Ally and Advocate: Werner Sobek New York's Enrica Oliva on Cohesive Design, the Engineer as Partner, and Persistence

By Julia Gamolina

Enrica Oliva is Partner and COO of Werner Sobek New York, a WBE firm in New York City, where she leads the specialty engineering and enclosures team. Her projects, located worldwide, focus on sustainable design, material innovation and specialty components of primary structures and building enclosures. They include art installations, museums as well as buildings for cultural and educational institutions.

Enrica is also currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute, within the Undergraduate Architecture Program. In her interview with Julia Gamolina, Enrica talks about how she came to be a structural engineer in New York City, and her work to bring structural engineering and architecture closer as an educator, advising those just starting their careers to focus with all your might on that which you want to achieve.

JG: Tell me about your foundational years — where did you grow up and what did you like to do as a kid?

EO: I grew up in the countryside, in a small town in Italy half-way between Rome and Naples called Cassino. My dad has led his own practice there as a structural engineer, and I happily spent a lot of time in his office as a kid. I remember learning to write basic commands in MS DOS and playing games on his Commodore computer in the 80s! His passion for engineering certainly influenced me, and ultimately inspired me to pursue this career.

I loved to learn, had really good memory and loved math more than any other subject. My mom holds a degree in mathematics as a programmer. When she was starting her second year, she wanted to switch to electrical engineering, but was convinced that it was too daring a choice for a woman, and — sadly — let go of that dream. Since graduating, my mom has always worked as a math professor, and growing up I’ve always admired her passion for teaching and mentoring her students, and to this day, her relentless interest for learning more. I think I got my love for learning and my strong personality from her. I was also lucky to have an elementary school teacher, an amazing woman, who taught me to think critically. She saw in me a strength and a determination that I couldn’t possibly understand at that age; to this day, I am infinitely grateful to her.

Dana Awartani, Where the Dwellers Lay, installation view, Desert X AlUla 2022, courtesy the artist and Desert X AlUla. Photography by Lance Gerber.

Sarah Sze, Fallen Sky, 2021. Storm King Art Center, Mountainville, NY. ©Sarah Sze. Photography by Nick Knight, courtesy of Sarah Sze Studio.

You went on to study structural engineering. How did you choose where you studied?

There is an anecdote behind the way I chose where and which school to attend. At the time, qualifying tests were mandatory to get into a university, and I was torn between studying architecture near Naples and studying engineering in my home town.

For months leading up to the exams, I could not make up my mind, so I thought I could apply to both schools, take the tests, and then decide. Instead, these two schools scheduled the tests on the same day and at the same time — a complete coincidence but a fateful one, because that day was also going to be my 18th birthday, September 4th. I had to choose one, seeing as I could not take both tests. I chose the engineering school in Cassino, and the rest is history!

As for my education here in the US, I was the recipient of one of three National Scholarships for an M.S. Degree at Columbia University in 2006. I was initially meant to go to Berkeley, in California, where I could further my studies in seismic engineering, but the scholarship was switched half-way through the process for NYC. I decided to pursue it regardless, and I think coming to this amazing city is a big part of the reason why I am still here, eighteen years later!

Wow — your experiences outline just how much is out of our control, and also how surprises can be good for us. How did you get to Werner Sobek?

The opportunity to join Werner Sobek came nine years into my career. I wanted to do more than just design the structure of a building — I wanted to be an active part of the conversation when it comes to design principles, integration of disciplines, and sustainability.

Opening the structural engineering division here in New York, as well as leading the business development efforts to sustain the practice were big responsibilities, but I found myself so excited at the prospect that I jumped into it. Fast forward to eight years later, and I’m leading a WBE with a wonderful team, working on amazing projects in New York City as well as across the rest of the US and abroad.

“I choose to teach in architecture schools, as opposed to engineering schools, because I want to contribute to the conversation about integrating engineering and architecture, and this must start in school.”

— Enrica Oliva

What are you focused on with your work these days?

I strive to partner up with architecture firms that value sustainable design, the integration of disciplines, and that want to make meaningful architecture that is forward-thinking. This is what I am focusing on, day after day.

Teaching is the other side of my career that makes me excited, and I strongly believe it to be an integral part of my development in the profession. I choose to teach in architecture schools, as opposed to engineering schools, because I want to contribute to the conversation about integrating engineering and architecture, and this must start in school. I’m currently an Adjunct at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, Undergraduate Architecture.

Looking back at it all, what have been the biggest challenges? How did you both manage through perceived disappointments or setbacks?

For sure the biggest challenge for me has been the fact that I was a woman in the construction industry in the early 2000s. When I started engineering school in 2000, our class of 100 students had ten women; five years later, women were fifty percent of the class!

I started working when I was twenty-four, just about a year after moving to New York and graduating from Columbia. By the time I was twenty-six, I was leading coordination meetings on large projects, which meant I found myself in the room with eight to ten other people, all men, and all twice my age. I have always made it a point to dress very professionally — to wear suits and heels and makeup and was proud to be feminine despite working in a male-dominated industry.

I recall coordinating hundreds of beam penetrations in the floor framing of a large sports stadium with the MEP engineer, and I could tell that they did not enjoy hearing from a twenty-six-year-old woman with an accent that there were rules for where and how large the openings in the beam webs could be. They acted dismissive at times, did not let me finish talking, and would talk over me. I first felt intimidated by their attitude, which I found rude and unjustified, and then over time, learned that I had nothing to be intimidated about, because I knew what I was doing. I learned to stand up for myself and to speak up, since I was confident in my skills and in my work ethic, and there was no reason for me to doubt what I was worth.

My speaking up didn’t always go as intended — there are always men who feel threatened by a confident person, especially if it’s a woman, and if she is younger than them — so in a couple of instances I was unfairly held back, but I found my path and I am happy and proud of where I am now.

320 S Canal St, Chicago, IL, by Goettsch Partners. Photography by Nick Ulivieri Photography.

IIT Innovation Center, Chicago, IL, by John Ronan Architects. Photography by Steve Hall.

What have you also learned in the last six months?

I’ve observed and learned that I can balance being a single mom at home and a Managing Principal at work, in this new and unpredictable post-pandemic economy. I am proud of myself, and I am looking forward to learning more, on both fronts, as I go.

What are you most excited about right now?

I have seen more and more architecture companies become WBEs in the city in the past few months and years, and I am thrilled about it. I’m excited about seeing what opportunities we will get, as an engineering firm that is a WBE, to partner up with these companies and to make a long-lasting impact in the city.

It is undeniable that we, a small business in a city where giant corporations dominate the industry, need to find ways to be considered for the right reasons, which are our skills and our capabilities to innovate and improve the way we build. It is a hard battle to fight, and I hope this will give us a fair chance.

Who are you admiring now and why?

I have always admired strong women, probably because I have had the privilege of being surrounded by many of them in my life, starting from my mother, of course.

One woman whose life and work I have always admired was an Italian journalist and author, Oriana Fallaci. My daughter, Oriana, was named after her. She was a member of the anti-fascist resistance movement as a young woman in Italy, and then a war correspondent in Vietnam, the Middle East and South America in the 1960s and 70s. She managed to interview highly influential and often controversial figures of her time, such as Khomeini, Henry Kissinger, Deng Xiaoping, Yasser Arafat, but also Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir, and many others. She was considered, in the 1970s and 80s, “the most famous — and feared — interviewer in the world.” To me, her contribution is timeless.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Memorial near Washington Square Park — which is dedicated to its 146 victims, mostly young women of Italian and Jewish descent — is dear to me as my former partner and Oriana’s father is the co-designer of the memorial, and I have witnessed much of its progress over the past several years. This tragic event strongly fueled movements to improve women worker’s conditions, which were abusive and inhumane at the time, and I have had the opportunity to meet some of the current activists for women’s rights, which are doing tremendous work fighting for gender equality and social justice.

“The structural and facade engineer is one of your strongest allies, an asset and advocate that can and should be used as early in the design as possible to develop and strengthen the concept, to generate a solid and thought-through idea, and to maximize the integration of all necessary disciplines into one, cohesive scheme.”

— Enrica Oliva

What is the impact you’d like to have on the world? What is your core mission?

I’d like to continue having the opportunity to do what I do — work in the construction industry while sitting on the same side of the table as the architects, planners, and developers. At the same time, I’d also love to continue to teach and lecture in architecture schools. To me, the two things go hand-in-hand as the recipe to shape education for architects differently from what has been done traditionally. An engineer is not there to put a damper on your creative efforts or to walk in the room after your design intent has been fully developed and ask you to compromise on your vision in order to accommodate “the bones“ of your project.

The structural and facade engineer is one of your strongest allies, an asset and advocate that can and should be used as early in the design as possible to develop and strengthen the concept, to generate a solid and thought-through idea, and to maximize the integration of all necessary disciplines into one, cohesive scheme. This is what I consider my core mission, as an engineer that works alongside architects and future architects, and it is where I feel I was always meant to be.

What does success in that look like to you?

Success looks like brainstorming sessions and exchanges of ideas with the architect from day one, discussing materiality, daylight access, energy goals, and the quality of the experience right when the concept is being born. This often happens for me with competitions, but I hope it’ll soon turn into standard practice on actual projects.

Success is also seeing some of my former students, who are architects, become passionate about structures, letting me know that they want to further explore what they learned in comprehensive design studios. I teach both first- and third-year undergraduate students, and this way I get to see how they grow and develop a sense of who they want to be as architects. I consider myself very lucky to be able to do so.

Finally, what advice do you have for those starting their career? Would your advice be any different for women?

I’ve gotten to this point in my career by not being afraid to fail. So my advice is that: do not be afraid to fail. I have been taught that it is important to put all your energy and dedication into your work, and to never regret doing so, no matter the outcome. Had I let the “obstacles“ along the way scare me, I would not be here today. I came to New York at twenty-four with a scholarship which I had not even hoped to win, and having never left Italy or my hometown before, and never having lived on my own. I went from a town with 50,000 people to a city with eight million people across the ocean. I didn’t know anyone here, and I didn’t let it scare me.

I didn’t let the language barrier, probably being too young and naive, and being a woman trying to make it in the construction industry, get to me. I studied, I graduated, and I accepted a job offer without hesitation, because it was the job that I wanted, to be a structural engineer in New York City, working on iconic projects all over the world. With that, my advice for people starting their careers is to follow your passion, and — very importantly — to recognize if what you are studying or working on is not that. Then, course correct. It’s never too late.

Finally, for women the advice is only stronger: don’t feel like you have to be any different, act any differently, or speak any differently because you are a woman. Be proud of the contribution you can give to the industry, know that you are worth it, and take the credit for what you do.