Sasakians Reunite in Virtual Firm-Wide Meeting
Designers expressed both concerns and hopes for the future in a panel discussion. Posters in the bottom left and right designed by graphic design studio The Old Try.
After over a month of working from home, we’re finding it more important than ever to invest in culture and personal connections at Sasaki. Thanks to a few logistical wins, our quarterly firm-wide meeting persisted, bringing over 280 Sasakians—almost the entire office—together on the same webinar conference call.
CEO James Miner, AICP kicked the meeting off with an update on Sasaki’s response to COVID-19. Tamar Warburg, director of sustainability and resilience, followed, sharing her thoughts on what we can learn from the pandemic and how it might even inspire our practice.
The highlight of the meeting—an interactive polling activity—let Sasakians do what they do best: ideate and collaborate. Principal Dennis Pieprz, Honorary ASLA, posed a series of questions to the audience, and participants submitted and voted on each other’s responses live-time through an online polling software. Sasaki designers have used interactive polling, along with other virtual tools, with client teams to continue collaborative work while working remotely. The questions from the poll unearthed thoughtful and inspiring ideas about what working and designing at Sasaki might look like post-pandemic, and Sasakians submitted over 600 responses to the five questions.
CEO James Miner; Director of Sustainability and Resilience, Tamar Warburg; and Chair of Design, Dennis Pieprz, present to the firm via Zoom
Sasakians submitted over 600 responses to the interactive poll. The responses are shown here organized into themes, ranging from the future of design, sustainability, and the workplace.
The meeting closed with a panel discussion between Sasaki designers:
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Moderated by principal and landscape architect, and Chair of Firm Culture, Caroline Braga, ASLA, PLA
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Principal and urban designer Martin Zogran
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Associate principal and landscape architect Kate Tooke, ASLA, PLA
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Principal and landscape architect, and Chair of Landscape Architecture, Michael Grove, ASLA, PLA
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Principal and interior designer Elizabeth von Goeler, LEED AP ID+C, CDT
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Principal and architect, and Chair of Marketing and Business Development, Bill Massey, AIA, LEED AP
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Principal and planner, and Chair of Interdisciplinary Initiatives, Caitlyn Clauson
The panelists discussed the challenges we face today and the future of design in an unpredictable world. Watch highlights from the panel below:
Grove on Open Space
“We are a social species… I think we’re going to see an increase in a public realm response.”
Grove on Wildlife Conservation
“I think we’re going to see more attention to wildlife conservation and habitat protection.”
Tooke on the Appreciation of Nature
“We’re using open space more flexibly and valuing it much more than we have in the past.”
Zogran on the Durability of Cities
“Cities are amazingly durable.”
Zogran on Parks and Equity
“The virus has impacted communities in very different ways.”
Braga on Greenway Connectors
“As a landscape architect, the idea that cities will start to invest in greenways and non-road connections between sub regional hubs is thrilling and exciting.”
von Goeler on the Future of the Workplace
“The biggest change that you’ll see is more acceptance of work from home policy.”
Clauson on Connecting with Clients
“Whether or not we like it, I think we’re going to get really good at connecting digitally.”
Massey on Flexible Work Schedules
“I think there’s going to be a much higher tolerance for people with flexible schedules.”
Grove on Ecological Inequity
“Ecological issues and the idea of the inequality that people are experiencing are inextricably related.”