gallery and a hospitality experience. The club’s Artists in Residence program has supported Philadelphia’s burgeoning art scene and other up-and-coming artists, while new arts partnerships with Pace Gallery and Mural Arts Philadelphia have celebrated and showcased groundbreaking work for entirely new audiences. As Fitler Club prepares for its newest incoming artists, more Philadelphians are starting to experience art in ways they’ve never had the opportunity to do so before.

Angela Iraldi + Kristen Suzda

Angela Iraldi

consultant | volunteer | activist | daughter | friend | sibling | community member | building enthusiast | advocate | pet lover | facilitator | conversationalist | laughter-lover | shaper

Kristen Suzda

architect | steward of the future | ambassador | cyclist | connector | politician | maker | advocate | musician | spouse | child | sibling | friend | volunteer | do-er

Presenting

Decarbonization Debunked

What’s next for Philly? Carbon, in the right place, in the right amounts, at the right time, is a valuable tool and an asset. Much of the chaos of our climate is because our atmosphere is full of carbon in the wrong place, at the wrong dose, and for the wrong duration. How can designers bring order to that chaos as we build in Philadelphia? We REcarbonize. We keep the carbon where it belongs and stop putting carbon into the atmosphere when we build or operate our buildings. We look to our sites and landscapes to put carbon back in the ground. We do this one project at a time, on every project we do, and we turn carbon from a liability that threatens life back into the valuable asset it truly is - the atoms that are the building blocks of life.

Damon McWhite

Damon McWhite is the 1Philadelphia Program Manager, where he works in conjunction with Coded by Kids to support the creation and management of an equitable tech education ecosystem. By connecting funders, employers, schools, and community organizations, Damon brings our city one step closer to becoming the capital of equitable tech and innovation. Damon comes to 1Philadelphia with a background in human resources, recruiting and nonprofits, and he holds a bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University.

Presenting

How to Make Philadelphia the Capital of Equitable Tech and Innovation

1Philadelphia is a Coded by Kids initiative that exists to achieve CbK’s vision of making Philadelphia the capital of equitable tech and innovation — and illustrate the possibilities for underrepresented Philly residents. By connecting funders, employers, schools and community organizations, 1Philadelphia will create a tech ecosystem based in equity, resulting in an unstoppable network of opportunities to empower and support the success of underrepresented young people. Following its first-ever convening this summer, 1Philadelphia is accepting grant applications from our more than 50 member organizations in order to help support and advance their organizations in pursuit of that initiative. With grants going out this fall, we should be able to watch in real time as Philly’s tech sector is transformed.

Katrina Connors + Ramune Bartuskaite

F I F T E E N is an Architecture and Design practice driven by the desire to affect positive change. We are passionate about entrepreneurial, cross-practice solutions that improve our built environment, our communities, and our future. Founded on our shared optimism for human interactions, we are committed to delivering a new model for our practice, improving client experience and project delivery through smart partnerships and new processes.

Presenting

Design that prioritizes HEALTH and WELLBEING

FIFTEEN along with its partners is focusing the conversation on what health and wellbeing looks like for the future of Philadelphia. The pandemic reinforced the significance of physical and mental health in our communities. How and where should our built environments respond? As Designers and Architects, we have a responsibility to prioritize and promote healthy environments: expanding ways to provide respite within spaces outside of the conventional and focusing on user wellbeing and health. At FIFTEEN, we are taking a closer look at how design decisions impact health, looking at the issue from multiple perspectives and at every scale, including material selections. Design and Architecture can make an impact on our lives and a future of intentionally designed healthy environments and spaces will impact the future of the physical and mental health of our community.