How are architects thinking outside of the box of the traditional practice model? In this episode of Practice Disrupted, we explore lessons from the Practice Innovation Lab and meet a team of architect entrepreneurs who are building a business.
Guests:
Christian Jordan, Co-Founder of Jamb Collective
Abi Brown, Co-Founder Jamb Collective
Christian Jordan is an architect practicing in Philadelphia, PA. As a principal at PJA Architecture, founded by his father, Phillip, he continues to be a tireless advocate for emerging architects and the profession. Having graduated from Jefferson University with a B.Arch in 2005, he has been an adjunct at the university’s College of Architecture since 2006. He is currently teaching a course on innovation and professional practice. He was awarded the AIA Pennsylvania’s Emerging Professional award in 2017. In 2018, he ended a three-year term as the AIA Young Architect Regional Director for Pennsylvania, during which time he established the Firms Fostering Emerging Professional recognition award for firms in Pennsylvania. In 2017, he co-founded the JAMB Collective with five colleagues during the AIA’s Practice Innovation Lab. As a managing partner, Christian continues to further JAMB's mission to help small firms stay small, act big, and do good.
Abigail R. Brown, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, is an architect at Hickok Cole in Washington, DC, where she works on urban multifamily residential projects at a variety of scales. Abi is the 2020 Vice Chair and the 2018-2019 Community Director for AIA National’s Young Architects Forum where she uses her passion for building networks and resource sharing to better connect emerging professionals groups around the country. She is a licensed architect in the state of Illinois, a 2020 winner of the AIA Young Architects Award, and a 2016 winner of the AIA|DC Emerging Architect Award.In 2017, she participated in the AIA Practice Innovation Lab where her team started JAMB Collective, a network that helps small and medium-sized architecture firms better compete with larger firms. Abi’s experience leading in her office and professional organizations helps to shape JAMB’s approach to member outreach and culture.
JAMB Collective utilizes technology and a decentralized network to connect, support, and open new doors for small to mid-size architecture firms. From its conception at the AIA’s Practice Innovation Lab in October of 2017 to today, the JAMB Collective has grown from an idea to an ecosystem of 16 architectural firms across 8 states and D.C. The firms range from sole proprietors to 40+ person firms and include expertise in resiliency, historic preservation/adaptive reuse, and remote practice. In 2018, JAMB won the Charette Venture Group's Architectural Business Plan Competition for its proposal to democratize networks and resources for small firms. JAMB is currently part of Trimble's ZeroSixty Accelerator 2019-2020 cohort.
