Over the past year, the firm has deepened its commitment to mentoring the next generation of architects with outreach to high schools and involvement in UW-Milwaukee design studios. In addition to exposing students to professional practices, AG wants to increase student awareness of senior living design. The team wants to inspire the next generation of architects to play a role in elevating the senior living experience.
Inspiring Slinger High School Students
An energetic social studies instructor at Slinger High School, Nate Grimm, was working with students on social and community-focused topics that led to a connection with AG. Senior Associate Andrew Alden met with the class to discuss the intersection of human behavior, design, and community engagement as well as placemaking and biophilic principles.
“It was a pleasure to speak to an inquisitive group of students,” says Alden. “Nate has given them a great opportunity to get a deeper understanding of architecture and design. Focusing on the potential positive impact of the built environment will help them understand why it’s an important and rewarding career option. Architecture can change the world!”
Alden’s discussion presented these young students with a new way of thinking about senior living facilities. Due to Alden’s passion for research and psychology, his comments encouraged students to continue to gather data that can help inform buildings and organizations. According to Grimm, “The students are focusing on ‘belonging’ and ‘building bridges’ and I want them to see how thoughtful people and teams work with others to build inviting spaces where positive experiences occur.”
Covering topics, such as the model of place, biophilic design and choice, privacy, and control, gave the class a fresh perspective on how to see spaces in different ways. Grimm followed up the discussion by taking the class on a walk through their school to look at social-spatial relations. Based on the information Alden shared, Grimm along with architecture teacher Brent Hug continue to evolve the class and assignments. They are excited to use Alden’s quotes and resources to continue to impact students in future semesters.
“I have some students working as CNAs, some working in business, and others looking at architecture and human relations fields. Andrew’s discussion supported all those career possibilities,” says Grimm. “Through our work with the Aging and Disability Resource Center and Social Isolation, it also helped us think about the many ways that 16, 17, and 18-year-olds can support the needs of diverse groups in the future.”
AG Project Manager Daniel Fischer brought real-world inspiration to students at Pius XI Catholic High School during STEM Day. Fischer spoke to approximately 140 students about the architectural profession. His guidance on ‘what to expect’ as an architect focused on his role as a project manager and the impact of senior living design.
“I wanted to make the experience engaging and exciting for students, so they understand the roles and responsibilities of a position like mine,” says Fischer. “I also wanted them to see how interesting the world of senior living design can be.”
UW-Milwaukee students have also benefited from Fischer’s real-world guidance through design studio critiques. As a UWM undergraduate and graduate school alum, Fischer welcomes the opportunity to share his project management insights with students. From an elementary school project to transforming an underutilized site into a community gathering space, Fischer likes to help students bridge their out-of-the-box thinking with practical application.
“I like to bring a sense of reality to fantastical ideas and over-the-top concepts to help students,” says Fischer. “I don’t want to squash their idea and enthusiasm. I want to help them make it real.”
Fischer challenges students to have a reason for the design decisions they make. Furthermore, he presses them to understand why a design is successful. “Nurturing their ability to understand why a design is successful will take them on a better path. This mindset will support their design process and allow them to capitalize on the things that really work.”
Architects and designers are no strangers to critiques, and many have distinct memories from a design crit experience in school, and not necessarily a good memory. “Everyone brings a fresh perspective and sometimes the critiques in school squash creativity with the real-world aspect,” describes Fischer. “I aim to find the middle ground so students will keep pushing boundaries but start seeing why it will or won’t work. I want them to be able to explain their why and walk me through their thought process so we can make their vision a reality.”
AG Project Designer Mitch Lampe is a proud graduate of St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. Every year he visits his alma mater to give a lecture and modeling class on sustainable housing design. As the only architecture class given on campus, Lampe once participated and became interested in the field through his mentor and master potter Richard Bresnahan.
“I enjoy giving back to the university and hopefully intriguing the next generation of designers through the merger of environmental awareness and regenerative design in this class,” says Lampe.
Living Well Initiative: Driving a Vision for an Age-Integrated Campus
AG has deep roots in the UWM School of Architecture & Urban Planning. Founding Principal Gene Guszkowski was one of the first graduates of the program, Chief Design Officer Eric Harrmann completed undergrad and grad school there, and currently, the majority of the AG Team has degrees from the UWM programs. This UWM connection includes a commitment to senior living which dates back to the Institute on Aging & Environment (IAE).
Over the past few years, AG and UWM have renewed this commitment through the Living Well Initiative. This consortium of Milwaukee-area corporations, including AG, seeks to inspire future architects and designers to imagine age-integrated communities that promote active living and enable people to pursue purposeful and meaningful lives.
Housing the country’s aging population in the future is poised to be one of the most significant challenges for architects and planners. To successfully overcome this challenge design minds will need to think differently about space, building codes, services, community, and what it means to grow older.
The Living Well Studio, developed by Professor Brian Schemer, Ph.D., for undergraduate and graduate-level students aims to change the conversation and reignite interest in this important topic. The curriculum introduces students to industry players, including architects, developers, care providers, and inventors of cutting-edge technologies—the professionals committed to improving the quality of people’s lives as they age.
In 2023, students were tasked with creating alternative models of university-affiliated senior communities that will appeal to baby boomers as well as their children and grandchildren. The UW-Milwaukee Campus provided three catalytic sites offering students opportunities to imagine age-integrated communities that promote connectivity and active aging, enabling people to pursue purposeful and meaningful lives as they age.
An important element of the studio was involvement with a participatory research format involving local community elders who were selected from UW-Milwaukee’s Osher Center for Lifelong Learning. The students consulted with these experts several times throughout the semester on topics such as views on local housing choices, feedback on initial concepts, and comments on generated solutions. Industry professionals, including members of the AG Team, also provided guidance and feedback throughout the semester to promote a positive collaborative experience.
Solutions from the studio have been submitted to an international design competition focused on alleviating the isolation experienced by the aging population.
Interested in having the AG Team speak to your students? Or are you looking for a firm where you can innovate, learn, and grow? Contact us.
Thank you to Anya Schlenker Vanecek for sharing photos from The Living Well Studio.