Modernizing Models: B-arn-S's Christian Stayner, Jennifer Bonner, and Germane Barnes on Economic Forces, a Blended Voice, and Establishing New Principles
From Left to Right: Christian Stayner of Stayner Architects (Los Angeles), Jennifer Bonner of MALL (Portland), and Germane Barnes of Studio Barnes (Miami).
By Julia Gamolina
B-arn-S Architects is an agent of change, deeply committed to creating hands-on, research-driven architectural responses to contemporary cultural issues. A collaboration of three Design Principals, each based in a different city — Christian Stayner of Stayner Architects (Los Angeles), Jennifer Bonner of MALL (Portland), and Germane Barnes of Studio Barnes (Miami) — B-arn-S’s collective work is known for its conceptual research, material and construction logics with a deep interest in architecture’s connection to the arts. Their strength is in working with organizations that deploy the arts in service of broader social transformation.
In their interview with Julia Gamolina, Christian, Jennifer, and Germane talk about harnessing their complementary expertise to respond to contemporary economic forces, advising those just starting their careers to pursue the redesign of architectural practice.
JG: Some LinkedIn sleuthing led me to discover that a version of this collaboration existed before, in the form of BONNER + STAYNER! Tell me about how all of you got to know each other, and how this collaboration came back around last year.
B-arn-S: The first major architectural commission we worked on together was Made in Opa-Locka (2012-2015), a community-centered investment plan at the scale of a neighborhood, which was initially supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The idea was to add small-scale cultural and community spaces to a neighborhood that had been cut off — through a series of walls and barricaded streets — from investment, access to transportation, employment opportunities, and above all, self-reliance. The idea was to provide the ability for residents to formalize the small-scale, home-based, underground economy that already existed, like backyard BBQ restaurants, hair salons operating out of kitchens, and bike repair shops operating from front porches. This involved small buildings attached to the existing housing stock, but also lobbying for zoning code changes and applying for General Obligation Bond funds.
In order to work both within the community and directly with the community, Germane moved into one of the abandoned houses in the neighborhood where we were working. We established a design office to serve community members and its stakeholders. Given Jennifer’s prior experience at the Rural Studio in rural Alabama, we strongly believed we couldn’t parachute in and out of the community to do the work. We also learned how the architect sometimes needs to be a developer or producer: bringing together the resources needed to make more expansive change. Those learned experiences of being embedded in the culture to which we are designing, raising the capital to implement projects, and developing a successful model for engagement allows our team to reunite around these fundamental principles — principles that we established over a decade ago in this first project.
Community Serives Center by Stayner Architects.
Young Musicians Foundation by Stayner Architects.
What were you all looking to complement your existing practices with, in this collaboration? We're seeing so many modes of practice coming out of the pandemic — I see a similar model in WIP who all have their own projects and also join forces, in sl Collective, and more. What do you see as your differentiator? What do you hope to bring to the industry, and to practice, that evolves existing models?
B-arn-S: After more than a decade of building our individual offices and academic careers at various institutions, we were interested in working together again in order to leverage the expertise we had built as solo-practitioners, as well as the ability to operate at multiple scales of practice without having to bloat our practices and compromise our own ambitions. Think “Nike X SACAI” or “Beyonce X Adidas” — like many others, we are interested in the potential of the “collab” model. The blending of multiple voices is fruitful and intentionally mimics trends in pop culture. After a decade of finding our individual voices in architecture, we were excited about fresh conversations with one another, rather than operating in isolation.
“Jennifer brings design pizzazz to our team mapped onto sustainable materials such as mass timber. Christian has an eye to constructability who has realized several adaptive reuse projects as a licensed general contractor and developer in LA. I offer the know-how for amplifying local identity and embedded knowledge of under resourced communities due to my experience...And we are all Design Principals! ”
Germane Barnes: I often tell our clients who are interested in our design collab that they will not get three design Principals who think about architecture in the same way. Rather, they will have access to a collaborative model of practice where each Principal offers a unique set of expertise, but also shared values and approaches: B-arn-S is grounded in material innovation, community engagement, and reparative constructability.
Jennifer brings design pizzazz to our team mapped onto sustainable materials such as mass timber. Christian has an eye to constructability who has realized several adaptive reuse projects as a licensed general contractor and developer in LA. I offer the know-how for amplifying local identity and embedded knowledge of under resourced communities due to my experience in South Africa, Miami, and Chicago. And we are all Design Principals!
Christian Stayner: Recently we met with a major contractor who explained that he wanted to “assemble the best team of lab planners and structural consultants and similar,” to pursue projects, and that diversity and equity requirements were onerous. If those teams happened to include some women and people of color that was nice, but he wasn’t going to go out of his way to find these people. We think about this differently. We’re leaving an era of form-driven Boomer practitioners whose sculptural creations required the legibility of a singular genius author, even though really produced by enormous teams. We’re in an era of consolidation with enormous firms like Gensler with 5,500 employees, Stantec with 26,000, Arcadis with 30,000, etc. Women, People of Color, and LGBT+ people are still underrepresented in the leadership of architecture practices in the US. Our model is responding to these economic forces on the profession.
Jennifer Bonner: Absolutely, Christian! As a young architect, working in London at the offices of Foster+Partners and David Chipperfield Architects, and during the height of construction between 2004 and 2007, I quickly learned best practices of how to assemble a top tier design team. Each subconsultant, an expert in their respective fields — acoustic, structural, environmental engineers, artists, quantity surveyors — would all combine efforts to deliver ground-breaking architectural solutions. We have studied the established architectural model and have begun to alter and modernize its shortcomings, through our own lived experiences — female, Black and queer. We are dedicated to building out expert teams that look like us, minority and female-owned!
Big Circle ADU by MALL.
Haus Gables by MALL.
Tell me about Fort Worth. What are each of your roles as the project moves forward?
Germane Barnes: Fort Worth is the first large commission that we have been awarded. In collaboration with Dennis Chiessa of ch+Studio we are able to utilize our expertise of material innovation and cultural preservation. This project is a heavy one, charged with a history of terror and violence. There are no individual roles as we all compliment each other’s talents quite well. As Design Architects we’re tasked with transforming a site of hate into one of healing and joy. The Transform1012 Coalition is an incredible group of social advocates that are building trust and excitement among local residents. Their efforts have been extensive and there is more work to do. It will not be easy, but our history of community work has prepared us for projects such as these.
Our goal is to use this model of teaming and partnership — “B-arn-S-plus” — to bring in collaborators who are knowledgeable about specific local conditions, or building typologies, or other complementary talents. One of the fascinating elements of the Fort Worth project is how the client organization has done the same thing: they are a consortium of nonprofits working to improve Fort Worth, but in very different ways, from theater and dance to upcycling school supplies and providing queer kids with suicide response. Their attitude is one not of fighting each other for supposedly limited resources, but working together to support one another with their skills and networks. That has been our approach as well.
All three of you are both educators and practicing architects, which I really appreciate — I teach professional practice at Pratt, which I see as such an important course to bridge the academy and practice. What is the most important thing for students and young architects to be thinking about as they head into this profession with the current economic outlook and the crisis we are facing with climate change?
Germane Barnes: At the moment, I am the sole educator of the three and I teach a course called Profiles in Practice at the University of Miami, where I direct the Master’s of Architecture Professional Degree Program. And something I think is critical for young people is the elimination of the traditional “architect” figure, which is antiquated and is really holding us back. Globalization and multi- and inter-disciplinarity are at the forefront of our profession. As a result, students and young architects alike must find new avenues to spatial practice. There are only so many new buildings to be built, homes to be designed, and monuments to erect. Is the goal to be an expert at adaptive reuse? Or perhaps to explore material innovations as we grapple with climate catastrophes? Ultimately I believe design prepares our students for a myriad of professional avenues that should be celebrated and embraced.
“We have studied the established architectural model and have begun to alter and modernize its shortcomings, through our own lived experiences — female, Black and queer.”
What have been the biggest challenges for each of you in your careers thus far?
Christian Stayner: The way that risk is handled in the US right now is really perplexing, especially as it is used to explain exclusionary practices. By comparison, in Europe there is a mechanism to allow emerging practices to compete for public and cultural commissions on a more level playing field with larger firms. In the US, however, I kept being — and keep being! — told that my practice was too young and too untested to do, for instance, a $10M cultural or commercial project. Mind you, this is not a hospital or a nuclear reactor! But that same elite class is showering some $18B on a crypto exchange run by kids in their mid-20s; or WeWork, run by someone about my age, has a $47B valuation with no actual assets; and so forth. We’re constantly up against marketing departments of corporate practices that are larger than our entire firm. In short, I haven’t figured out how to control greed and fear to my benefit — and that has been a challenge!
Jennifer Bonner: One of the biggest challenges in my career was the recent transition from academia to full-time practice. It has been a steep climb out! After fourteen years of teaching, I’m interested to see how the next generation will approach architectural pedagogy. Many of my former students are teaching studios, hold fellowships and entering into tenure-track positions. A builder at heart, the challenge I ultimately faced was being both a solo practitioner constructing experimental projects like Haus Gables, which was self-funded and without a client, but also a fulltime educator at an Ivy League institution, where female voices are in high demand. My built work was slower to get out of the ground and I wanted to change that. The timing of the collab with my partners at B-arn-S feels right!
Germane Barnes: I think my biggest challenge has been my age. At thirty-eight, I’m quite young in the world of architecture. This brings a lot of skepticism from clientele that are at their core, risk averse. To convince a client to give you full control of a cultural center is easier said than done. It’s why this collaboration is so powerful, together we have the required knowledge and building experience to compete with other offices. Even as a challenge, it takes brave clients like Transform1012 to take the chance. Now it’s time to deliver!
Parish Workshop by Studio Barnes.
Griot by Studio Barnes.
What are you thinking most about as we enter 2024?
B-arn-S: There are a few things that we are thinking about internally. First and foremost, it is pursuing and completing meaningful work with an approach of care and delight. Second, is continuing to create a new model of practice that does not champion the pitfalls and errors of the architecture profession. And, working with Transform 1012 in Fort Worth to create a world class cultural space which could become a model for future projects. These types of projects are rare and our admiration for the people of Fort Worth and their commitment to spatial justice fills us with excitement and ambition.
Who are you admiring right now?
Jennifer Bonner: In Portland, we’re inspired by winemaker Maggie Harrison of Antica Terra who I find wildly conceptual in her approach to winemaking. Also, everyone should watch out for Rukaiyah Adams, CEO of 1803 Fund. She is one of the many thought-leaders behind the historic Albina Vision Trust project, to rebuild a Black neighborhood in northeast Portland. In Atlanta, I’m interested in the work of developers like JPX Works, run by Jarel Portman, who is challenging urban infill development and New City Properties, run by Jim Irwin, who is reinventing adaptive re-use models. Both are invested in design excellence within a sea of mediocre development across the city. When you encounter their mixed-use developments you are struck by, “the formula is different here!”
“Think about practice as a place that needs design assistance right now. There is a lot of potential to redesign the profession, but there are a lot of forces that conspire against meaningful changes or alternatives.”
What do you do, and encourage your peers to do, to advance equity in architecture?
B-arn-S: Just do it. We are at a moment, where we must move beyond talking about DEI efforts and we must simply act on it. We are encouraging a “Rise & Carry” model that demands larger offices to collaborate with smaller, diverse offices who are typically overlooked.
Finally, what advice do you have for those just starting their careers?
Christian Stayner: Think about practice as a place that needs design assistance right now. There is a lot of potential to redesign the profession, but there are a lot of forces that conspire against meaningful changes or alternatives. Sometimes that means leaving the profession, but we also need alternate models operating within.