Meet Lara Hoad

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lara Hoad a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lara, so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?
All optimism is part genetic but mostly my optimism is because I have made a conscious decision to be optimistic. I am thankful for the life I have and find joy in the simple things. Harvard published a study in 2022 presenting the link between high optimism, longer life and living past the age of 90 in women across all racial and ethnic groups. Optimism is clearly powerful, having profound effects on our physical and psychological wellbeing. I work daily on being optimistic with the belief that perceiving challenges and obstacles as opportunities is a pathway to learning about ourselves and the world at large, guiding us in new and interesting directions.

I co-teach a class at Otis College of Art and Design to artists and designers about climate change partnered with Sam Stier, a biologist. It is natural to default to pessimism with this subject particularly considering the most recent IPCC report, but as professors we believe that it is important to be optimistic about the future, encouraging the students to consider solutions to the climate crisis and how their work can create and inspire positive change. Optimism is contagious. I try to surround myself with like-minded optimists and in turn spread my optimism to others. My glass is always half full – typically with a cup of earl grey tea, one of those aforementioned simple things.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Community Engagement is a priority for me in both my professional and academic projects and in 2022 I reflected on my high desert retreat The Ocotillo and how to make it more relevant to the local community. I decided to remodel part of an old building on the site into a small makerspace and gallery and launched an artist and designer residency. It was a labor of love as I did it on a small budget and set myself the goal of reusing and/or upcycling materials, fixtures and furniture. The residency requires that each artist leave a piece of their work at the retreat for the future enjoyment of others, and to donate minimum 5% of any work that they sell to the Mojave Desert Land Trust for desert conservation. It has been so exciting to get this off the ground and I’m hoping to further develop the property and design-build a larger art and ceramics studio. I’m looking for artists and designers for the 2024 residencies so putting it out there!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Curiosity – Looking at the natural world has been so influential in my recent career. It is immense and full of inspiration for architects and designers to draw upon at all scales. It is important to explore, be curious, ask questions and try to learn something new everyday. Take time to really look and understand the world that surrounds you and that you might take for granted. Immerse yourself in new and uncharted experiences. These are the things that will make the design journey unique, innovative and exciting.

Collaboration – I am a firm believer in the magic and unexpected outcomes of an interdisciplinary approach. Being able to work in a team, recognizing and respecting the voice, skills and knowledge of others, is an important part of making a rewarding and successful project. With the rapid onset of AI architects and designers have a new collaborator. We are only just beginning to understand the potential of AI’s capabilities and how it will reshape the profession, but it is important to get in front of it, to understand how we can use it as a tool to make human generated design richer, more purposeful and efficient.

Sustainability – I would advise young architects and designers to familiarize themselves with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Understand how each of these goals is interrelated and how they apply to the practice of architecture and design. We all have a responsibility to address the climate crisis and its many consequential injustices and the SDGs present an accessible way to navigate the issues with quantifiable targets to set achievable contributions.

Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
The ideal client is a collaborator that has innovative ideas, a clear vision and wants to work with an architect to make that vision a spatial reality. Sustainability will be a key focus and the client will preferably be a commercial or community company/organization that has purpose and is contributing to the community in some way.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Profile Image by Kate Berry Collaboration Image from Woodbury School of Architecture Drawing Image from March Studio Sustainability Diagram by Lara Hoad The Ocotillo image by Lara Hoad

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