Design Frameworks: Snow Kreilich's Julie V. Snow on Curiosity, Observation, and Grit

By Amy Stone

Julie Snow is the founding principal of Snow Kreilich Architects in Minneapolis MN. The studio’s design strategies engage issues of how architecture performs within each project's social, cultural, and economic contexts resulting in innovative designs that expand our understanding of architectural performance. The practice has been recognized with numerous awards, including the AIA’s 2018 Architecture Firm Award.

Julie has held several visiting professor positions across the country, as well as teaching at the University of Minnesota College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture where she received the Rapson Award for Distinguished Teaching. She is an industry advisory board member to the US Department of State Office of Building Overseas and a US General Services Administration Peer Advisor. In her interview with Amy Stone, Julie talks about observing the world through a framework of design, and the way business tools inform the making of architecture, advising those just starting their careers to keep their ears and eyes open to those around them.

How did your interest in architecture first develop?

At career day in high school, I was an oddity when I expressed an interest in architecture – perhaps my origin story is less relevant today in that way. I remember the counselor came to suggest I change paths and said, “You know, most women do interior design rather than architecture.” I said, “No. I know what I want to do.”

I had some insight knowing that the person coming to that career day was a woman architect from Argentina. Seeing her showed me that, yes, this can be done. That was the outlook I took: I can do this. It’s ironic. I look back and think, “What indication did I give that I could do this?” [laughs]

That’s all of us. We choose this profession and then go, “What made me think I can do this?” It is gumption and grit?

For a period, I reviewed admissions applications to architecture school. People would answer why they wanted to get into architecture. The answers included stories like, “My dad was in construction” or “I used to play with Legos”. The truth is that whatever gave you this idea, it is probably not relevant to what you are bringing to the profession. I believe that there are only a couple of attributes that are really important: one is curiosity, and the other is being a careful observer of architecture and of people.

That’s insightful. I always assumed hard work and dedication are the most important attributes, but you’re right; you need that sense of curiosity and observation.

What did you learn about yourself in studying architecture?

I went in pursuing a profession and I came out obsessed. In school, design gave me a framework for looking at and observing the world. You don’t come to architecture with a priori ideas. You come at projects with a curiosity about how this specific place in the world works. You learn to understand what is going on and how to take a position. I remember feeling like I needed to look at everything though this design framework. There was so much now to filter the world through, and once it’s filtered, there was so much to apply.

Yes – When I entered the profession, I didn’t realize how observation would lead way to action, especially political action.

When I first started, I thought architecture was relatively apolitical and that we shouldn’t frame our ideas as a way of changing a political climate. I’ve completely turned around on that. Architecture is definitely political and really needs to address that political environment.

What I understand from doing more public work is that the way we arrive at architecture must be political. Different groups have distinct issues at stake, and you must frame things in a way that’s tailored to them. You make sure that they are all happy when they come together. We are doing more public work and government work, demonstrably important projects in terms of their responsibility to address who we want to be as people and as a culture. My intention in the work is to always have my colleagues understand what I call the social-political-economic-cultural context. We have as much as a responsibility to understand that as the landscape and urban context.

“You come at projects with a curiosity about how this specific place in the world works. You learn to understand what is going on and how to take a position.”

— Julie Snow

How did you get started in the field? Walk me through the major milestones of your career.

I didn’t really start a studio until I had kids that were fairly grown; I had them while I was working in a larger firm. After my son was born with a medical condition, I realized I needed a better reason to be away from my kids. Yet, I knew that I wanted to do architecture. While I was on medical leave, I worked with a client to do some early concept designs. That turned into a client relationship that resulted in doing a series of buildings. With that, I started a studio.

All the while, I was teaching. The head of the school of architecture offered University health insurance which enabled me to develop a practice. With the University connection, there were a lot of conversations about architecture, a lot of thinking about how it should be taught and that was when I began to develop the framework for how I wanted to practice.

It was a teaching practice at the beginning. Every practice is a teaching practice, don’t get me wrong. I was the CFO, CEO, the project manager, the project designer, the project architect, I was signing the drawings. You play all those roles. It’s an exhilarating time, right? It was insane.

My life was triangulated between home, office, the University. It was twenty minutes between each one. It was just trying to keep those three balls in the air. It was insane [laughs]. My kids explain that the one thing that I taught them when they were little was independence.

Julie, it’s so encouraging to hear how much you’ve evolved your career and practice, especially with a demanding health challenge in your family. It’s encouraging to see how you’ve forged ahead despite those obstacles.

On the flip side, because I was also teaching, I could only do a certain number of projects per year. I just didn’t have the bandwidth. In the end, that was important because it kept me at a scale in which could continue to do everything in my projects.

As the years went on, I taught less, and we grew the studio. Matt Kreilich became a partner and that doubled the firm. As we continue to grow, we keep filling in different leadership areas. Now, we have a full-time Director of Operations & Finance, a Director of Business Development, a Marketing Department, an IT Department, all of which has enabled us to grow beyond what we could do otherwise. When you get up to 30 or 40 people, then you have the ability to bring more tools to the table – not that you can do better than an eight-or nine-person firm, but you can certainly have architecture-focused people remain focused on architecture.

Julie Snow and team at the AIA MN Gold Medal 2014 awards ceremony.

Snow Kreilich on stage at the Radio City Music Hall Stage during the AIA 2018 awards ceremony.

Where you are in your career today?

I’m in a sweet spot. I don’t have to do timesheets anymore! This is where you always want to get to – having all these talented people to work with, and all I have to do is work with them. I participate in the financials, but I don’t have to do everything. I can go back to something that I was good at, which is thinking about architecture and how architecture can serve a particular client and their circumstance.

What have been your biggest challenges?

My biggest challenge has been convincing people that we can do the next project. Our studio doesn't want to repeat projects we’ve done before – we don’t want to be known for project type expertise; we want to deliver design expertise. I don’t ever want to get a project because they saw that we did a similar project in the past. This sets up this pattern that you’re going to keep doing the same type of projects.

How do you prove to a potential client that you can take on their new project despite lacking experience? I’ve found that explaining our fresh perspective is sometimes the best way to go: “We’re going to do our research, and we’re going to understand what’s state of the art for this particular project type.”

What have been your biggest highlights?

It’s always a highlight to get a project realized. For the first project I ever did was a small project in a large firm, and they just kind of left me alone to do it. I designed it, and this other guy did the documentation. When the project was built, I went out there with my daughter and a photographer. What’s cool is that my daughter remembers this as her first business trip. We went to this airport near my building, and we hired a plane because we wanted to get the aerial shot to show the relationship between the site and the land. The plane had only lap belts. At one point, I remember the photographer leaning out the window to take his shot, and I’m holding the back of his jacket to prevent him from falling out of the plane It was nuts and super fun.

Another highlight was opening day at CHS Field. That project had a lot of politics. The owner was the City of Saint Paul, and we had a lot of resistance. The site was adjacent to a historic district, and we needed to get the mayor on our side because of the public outcry. On opening day, there was beautiful weather, and everyone came out to see the project. It was baseball, so everyone just had fun. The naysayers also showed up, and it was cool to see them enjoy it too. It was an incredibly gratifying moment.

“I never thought that there was a lot to gain from a professional practice, but business tools are really helpful. We have a business advisor that comes up with pretty smart ideas that have nothing to do with architecture, but at the same time, have everything to do with architecture and how we practice.”

— Julie Snow

Your firm won the AIA Firm of the Year Award in 2018. How did that feel?

It was cool until I arrived at Radio City Music Hall and I saw the stage. I remember thinking, “That’s a long way to walk!” It was also neat going backstage and seeing this antiquated system for lowering and raising stage lights – there were all these brass knobs and levers. Beyond that, it was phenomenal because the award honors a firm, not a person.

That’s why I also think this award is so powerful – it celebrates the organization you’ve created and the impact of your firm.

Exactly. It was important to us to have the entire studio on the stage. The producers thought that would take too long, but they figured out that they could have the whole studio onstage behind a curtain. When it came time to award our firm, they just lifted the curtain, and we had this ta-da moment!

Who are you admiring right now and why?

Ukraine and their president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. I’m amazed at how smart enough the Ukrainians were to choose a comedian as a president. How does that comedian-turned-president come up with the backbone to survive and lead his country through this war? That gets to your grit. I know you probably wanted me to answer with an architect, but I’m awed by the Ukrainian people’s willpower to transcend their current circumstances.

Julie Snow and Matt Kreilich by Lucy Hewitt.

What is the impact you want to have on the world?

In a way, I want a minimal impact on this world because so much of what we do with buildings leaves too much of a negative footprint. I would love to have minimal impact on carbon and maximum impact on equity. Also, I would like people to understand design better. We’re all in this larger conversation about design, and it’s an interesting conversation to be a part of.

What advice do you have to those at the start of their career?

This isn’t advice per se, but one of the things that I love about our profession is working with consultants and witnessing what they bring to us in this complex profession. I never thought that there was a lot to gain from a professional practice, but business tools are really helpful. We have a business advisor that comes up with pretty smart ideas that have nothing to do with architecture, but at the same time, have everything to do with architecture and how we practice.

Before our advisor, my financial mentality was simple – “Don’t spend more than you earn.” – but that didn’t help my financial trajectory at all. Now, I’m incredibly grateful that we have that kind of business advice coming into our studio, so I believe that you should always keep your ears and eyes open to those around you. My advice is that there’s good advice all around you if you listen well enough – just none of it from me [laughs].