Interior Design Career Roundtable
Join us for a discussion about career trajectories for graduates in this anything but ordinary moment in time moderated by Program Director for Interior Design, Igor Siddiqui. See below the roundtable panelists.
Primo Orpilla | O+A, San Francisco
Robin Osler | FXCollaborative, New York
Jennifer Kolstad | Ford Motor Company, Detroit
Brian Stromquist | Gensler, San Francisco
Marlon Orr | Objects in General, New York
Laura Britt | Laura Britt Design, Austin
Laura Lewi | CallisonRTKL, New York
Clay Odom | UTSOA Interior Design
Julie Latcham | UTSOA Career Services
The event will be broadcasted live at 5:00pm CST on the UTSOA YouTube Channel. RSVP your attendance here.
Questions? Contact utsoa-careers@utexas.edu.
Panelist Bios
Primo Orpilla | O+A, San Francisco
Primo Orpilla is the co-founder of Studio O+A, a multi-disciplinary San Francisco design firm that has changed the way we think about work and workplace. O+A's groundbreaking designs for Facebook, Microsoft, Yelp, Nike, McDonald’s, Slack and many other companies have demonstrated the power of design to make the work environment a catalyst for creativity and a vehicle for change. As Global Chair of Student Experience at IIDA, he works to promote design education and expand opportunities for young people in the profession. A frequent lecturer on design and the future of workplace, Primo speaks at schools and design conferences globally, empowering the next generation of designers. In 2016 O+A won the Cooper Hewitt Design Award for Interior Design. In 2017 FRAME Publishers released a comprehensive retrospective of the firm's work: Studio O+A: Twelve True Tales of Workplace Design. Most recently the American Society of Interior Designers' honored Primo with its 2019 Designer of Distinction Award.
Robin Osler | FXCollaborative, New York
Robin Elmslie Osler is the Studio Director for Interiors at the New York City firm of FXCollaborative Architects. She is an award-winning and widely-published architect with a diverse range of project experience and is responsible for the overall management of the FXC interiors studio, and the design and technical quality of all of the firm’s interiors projects. Prior to joining FXCollaborative Osler had her own firm EOA/Elmslie Osler Architect, established in 1996. She received her undergraduate degree in architecture from the University of Virginia and her master’s degree from Yale University in 1990. Osler has held teaching positions at Parsons School of Design, Yale University, Pratt Institute and City College of the City of New York. She has served on design reviews for the AIA Chicago and at the University of Michigan, University of Texas at Austin, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, Parsons, Pratt, City College of NY, Catholic University, the University of Virginia, New Jersey Institute of Technology, New York Institute of Technology and Columbia University. She has lectured and participated on numerous panels including at The Chicago Architecture Foundation, the LA Museum of Art and Design and the National Building Museum. She currently holds an architectural license from the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Connecticut and is certified by the National Council of Architectural Review Boards. Osler serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board and the Design Excellence Committee for the University of Virginia Architecture School.
Jennifer Kolstad | Ford Motor Company, Detroit
Jennifer is the Global Design Director at Ford Motor Company overseeing the design of Ford's physical environments. Her role seeks to unify the values and brand language of Ford in architecture and interior design, elevating impact internal and external to the global Ford ecosystem. Through research driven design, her mission is to ideate future-state readiness for the new world headquarters, workplace, retail space, hotel, factory, or community space of a next-gen mobility company.
Brian Stromquist | Gensler, San Francisco
Brian leads Gensler’s technology workplace practice for the Northwest Region, where he works with tech companies at all scales to create spaces of purpose and delight. With a background in architecture and literature, he brings a mix of design strategy and storytelling to clients like Instagram, Postmates, PlayStation, SoFi, and Brex. Brian’s a native Houstonian who now calls San Francisco home. He holds a B.A. in Architecture from Yale University and an M.Arch from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Marlon Orr | Objects in General, New York
After traveling the world, living and working in both Japan and Spain, Detroit born Marlon Orr finally re-settled back in New York and entered the design market in early 2001.
The last 15 years has been spent navigating through the design industry via groundbreaking THE APARTMENT on Crosby Street where he helped discover and create a platform for some of the citys newest and most revolutionary players within contemporary design. However, with the degree in Art History, a passion for unique objects and with the mind and eye of a collector, Orr eventually gravitated to vintage furniture with a focus and passion for midcentury design.
After working closely with various acts in the industry such as RE-GENERATION and BAXTER & LIEBCHEN whilst growing their presence within the midcentury department at ABC Carpet & Home, he eventually branched out on his own with OBJECTS IN GENERAL.
View recent work: https://www.instagram.com/objectsingeneral/
Featured on Totokaelo: https://totokaelo.com/in-process/in-process.html
Laura Britt | Laura Britt Design, Austin
Recognized as an industry leader in health and wellness design for the workplace and home, Laura Britt heads one of the region’s most successful and versatile full-service interior design firms. Ms. Britt, a registered interior designer, also holds a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Texas School of Architecture with an emphasis in sustainability. In addition to managing her design practice, she founded her own American-made, modern furniture company focused on creating low-emitting healthy furnishings for use in commercial and residential settings.
Previously in her career, she successfully managed and designed large-scale commercial interior design and architecture projects as the Interior Designer for the Air Force Academy. She and her firm have extensive experience in Residential, Multi-family, Student Living, Commercial Offices, Hospitality, as well as Governmental and Higher Educational projects. She currently serves on the Advisory Council for the University of Texas School of Architecture and supports education about health, wellness and sustainability as related to the built environment. She resides in Austin, TX in a LEED Platinum certified home with her family.
Laura Lewi | CallisonRTKL, New York
Laura Lewi is a New York based designer, specializing in Retail flagships at CallisonRTKL. She works closely with top brands to understand their market, their customer and their business goals. Laura believes good design can change lives and intends to benefits others through bold designs solutions. Recent clients include Major League Baseball, Tempur-Pedic, SoulCylcle and Ray-Ban.
She graduated from University of Texas in Austin, School of Architecture, with a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design. Laura was among 2019’s VMSD Designer Dozen award recipients, recognizing the industry’s rising stars, ages 35 and under, who VMSD believes will help shape the future of retail. She is co-chair of the IIDA Retail Forum and LEED GA certified.