Tom Hoepf, FAIA, EXP’s Senior Vice President / Design Director and Adjunct Professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) knows that one of the keys to preparing students for a successful career is to bring them into spaces they may work in when they finish school. Tom recently completed another semester teaching a first-year graduate design studio, during which he held a studio session in EXP’s downtown Chicago office. “While the first half of the semester is focused on developing and resolving the overall design concept, the second half focuses on refinement and development of some of the more technical aspects of design execution,” notes Tom. For this phase he reaches out to EXP colleague architects and engineers, who volunteer their time to review and critique the student work in a pin-up format. Project Manager, John Stryker, AIA was one of the colleagues who contributed to the studio session, offering students helpful advice and feedback. “Hosting studio sessions gives students the opportunity to better understand a working architecture studio and feel comfortable in the types of spaces they’ll become an important part of. It offers collaboration with practicing architects and gives architects the chance to meet and work with students,” said Tom.
Studio session students shared:
“I really enjoyed that day’s visit at EXP’s office. I enjoyed seeing the office, seeing work, and being able to have a pin-up session there with the downtown Chicago views around. It was fun + educational to me.” – Zishi Han
“Having a session at the office was very refreshing, we got a much-needed change from our everyday studio. We received very helpful inputs from (Professor Hoepf’s) colleagues and on top of that some amazing food. The office is astonishingly beautiful, and we felt very fortunate to get a tour of it.” – Preet Parekh
“As a student, being in a professional setting and getting feedback from Architects for our school project was fun and educational. It was a memorable experience to get outside of our usual school pin-up. Thank you, Professor Hoepf, and EXP for giving us this great experience.” – Hsu Myat Aung
We’re proud to foster real-world career experiences for students that showcase their exponential possibilities. Learn more about EXP’s architecture solutions here. Find out about EXP architecture career opportunities here.