Giving Voice: Partners and Communications Experts Finn MacLeod and Daniel Confroy on Embracing Media and Taking Risks
Portrait of Finn and Daniel by John Bain Griffith
By Julia Gamolina
Finn MacLeod is a Director, Communications at Camron, a leading global communications agency, where he leads the architecture, real estate, and hospitality practice in New York. Previously, he led global communications at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and has held roles with OMA, ArchDaily, the Venice Biennale of Architecture, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, and as a freelance journalist.
Daniel Confroy is the Director of Communications and Marketing at WORKac. Based in New York City, he is responsible for finding new opportunities and promoting the firm's work and values. Prior to joining WORKac, Daniel served as the Director of Communications and Marketing at PALMA, a multi-disciplinary design studio in Chicago.
In their conversation with Julia Gamolina, Finn and Daniel talk about their respective focus areas in communications and PR and the value of design, advising those just starting their careers to be daring and curious.
Like me, you both hail from up North! Finn, I know you are from Canada and Daniel, I believe from Michigan. How did you both end up in Chicago and how did you meet?
FM: I was born in Toronto but grew up in Winnipeg, in the Canadian prairies. I studied in Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit before moving to Europe, where I lived in Venice, London, and Rotterdam. Moving to the U.S. was a bit of a surprise — I was job hunting all over, but ultimately landed in Chicago. Daniel and I met shortly after I moved to Chicago, and about six years later, we moved to New York.
DC: Our first date was actually on Finn’s birthday! We quickly bonded over our shared love of design, particularly architecture. I grew up moving all of the time—I think New York was my ninth move. I spent most of my childhood in North Carolina and Tennessee before moving to Detroit and later Chicago. The Great Lakes region will always have my heart — Canada included!
You've both had such interesting careers — Daniel, you worked in real estate before arriving to architecture, and Finn, you've held all kinds of roles — as an archivist at OMA, a writer for ArchDaily. Tell me how you both got started.
DC: My interest in design started with The Sims. I lived in Charlotte, North Carolina, during the 2000s housing boom, and for fun, I would explore construction sites in my neighborhood, memorize floor plans, and then recreate them in The Sims in detail. My Dad, who was a mechanical engineer, took notice and bought me an AutoCAD license, which I taught myself, and later took architecture classes.
Then at seventeen, I found my interest in real estate while house hunting with my parents in the Detroit suburbs. I vetted all the listings and studied floor plans for my parents — their realtor couldn’t believe how involved I was in the process. She ended up hiring me for an after-school job, where I would photograph listings and manage online marketing. Other realtors started hiring me, and I ultimately got licensed pretty young.
Living in Detroit in the wake of the 2008 recession really shaped my interest in the built environment — particularly how it is informed by history, shaped by people, and constantly evolving. After moving to Chicago and finishing my studies in marketing, I noticed architecture firms were rapidly expanding business and marketing roles. This was my “aha moment.”
FM: My interest in architecture also began when I was a kid, as I grew up in a media-centric household. My dad was a radio anchor at CBC — Canada’s answer to NPR or BBC — and my mom was a publicist for arts organizations and nonprofits. Both were committed to exposing me to the creative world as much as possible. We went to Minneapolis when I was little — the closest “big” city to Winnipeg—and visited Frank Gehry’s Weisman Art Museum and Herzog & de Meuron’s Walker Art Center. From then on, I was convinced I would become an architect.
Flash forward two decades, and I was studying architecture and fine arts, and interning at 5468796 Architecture in Winnipeg. They were curating Canada’s entry at the Venice Biennale that year and needed staff to run the pavilion in Italy — I jumped at the chance. I spent three months in Venice and became fascinated by the parts of architecture that happen on the outskirts of design: economics, urbanism, communication, politics, and everything in between. This experience prompted me to change the focus of my studies to architectural history, fine arts, and visual culture.
WORKac in Architectural Digest. Courtesy of Daniel Confroy.
Architectural Record, March 2024 Cover. Courtesy of Finn MacLeod.
How did you then get to what you both focus on now?
DC: In Chicago, I joined a new firm, PALMA, as their Director of Communications and Marketing. Starting at a new multi-disciplinary studio and pursuing work in places like Brussels, Miami, Lisbon, and Abu Dhabi was an incredible way to cut my teeth in architecture. Being involved in the beginning of a firm requires you to wear many hats, and you learn a lot as you go — from branding and art direction to social media and client relations. The firm’s leadership — Jo Palma and Iana Kolev— were generous in sharing their industry knowledge, and I absorbed everything I could.
Later, I joined WORKac as the Director of Communications and Marketing, where I lead business development and communications — I’m responsible for our external brand while ensuring that our team stays busy with new work. Our focus is primarily on public, cultural, and institutional projects, which require a particular approach to branding and positioning in the field, and it’s been fun diving into that world of architecture. Learning from Amale, Dan, and my colleagues at WORKac has been a fantastic experience. We’ve had a great couple of years with many exciting projects on the boards, including the renovation of the Sibley Dome at Cornell and more we’ll share in 2024.
FM: I credit my time in Venice with catalyzing my career in design communications, which later led to stints at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, OMA in Rotterdam, as a writer for ArchDaily and the Danish Architecture Centre, and at SOM in Chicago and New York. At SOM, I wore a lot of hats over the years, culminating in leading their twenty-person global communications team and stewarding the 85-year-old firm’s brand — a tremendous honor.
At Camron, I lead brand and communications strategy for an incredible portfolio of architects, urban and landscape designers, hospitality brands, property developers, and more. In many ways, my work now draws from each of my past roles — to succeed in communicating and branding design, you have to keep your eyes open to new ways of working, engage new media, and embrace new techniques and unorthodox ideas.
“Everyone engages with architecture and the built environment, yet it doesn’t have the same presence in media as other creative fields
. . . When promoting and communicating your work, unless the publication is architecture-focused, tone down the ‘archispeak’ and instead focus on appealing to the people who use the building! ”
Tell me about the key to success in each role — in-house and at an agency.
DC: At WORKac, managing a robust pipeline of proposals, brand communications, and everything else that comes with the role can be trying at times, but for me, the key to success is believing in the work. I love our projects—from the Adams Street Library in Brooklyn, to the renovation of one of Hans Hollein’s last buildings in Lima, and our new community centers in Mexico City with Ignacio Urquiza Architects — and talking about them often doesn’t feel like work.
I find a lot of value in being in-house when it’s time to publish and promote projects. I’ve been with the firm long enough that many of the proposals I’ve worked on are now in various stages of design and construction, and I will already be familiar with them by the time they’re ready to publish.
FM: Until I joined Camron, I had worked exclusively in-house for global design firms, shaping brands from the inside. In my role at SOM, I led an incredible team of subject matter experts — from photographers to writers, social media specialists to public relations experts, alongside external consultants. This gave me a robust understanding of the comms ecosystem for a multinational practice, and above all, the skills to manage a complex brand, run by a multidisciplinary, globally dispersed team.
At Camron, I’m not sitting alongside designers in the studio, but instead work alongside a team of expert communicators, brand strategists, and PR leaders, operating as an extension of my clients’ firms. The work is similar but the setup is different — it enables my team to focus squarely on the most high-value and high-visibility work, while collaborating with clients in a way that feels intuitive to them and supporting their goals. Having been in my clients’ position helps me lead with empathy and, crucially, realism — this keeps me grounded, and helps me focus my work around what will have the greatest impact for a client.
This is one of my favorite questions to ask — what is your advice to architects in terms of the promotion of and communication about their work? It's such a crucial skill yet is still undervalued.
DC: The architecture industry often struggles with appealing to the broader public. Everyone engages with architecture and the built environment, yet it doesn't have the same presence in media as other creative fields. I read a lot of architecture press releases, and I often feel like they're only written to and for other architects. When promoting and communicating your work, unless the publication is architecture-focused, tone down the "archispeak" and instead focus on appealing to the people who use the building!
FM: Market and promote yourself and your studio! I’ve worked with many architects who feel that not engaging in marketing or public relations makes a statement. Not engaging in the media world is not a message — it’s an absence. Designers who proactively build their brand win the day. Those who value communicating to a broader, mainstream audience — something I first learned working for Rem Koolhaas — tend to be those whose businesses thrive. Telling your story, and telling it in a way the public can understand, is essential to the success of your practice.
Maxon Studio by Olson Kundig. Photography by Aaron Leitz.
Maxon Studio by Olson Kundig in The New York Times. Courtesy of Finn MacLeod
“Women Take Charge at SOM” in Architectural Record. Courtesy of Finn MacLeod.
Tell me also about the power of social media. I feel like architecture firms are a type of business that has been slow to catch on to the value these platforms can provide.
FM: For the design industries who operate B2B, social serves as a branding tool, to give audiences a sense of your aesthetic approach, and share design process and built work. The most successful architects and designers on Instagram and other social platforms share a wide range of content: sketches, in-progress shots, deep-dives into cool ideas — innovative materials, new technologies, unexpected ways of solving design problems — and of course built work. Don’t be afraid to experiment on social: it’s all about sharing content your audience likes, and not obsessing too much about how it looks on the grid.
DC: I agree. Social media is a powerful tool — I like to pitch Instagram to architects as a type of digital portfolio that engages larger audiences with your work and builds your brand. I haven’t heard much about architects going viral on TikTok— that could be fun!
Looking back at it all, what have been the biggest challenges? How did you both manage through perceived disappointments or setbacks?
DC: Business development in architecture can be a tough game, and after years, I’m still trying to develop a thicker skin regarding the RFP process in our industry. Certain projects come along, and you can't help but get excited. I do site visits, meet with clients and stakeholders, and listen to their goals and concerns about the project— my wheels start turning, and my imagination runs wild with possibilities. So much time, thought, and work goes into these proposals! I'm told you can't win them all, but it's the absolute best feeling when you do. Finn says that I'm too competitive.
FM: [laughs] Daniel is competitive, but he’s in the right job — finding and winning work is not for the faint of heart.
When I first started my career, the industry was at a turning point — architects had just begun to recover from the recession and only a handful of jobs in communications existed. Instagram had just begun to take hold and the media landscape was shifting. The challenge then, and still today, is the essential exercise of demonstrating value of communications and PR in the design world. Many designers have minimal engagement with the marketing and PR world, and think that it happens organically, when in reality it’s a proactive, multi-billion dollar industry. Fortunately, many understand it inherently, but for those who don’t, I’ve figured out ways to understand how they think, what they need, and how I can help. Sometimes we get it wrong, but design is an iterative industry, so we learn, adjust, and keep moving.
“I’ve worked with many architects who feel that not engaging in marketing or public relations makes a statement. Not engaging in the media world is not a message — it’s an absence. Designers who proactively build their brand win the day.”
What are you thinking most about as we enter 2024?
DC: We're living in what feels like very precarious times. It's essential to build community, like what you're doing with Madame Architect, to help push for visibility and equity in our communities, both inside and beyond architecture. It's all over the news these days that the LGBTQIA+ community — specifically the trans community — continues to face discrimination in and out of the workplace.
In Chicago, we were involved in helping start the first chapter of an LGBTQIA+ Alliance for the AIA, which thankfully has taken off with new chapters opening across the country, including here at AIA New York. We are both so fortunate to be out in our workplaces, which have all been supportive, inclusive places, and it's not something we take for granted. I want to do my part in maintaining and expanding representation and visibility for the LGBTQIA+ community in architecture — I'm a big believer in holding the doors open that were held open for you.
FM: I agree with everything Daniel said — it’s crucial to continue to give voice to communities that haven’t gotten their due. Looking ahead to 2024, my outlook is similar. In trying times, I always seek out opportunities to shed light on people whose extraordinary work and ideas bring a little optimism to our world.
Design offers me a bright spot in dark times — my hope is to help others see this perspective, whether connecting designers leading vital work to the journalists that can amplify their work — looking at you, Julia — or supporting early-career creatives as they seek out success.
Who are you admiring now and why?
DC: As an urbanism-obsessed millennial living through the current housing crisis, I've been interested in learning more about affordable housing in the US and how our initiatives compare worldwide. I have quickly become an admirer of Peter Barber, his philosophy, and how his work engages urbanism and social justice. His projects feel like an escape from what we see here in America, and we desperately need more creative thinking to tackle the myriad issues we face today.
FM: I spend a lot of time studying the media landscape—trends, shifts, opportunities. I’m a huge CNN fan and have recently found myself watching the evening news for the first time in years, thanks to Kaitlan Collins, their new 9pm anchor. At 31, she is one of the youngest anchors in CNN’s history and one of the brightest. She holds powerful people to account with remarkable ease and style. It’s really encouraging to see people of our generation shaping the media, both on CNN and across the media landscape — gives me hope!
WORKac’s Adams Street Library on the covers of Oculus and Metropolis Magazine. Courtesy of Daniel Confroy.
WORKac projects on covers. Courtesy of Daniel Confroy.
Finally, what advice do you have for those just starting their careers?
FM: I recently came across this unattributed quote, “Cling tenaciously to your most daring ideas.” Design is one of the few remaining industries where unmitigated creativity and risk-taking are both allowed and essential to the final product. So whether this means specializing as a designer or leaning into the business side, starting your own firm, or rising the ranks in an established one, being daring and taking risks is essential.
DC: Be curious and cultivate relationships with the people around you. Showing an eagerness to learn and applying the often un-matched knowledge of mentors and colleagues will take you far. You never know until you ask!