Changing the Rules:
Architects & Designers Who Shape What Gets Built
Please join us for a discussion with GSD alumni who went upstream to change city government, policy, community engagement, building codes, and what kind of buildings are possible in Seattle. Hosted by GSD and HCS.
Architects and designers often describe themselves as working downstream of decisions someone else made. The zoning envelope, the building code, the review process, and the funding rules arrive as given conditions, and the work is to make something good within them.
This panel brings together GSD alumni who went upstream. Each has changed the rules that govern what everyone else can build, through a different mechanism: the model building code, municipal administration, the analysis and engagement that policy is built on, and elected office. They will discuss what prompted them to move beyond individual projects, how the work actually got done, what it cost them in time and career momentum, and where someone in the room might start.
Second in the Seattle GSD alumni series, following our conversation on building a small practice.
The event is intended for seasoned practitioners, emerging professionals, and anyone with a broader interest in design and architecture.
Presenters:
• Susan Jones (MArch '88), founder of atelierjones LLC. atelierjones has been a national leader in designing and building early mass timber buildings in the U.S. since 2012. Susan represented AIA National on the ICC Tall Wood Building Committee to adopt tall mass timber code in the 2021-2024 code cycles. In 2025, atelierjones represented the US in the Venice Biennale.
• Peter Steinbrueck (Loeb Fellow '10), principal of Steinbrueck Urban Strategies. Peter helped lead the Citizens Alternative Plan initiative before holding office, then served ten years on the Seattle City Council, including a term as president and four years chairing urban development and planning. [awaiting his review]
• Lisa Rutzick (MUP '98) is a Customer Experience Product Manager bringing human-centered design and user research methods to support permitting and technology at the City of Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections. Prior to this role, Lisa worked in Land Use and then managed Seattle's Design Review program for many years.
• Radhika Nair (MUP '07), founder of Seva Workshop. Radhika has worked at the City of Bellevue, the City of Seattle, and the Puget Sound Regional Council, served on the Seattle Planning Commission, and now runs her own practice on work including the city's equitable transit-oriented development strategy.
Moderator:
• Melissa Alexander (MAUD '13), Data Visualization Principal at Blue Cottage of CannonDesign
Who’s Invited:
• GSD alumni (all programs)
• Harvard undergrad/grad alumni
• Ivy++ (Stanford, Penn, Columbia, MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, etc.)
• Your guests
• Registration is limited to 50 participants
• We expect this event to sellout, so secure your place today
• Registration ends Monday, October 26, 2026, 23:59 PT
Changing the Rules: Architects & Designers Who Shape What Gets Built
• Architecture, design, persuasion, and entrepreneurship
Thursday, October 29, 2026
6:30pm - 8:30pm PT
• 6:30pm - 6:45pm Arrival, Networking, & Socializing
• 6:45pm - 8:00pm Panel Discussion
• 8:00pm - 8:30pm Q&A
Registration ends Monday, October 26, 2026, 23:59 PT
Downtown Seattle
• Exact location will be emailed 2 days prior to the event
Cost:
• GSD Alumni - $0
• Harvard Club Members and their guests - $10
• Non-Members and IvyPlus Alumni and their guests - $15
• Light Appetizers and Refreshments Provided
Registration is limited to 50 participants
Registration ends Monday, October 26, 2026, 23:59 PT
Host:
• Darren Chang, MAR '08, Darren Vinci Architecture & Design
We look forward to seeing you at our event!
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We look forward to seeing you at future events!