Looking Outward, Looking Forward
An Introductory Statement from Michael Roehr, upon assuming the role of 2021 President of AIA Minneapolis
I am a founding partner, with Chris Schmitt, of RoehrSchmitt Architecture: a 14 year old practice based in Minneapolis. We work in a broad array of project types, with a focus on developer-driven adaptive reuse, historic tax credit, and tenant improvement projects. In the last decade, we’ve increasingly diversified into public projects, working with schools, park boards and counties. We’ve managed to get a couple libraries under our belt, leveraging my partner Chris Schmitt’s extensive experience in that project type. And we continue to do a smattering of single family residential as a holdover from the omnivorous early days of our firm. Most recently, we’ve begun to pursue small to medium-sized multifamily residential and mixed-used projects, spurred in part by Minneapolis’ progressive 2040 zoning ordinance, assuming the role of developer as well as architect for this work.
30 years ago, I graduated from UW Madison with a BA in comparative literature and philosophy and a dream of becoming a writer. I rather quickly discovered that I was going to need a better way to make a living. Initially attracted to architecture by the philosophical pretensions of early ‘80’s architectural theorizing, I enrolled at UMN CALA. While I soured quickly on the theory stuff, I ultimately discovered that I really loved making buildings and spaces.
Upon receiving my MArch, graduating in the early ‘90s, I then took an idiosyncratic route - a little backwards - into the profession, starting a small residential design/build partnership directly out of school, hand-drawing on vellum and wearing a tool belt. Motivated by a desire to absorb every aspect of my new field, I decided I wanted to experience large corporate architecture, and worked five grueling but gratifying years at HGA. But, as global and historically significant events so often spur personal recalibration, 9/11 was a turning point. My wife Elisa and I packed up our children and our lives, and moved to Mexico for a sabbatical to recharge creatively and focus on our young family.
The early days
“How can we leverage the talent, intelligence, and influence of this profession to build a better future for us all? ”
I left with the intention of starting a new architecture practice upon returning from our sabbatical, corresponding with Chris the entire time about what kind of firm we’d hoped to create. After a brief but informative detour through Ryan Companies, in late 2006 I and my partner Chris took the plunge and started RoehrSchmitt Architecture - just before we all took the unanticipated plunge into the Great Recession. After that auspicious beginning, and a scrappy few years of doing whatever it took to survive, we eventually found our way back to solid ground to begin seriously building this firm, and haven’t looked back since.
I’ve been an architect now - in small and large firms, as an employee and employer - and as such, part of this tight-knit community for most of 30 years. My decision to study architecture was probably the second most important decision I’ve ever made (after marrying Elisa - which was frankly more her decision than mine.) A life-altering decision, it introduced me to a different way of working and thinking; a lens through which I have come to view my life and business.
A few years ago I decided that it was about time I found a way to give back to a profession and a community that’s been very good to me. I wanted to contribute, through this profession, to solving some of the most vexing problems facing our world today. Architects are consistently some of the smartest, most talented people I know. What can’t we do if we apply ourselves to it as a community?
Any professional organization will be, in some respects, inward-looking. And that’s fine - the professional organization wouldn’t exist if it didn’t serve the needs of the profession! But it is becoming more relevant, more important - and more urgent - to consider how this organization can be outward looking; how can we leverage the talent, intelligence, and influence of this profession to build a better future for us all?
The AIA, at some 90,000 strong, is the single largest organization of design professionals in the world! That’s leverage! And that’s what drives my involvement in the AIA. Making architecture is fundamentally an act of optimism and hope. We spend our days literally imagining new realities into being. The current driving priorities of the AIA to fight climate change and bias in the workplace are bold and necessary aspirations that reach well beyond the parochial self-interest of the profession. We can and must imagine these new realities into being as well. In the coming months I hope to engage with many of you and the leadership of the local architectural community to keep these initiatives front and center, and come to understand and share the variety of responses to these challenges being developed and implemented across the profession.
And while I’m fired up to be a part of an organization fighting for these objectives, at this historic juncture we must also remember that we are fighting for our survival. This pandemic has and will continue to wreak havoc with our lives for the foreseeable future. For the AIA, much of this last year has been consumed with making unfortunate but necessary adjustments to our events, programming, and budgets. Sadly it appears that will be the case for much of this next year. While not much fun, I would simply ask for everyone’s patience and continued support so that we can get through this and still be around once the crisis has passed. To an optimist, hardship is also an opportunity for reevaluation. And that’s happening here. I fully expect we will come through this a leaner, meaner, more focused chapter. Well...hopefully not meaner.
So how do I see my role on this board? From an inward-looking perspective, I see my role as facilitator, advocate, and sounding board. From an outward perspective I see my role as ambassador-at-large and cheerleader for the local architecture profession. I would encourage anyone with ideas to share to get in touch. Better yet - serve on a board or committee! The AIA is a vehicle, available to take us where we want to go - so hop on board, suggest a destination, and consider taking a turn driving. I look forward to getting to know many more of you over the next year. And hopefully be doing it in person again, face-to-face, before the year is out.