Clarity in Meaning: Sidell Pakravan's Kristen Sidell and Rudabeh Pakravan on Core Questions, Partnership, and Forging Ahead
Photograph by Taghi Naderzad
By Julia Gamolina
Kristen Sidell and Rudabeh Pakravan met during their graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Following graduation, they headed to locations as diverse as Paris, Denver, and Los Angeles, where they worked on civic, commercial, and residential architecture. When they found themselves both back in the Bay Area and working in academia, they were excited to found a design-oriented firm focused on critical thinking intrinsic to academia and real-world building.
Since 2014, Sidell Pakravan has continued to explore critical ideas in architecture through speculative projects and test these ideas in buildings across Northern California. In 2021 they were named an Architectural Record Design Vanguard. In their interview, Kristen and Rudabeh talk about the core questions that guide their practice and teaching, advising those just starting their careers to use their interests and fascinations as guides.
JG: How did you grow up, and how did your interest in architecture first develop? What did you learn about yourself in studying it?
RP: The short answer is that buildings make me feel things. The longer answer is that I have always been drawn to the relationship between atmosphere and emotion. In high school, I designed theater sets and it was so fortuitous to see that link between the creation of space and how it affected people’s movements, their choices, and what that could project to the public.
In college, I studied engineering because of my strict Persian parents [laughs], but when I finally found architecture it was such a revelation. It gave a conceptual framework I could use to string together these disparate ideas about buildings, emotion, and the collective experience of these shared atmospheres.
KMS: I grew up in a small, coastal town in Florida, before the big development boom. Florida was a radically different place then! My family has no roots there, so we experienced Florida with the curiosity that one does for an unfamiliar place and with a lot of love for the natural landscape. During my childhood, Florida had a huge development surge, with lots of construction and sprawl. Sadly, making good architecture was a less of a priority than quick construction of new strip malls and spec housing. These buildings didn’t inspire my interest in architecture, but the patterns of Florida development did teach me to value my surroundings and to develop it in a thoughtful way.
My interest in beautiful buildings was inspired through travel. Although studying architecture interested me when I was young, I resisted. I thought I had to do ‘something that mattered’ and that I lacked the necessary math skills. As an undergraduate, I studied art history. Looking back now, I see that the art that most compelled me used light to convey space or included architectural scenes as a tool to represent societal conditions of that era. I finally came to my senses when I realized that whenever I traveled I always wanted to visit buildings. I decided to go to grad school to study architecture. Ultimately, the art that I studied as an undergrad shaped my formal interests in architecture and guided me to understand the social power of design.
801 Offices, Danville, photograph by Bruce Damonte
West Berkeley Bungalow, Berkeley, photograph by Bruce Damonte
How did you get your start in the field?
RP: We were in graduate school in the golden age of the architectural monograph. That was how we learned what practicing architects were doing. I remember going to bookstores like Form Zero in Los Angeles or Rizzoli in New York and flipping through Morphosis monographs. I found one I loved by an architect named Michele Saee and I thought I would try to apply after I finished school - fortunately, they hired me. A lot of great design was happening in Los Angeles at that time. It was an exciting place to be, and Michele’s office really placed emphasis on design and craft.
KMS: My post-grad school experience was almost the opposite of Rudy’s. Instead of going to work in the office of one of my architectural heroes, I moved to Denver, for my husband’s work, and learned about the local architectural scene. I quickly saw that Denver has an amazing devotion to the arts and architecture. Additionally, there are a lot of talented local architects who really care about the fabric of their city. I worked at a design-oriented firm that emphasized design and exposing young staff to all phases of the process, and was incredibly lucky to have amazing mentors at this time and a really complete architectural experience. Oftentimes, we hear of architectural passion being killed by mundane work experiences after graduation. Being able to collaborate with inventive engineers, brainstorm with creative contractors, and discuss development with local politicians, both fed my passion for architecture and positioned me to further develop my career.
“Being able to collaborate with inventive engineers, brainstorm with creative contractors, and discuss development with local politicians, both fed my passion for architecture and positioned me to further develop my career.”
Walk me through your career steps chronologically, focusing on significant moments and key milestones.
RP: After graduate school, I worked in Los Angeles at Michele Saee Studio for five years. We were working on the renovation of the Publicis Drugstore in Paris. It was a complex design, with a new facade made of double-curved glass and a spiraled steel structure. Going to Paris to oversee the construction of that project taught me so much about the power of an architectural drawing: how it can clarify incredible complexity depending on how it’s drawn and what it shows. I also learned the limitations of the drawing and why you need to be so closely involved with the construction process.
After I left Los Angeles, I moved to the Bay Area with my husband and newborn son. I worked for a company called Endres Ware in Berkeley. They gave their staff a lot of responsibility - I really learned about how to work closely with clients during my time there. After I left Endres Ware, I started my own office and also began teaching design studio. Kristen and I founded Sidell Pakravan in 2014.
KMS: After grad school, I spent three years in Denver. As I mentioned, I worked for a great firm, Semple Brown Design, and secondly, I taught design studios at CU Boulder. Finally, the opportunity that probably had the biggest impact, though, came from an architectural non-profit that I co-founded with some friends. Inspired by the moment of growth in Denver, we wanted to both educate the broader public and strengthen the architectural community. To do these things, we created an annual lecture series, built a large-scale installation, and had a small architectural gallery. We also worked with local developers and politicians, which created great connections across disciplines and really highlighted how an involved community that values design can have a powerful and positive impact. As I think back on that time, I realize that the creative, generous, and thoughtful people from work and the non-profit really primed me for my current career path.
Alcatraz Avenue Tiny House, Oakland, photograph by Mikiko Kuyama
After those three years, I returned to the Bay Area. Although I initially worked for a Bay Area firm, I got my architectural license about a year after we returned and started my own very small firm, doing projects for college friends. I also started teaching architecture, first at UC Berkeley and then at CCA. For the next decade or so, my career was a mix of residential work and teaching. Although it was a bit of a juggling act, this combination provided the flexibility I needed as the mother to two kids.
Through all of those years, Rudy & I continued to be good friends and talk regularly. Not only were our practices similar, but we often invited each other to our studios final reviews. We even collaborated on the occasional project. Eventually, in 2014, we finally realized that we’d both be much happier if we combined our practices. It was a great decision! Not only have we been able to grow the practice, but we’ve found the collaboration invaluable.
Where are you in your career today?
RP: Today we are lucky to be a place where we have lots of opportunities. We have a great team in the office, wonderful clients, and we are starting to really feel at home in our community - like we can begin to make an impact.
KMS: We both have also been teaching for over ten years, and I think that makes us look at things differently. Although we ask similar questions in both practice and teaching, the different pace of studio gives us more time to dig in deeply to challenging questions. Similarly, studio prioritizes different outcomes, so we get to test new model techniques or drawing formats that then inform the creative strategies employed in the office.
RP: Right, it’s important to have concepts that we care about. That clarity comes through teaching. We are forced to remember that our words have meaning. Objects have meaning. Concepts have meaning. Teaching helps us prioritize what we explore because we know it has power. If we teach something to students, we know our ideas better have value. Otherwise, we’re wasting their time.
KMS: Speaking of these students…many of them of them have worked for us in our office. All of our current amazing staff were previously our students. This creates a powerful connection in the ways that we think, design, and communicate.
In terms of our practice, we have moved from the initial small remodels to some really exciting ground up homes, tech office space, and some small to medium scale commercial space. Although this growth is exciting, what has been more meaningful is that we increasingly are able to do things that impact our community. We regularly do pro bono work for the public good. Over the years, we’ve designed a school in Africa and a retail strategy for a local food justice group. Most recently, we’ve partnered with the City of Berkeley to create a parklet template and help local restaurants, who’ve been impacted by the pandemic, to create outdoor dining areas.
“We are forced to remember that our words have meaning. Objects have meaning. Concepts have meaning. Teaching helps us prioritize what we explore because we know it has power.”
Looking back at it all, what have been the biggest challenges? How did you manage through a disappointment or a perceived setback?
RP: Kristen and I have had many opportunities and families that have been supportive of our careers and we really appreciate that. But of course, there are challenges, especially ones that affect all women architects. There are long standing issues in the discipline that cause women to leave after a few years. Although architecture classes are well balanced from a gender count, this disappears within the actual profession. The number of women architects within fifteen years from graduation is shockingly and depressingly small. The reasons for this have to do with how the discipline is structured.
KMS: One big systemic problem is how projects are awarded. So many clients hire architects through established business connections based on gender, race, and class. If you aren’t part of this system and want to create a practice that builds, you need to find work through atypical channels. Since this isn’t easy, it becomes an additional challenge to building a practice or having a career in the field.
To manage disappointment or a perceived setback, we just keep forging ahead. Although we reflect on what may have caused the disappointment, we don’t dwell on it. We focus on what is next and how to move productively in that direction. We both feel extremely lucky that we have each other as resources. When we face a struggle with a planning department or a client, we can talk it through with each other. We often say that we just can’t imagine running an architectural practice without a partner!
Who are you admiring right now and why?
RP: Our ideas can start anywhere, both within architecture and without. We are inspired by things and also creative people and what choices they have made in their work. Agnes Martin’s grid paintings but also how her working method is an exercise in extreme patience. Julia Morgan’s swimming pools, but also her insistence on becoming a registered architect. In terms of architects working today, we think the housing projects of Peter Barber and also Anne Lacaton and her husband create really thoughtful spaces for the residents and the public realm.
KS: Since I was young, certain pieces of art have been magical to me: Masaccio’s Holy Trinity, Caravaggio’s Calling of St. Matthew; Duchamp-Villon’s Horse; and Dan Graham’s Pavilions, to name a few really influential ones. I sought them out like a pilgrim. While these pieces are still incredibly powerful, it’s now an understanding of a larger body of work or a process that inspires me. Right now, I’m really inspired by how Olafur Eliason uses a range of media to explore experience, time, and perception. That this work is done by a community of artists, engineers, architects working together to create beautiful, compelling pieces really inspires me.
Bloom ADU, Berkeley, image courtesy of Sidell Pakravan Architects
What is the impact you’d like to have on the world? What is your core mission?
RP: I think maybe instead of a core mission it’s a certain set of questions we keep returning to. How form affects individual and collective experience, how do you both work within and also shape the rules and processes that influence building, architecture’s profound influence on culture and the city.
KMS: For me, these questions have arisen through travel. By comparing design and the public realm in different places, I could see how different approaches — or priorities — yield different results. I grew up in Florida, where the public realm was essentially private space — the mall, the movie theater — or the beaches. Through visiting radically different places such as Copenhagen, Panama City, and small towns in northern Spain, I learned not only to appreciate design but also that an intentional approach to the public realm expressed distinct cultural values.
RP: You can learn so much by looking at a city like Paris, that has such a strict urban form, and then comparing it with a city like Tehran which has grown exponentially without following a strict plan. There are economic, political, and cultural forces that have shaped those cities but what is left of those forces is the architecture and how you engage with it.
KMS: I think the core mission for us becomes how we address these questions and ideas while contributing to our community.
RP: Like we said earlier, it’s sometimes hard to be awarded projects that have direct community impact, so we actively seek out opportunities to do so. We do a lot of pro-bono work in the public realm and for non-profits. For example, our recent partnering with the City of Berkeley to create a parklet template for restaurants. Since restaurants have been so impacted by the shutdown, we used our design skills and construction connections to help them build outdoor seating that is critical for their businesses. The nice thing about something seemingly so small as a parklet is it can help a restaurant stay in business but also it really changes the streetscape and street experience.
Finally, what advice do you have for those starting their career? Would your advice be any different for women?
RP: Don’t be afraid of what interests you. You can use that as a guide to help you make decisions. For women, you’re not imagining the discrimination. It’s there. I do think every time you face it and address it, it makes things a little easier for everyone else.
KMS: Do what fascinates you! Having a passionate interest in what you do will carry you through the tough moments. Realize that even doing what you love will have tough moments. Don’t be disappointed that some of your enthusiasm might flicker for a bit - it will reignite. My advice is the same for everyone. For women, though, I would add: Be more persistent, don’t doubt it when you think someone underestimates you, and believe that you can do it.