Keynote: Hank Koning, FAIA, Julie Eizenberg, FAIA

At the AIA Colorado Practice + Design Conference, Hank Koning, FAIA, and Julie Eizenberg, FAIA, presented the keynote “Superpowers,” showcasing how architecture can address societal challenges through innovative design.

They discussed their work on the University of Melbourne’s Student Pavilion, a centerpiece of the student precinct competition designed to combat social isolation and improve mental health. Located near a tram stop, the pavilion incorporates adaptive reuse strategies, precast concrete, and sustainable features like LEED Platinum dining commons. Its design fosters community and inclusion, offering informal spaces for activities like knitting circles and Vietnamese cooking clubs, as well as a summer house-inspired rooftop space for gatherings. The pavilion’s unique design includes a porcupine railing system for safety and ornamentation, and its nickname, “The Pav,” reflects its popularity among students.

The speakers also explored project-based learning environments in the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District, emphasizing inquiry-based, interdisciplinary collaboration. Their designs integrate net zero building principles, wildfire-resistant landscaping, and flexible spaces that adapt to changing educational needs. They highlighted the importance of connecting students to the natural environment, such as the ocean and mountains, while ensuring accessibility and resilience. Features like skateboard and surfboard racks further enhance the connection between students and their surroundings.

Affordable housing was another focus, including their collaboration with the Little Tokyo Service Center on a mixed-use development at Metro Plaza in East Hollywood. This LEED Gold-certified project combines permanent supportive housing with community spaces, retail, and transit access, addressing the needs of one of LA’s densest neighborhoods. They also reflected on their early work with the Community Corporation of Santa Monica, which preserved affordable housing and supported low-income families. Their designs incorporate features like accessory dwelling units (ADUs), sliding screens for privacy, and messy urbanism concepts to enhance livability.

Koning and Eizenberg emphasized the importance of challenging formulaic approaches, engaging communities, and advocating for quality of life in design. Their projects demonstrate how architecture can empower communities and improve lives through thoughtful, innovative solutions. By leading with quality of life, challenging outdated codes, and embracing experimentation, they showcased how architects can wield their “superpowers” to create enduring, impactful spaces.

Embrace Modest Materials for Maximum Impact

Creative use of inexpensive materials like pegboard can provide both functional and aesthetic value, supporting the idea that houses should be places where people make things together and create meaningful experiences.

I am in love with pegboard. Have been for a long time… I think of a house as a place where you do things, you make things together, you hang out together, you make a mess together. There’s something that has a lot of power in it, in the use of it.

Reject Uniformity in Favor of Cultural Diversity

Question why campus and housing developments maintain uniform character when user populations are diverse. Design should reflect and celebrate the variety of people who will inhabit the spaces.

Everyone was curious on our team is why campus buildings had such a uniform character when the student body was so diverse. And that was sort of a starting point.

Project-Based Learning Requires Flexible, Connected Spaces

Modern educational architecture must support inquiry-based, student-directed, interdisciplinary collaborative work by moving away from siloed traditional classrooms to distributed, interconnected learning environments.

Traditional schools are siloed. Distributed organization is a feature for interdisciplinary work together. And we develop these four sets, one or two on each level that facilitate that kind of learning.

Build Trust Through Deep Community Engagement

Creating inclusive spaces requires developing trust, offering ease, and ensuring fit between place and people through community engagement at the front end, middle, and end of projects, along with social and physical resonance.

We learned early on that to make places where outsiders feel welcome, we needed to develop trust, offer a sense of ease and deal with fit relative to place and people… it means community engagement at the front end, in the middle and at the end, certainly it means social and physical resonance.

Sustainability in Fire-Prone Areas Demands Creative Solutions

In wildfire zones, architects must innovate beyond traditional approaches, using PV panels for shade where trees can’t be planted and designing with fire-resistant materials while maintaining user comfort and functionality.

In Southern California, if you have an outdoor area and you don’t have shade, you failed. It won’t be used… Very limited tree selection you can have in the wildfire area. So what we’re doing is the PV is providing the shade that we couldn’t use a tree to achieve.

Design Strategies for Equity: Choice, Discovery, and Transparency

Effective inclusive design employs specific architectural strategies including choice (personal empowerment), discovery, activity, and transparency. These elements should be consciously integrated rather than used instinctively.

It’s about choice, a very important aspect of personal empowerment, discovery activity, transparency… It’s the things that we all use without sometimes thinking about why we’re using it. But we’ve become much more conscious about it.

Turn Code Constraints into Design Opportunities

Rather than seeing building codes as limitations, architects can use prescriptive requirements as creative starting points, transforming regulatory constraints into distinctive design solutions.

Sometimes you get stymied by the code. And sometimes the code is like this fantastic opportunity. So we start this project… We drew this diagram and there it is. And we said, wow, that’s kind of an interesting shape… Looks like a barn. That’s good. Look, let’s go with it.

Break Housing Density Formulas with Cross-Grain Thinking

Challenge conventional ‘donut’ building models by orienting structures to capture natural breezes, create longer views, and provide more corner windows, improving both environmental performance and resident experience.

We shifted that model to what we call a cross grain model. We get beautiful breezes from the ocean. And the Donut model doesn’t allow the breezes through. It doesn’t allow the breezes into the courtyard. So we turned it around, said, we want these breezes.

Participate in Policy Change Through Board Service

Architects can drive systemic change by serving on planning commissions and boards where policy is made, directly influencing the regulatory environment that shapes design possibilities.

Sit on boards and commissions. That’s where you change policy. Advocate for design quality not just for more housing or for more this or more that. Because good housing without the design quality is not enduring.

Lead with Quality of Life in Every Design Decision

Quality of life must be the primary driver from the beginning of any project, not an add-on consideration. This foundational approach shapes all subsequent design decisions and ensures meaningful outcomes for users.

So we think you need three powers superpowers for better design outcomes always lead with quality of life. It doesn’t preclude you from meeting all the other things but if you add it on after you can’t do it.