The A+D Museum explores the definitions of architecture and design, from the conceptual to professional practice. We embrace the themes of technology, art, scale, and urbanism. A+D guides our community through the complex effects design has on our lives and the world around us.
Mission + History
THE ORIGIN
A+D was founded by Stephen Kanner, Joe Addo, and Bernard Zimmerman in January 2001 and first opened our doors in the Bradbury Building in Los Angeles. Since then, we have had the privilege of getting to know diverse communities on the East and West sides of the city through our subsequent homes.
IN SPACE
IIn 2015, we relocated to Downtown LA’s Arts District, where the surroundings influenced our experimental programming. The pandemic prompted us to reconsider the museum’s role beyond physical confines and adapt to societal needs. Thus, transitioning to a hybrid model in 2020 was a natural progression, building on the museum’s history as an itinerant space. A+D Museum’s restructuring as a hybrid platform, combining physical and digital realms, has enhanced accessibility and global outreach. Our interactive online presence facilitates hosting programs worldwide, including exhibits, symposia, and community projects.
TODAY
In 2024, A+D Museum has opened its doors to the public since its hybrid model with its first exhibition of the year in La Brea “We Are Here” to commemorate the new chapter approaching for A+D. Since then, A+D continues to serve as a vital platform for contemporary architecture and design issues, influencing our built environment and daily lives.
Leadership
MUSEUM STAFF
Natasha Sandmeier
Executive Director
Natasha Sandmeier is the Executive Director of the A+D Museum. She is a designer and educator whose work and research straddle the worlds of architecture and storytelling – with a focus on the role of media within the creation and production of speculative architectures and environments. She is an educator and leads the postgraduate Entertainment Studio at UCLA Architecture & Urban Design. She is an architect and founding partner of OUR, and the author and editor of Little Worlds (London, 2014); a monograph of projects and essays re-examining the role of the architect within contemporary architectural culture.
Stephanie Ibarra
Assistant Director
Stephanie G Ibarra is the Assistant Director at A+D Museum followed by her curatorship and art practice at Gallery 90220, an LA based art-gallery she is a founding member of. Since then, she has cultivated emerging artists a jumpstart in their arts careers within the spectrum of time-based media technologies, avant-garde works, 3D-design, to culturally-driven arts and more. Beyond emerging artists, she's developed exhibition/event work with culturally relevant and high commercial brands organizations such as Lifted Research Group (LRG), Jet Magazine, Compton Artwalk, Emmett Till Foundation, Gensler Los Angeles, and FRIEZE LA..
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Roger Fricke
President, Board
Roger Fricke, LEED AP, is the President of the Board of Directors and is a retired Vice President of Clark Construction Group. He is a collaborative and innovative leader possessing technical knowledge and experience put to practice on a wide variety of complicated and architecturally significant buildings.
Nancy Levens
Chair, Board of Directors
Nancy Levens, Assoc. AIA, is the Chair of the Board of Directors and is a business development and marketing consultant for the architecture and design professions. She is both strategic and tactical, from the creation of big-picture market and business plans, to providing guidance on day-to-day, actionable objectives. Nancy's background in design, management, and museum operations adds value to her role as Board Chair, where she partners continually with a spectrum of design, construction, real estate and development colleagues toward the achievement of Museum goals.
John Dale
Legacy Board Member
John R. Dale, FAIA, LEED AP, is a legacy member of the Board of Directors and has previously served as Board President. He is currently the Principal and Sector Leader of HED. John has been planning, programming and designing educational environments for over 25 years. By defining small learning communities which boost student achievement and galvanize community involvement, he creates high performance learning environments that are widely recognized models of regional and national significance. John also promotes green schools. Building on evidence-based research, he puts in practice the theory that students are healthier and learn more effectively in sustainable, resilient environments.
Farooq Ameen
Legacy Board Member
Farooq Ameen, AIA, RIBA, is a legacy board member and the Founding Principal at City Design Studio, an architecture and urban design practice dedicated to revitalizing communities. He is the author of numerous publications that include deCoding Asian Urbanism, Fifty Under Fifty, Innovators of the 21st Century, and The South Asian Paradigm. Ameen has held academic appointments at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (Los Angeles / Lugano), Calpoly Pomona, and Woodbury University, among others. He has lectured widely, including at the Bauhaus, Harvard, Columbia, Xian University, and UCLA. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Council on Open Building.
Frank Clementi
Board Member
Frank Clementi, FAIA, AIGA, is a member of the Board of Directors and is the co-founder of Smith-Clementi. Frank has spent his professional lifetime exploring the ways design disciplines inform one another in the related fields of landscape architecture, graphic design and product design to create unique and holistic environments. He embraces the particular ecology of a specific place, its people, and their history, to deliver culturally relevant and cohesive experiences for all users.
Keely Colcleugh
Board Member
Keely Colcleugh is a member of the Board of Directors and is the CEO and founder of Kilograph. Keely is interested in creative storytelling and its effect on spatial perspective, both conceptually and in practice. Through experiments in visual narrative and emerging technologies, she is creating work that connects viewers with both the unbuilt and the built environments in more meaningful and memorable ways.
Eames Demetrios
Board Member
Eames Demetrios is a legacy member of the Board of Directors and is the Director of the Eames Office. He wears many different hats, but he is best known in the design world for spearheading the successful re-discovery of the Charles and Ray Eames design heritage by new generations. The mission of the Eames Office is communicating, preserving and extending the work of Charles and Ray Eames. In addition, Demetrios is an artist and filmmaker. His current large-scale project, Kcymaerxthaere, is a multi-pronged and ongoing work of 3 dimensional fiction and has been underway for 11 years.
Silvia Kuhle
Board Member
Silvia Kuhle, AIA LEED AP, is a member of the Board of Directors and is a founding principal of Standard Architecture . She received her diploma in architecture from the Technische Universität in Darmstadt, Germany and her Master of Architecture from Columbia University in New York. She also worked with Morphosis Architects for more than ten years. As Project Manager and Principal of Standard, she managed a broad range of award winning educational, institutional, governmental, cultural and residential projects.
Brian Stewart
Board Member
Brian K Stewart is a member of the Board of Directors and is an Attorney at Collins+Collins, LLP. Brian is a trial attorney at the firm’s South Pasadena office and is the firm’s managing partner. He represents professionals in all aspects of their practice with an emphasis in representation of design professionals, including contract review and negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and trial.
Kristen Geier
Board Member
Kristen’s experience as a docent at the A+D Museum many years ago helped her to realize her design interest in the world of architecture. Now, as an interior designer, her experience includes dynamic communal workplaces, socio-economically diverse multi-tenant residential buildings, and academic and administrative higher education facilities. Kristen has worked on several historical building projects requiring contextual understanding and finding success with interfacing with the city itself. She enthusiastically shares in the mission of creating and promoting architecture and design in everyday life and the value in bringing awareness to this talented community.
Naeiri Petrosian
Board Member
Naeiri is a Builder with over 15 years experience in both design and construction. As a designer she has worked on numerous international and domestic projects, many of which have been award winning from both design stand and impact in the community.
As a Contractor she has paved the way for female leadership in the commercial real estate industry as one who builds strong teams to elevate each individual to their fullest potential.
As someone with a diverse international background, Naeiri has been calling LA home. Being part of the design and built community is crucial to her identity. Due to her vast wealth of knowledge and desire to nurture the next generation of diverse leaders, Naeiri has been the chair of ULI’s Leadership Council, part of the Programming Committee, and on the Advisory Board. She graduated from California Polytechnic State University with a degree in Architecture and Real property Development.
Elizabeth Valmont Harrington
Board Member
Elizabeth is an Associate Principal at Arup in Los Angeles. At Arup she leads a team of technical specialists across the West geography and manages multidisciplinary projects across sectors in arts and culture, sport, entertainment, healthcare, aviation, commercial and hospitality. She is a consulting leader in the Acoustic, Audiovisual, Theater and Experience Design team and has been recognized for her expertise by the Los Angeles Times, Popular Mechanics, and the BBC. Elizabeth is a board member of the Southern California Development Forum, a member of the Federal Guidelines Institute’s Acoustic Working Group; holds a PhD in Architecture and teaches at the University of Southern California, School of Architecture. With her diverse experiences, she brings a rich understanding of various design disciplines and awareness of emerging trends, offering an invaluable perspective for the A+D Museum.
Contact
Have a question for us or want to reach out? Please get in touch with our team via the form here.
Please also reach out at info@aplusd.org