Based in Davis, in California’s open and inviting Central Valley, Maria Ogrydziak, AIA, is known nationally for her valley-inspired built works and her design and policy leadership. Her bold custom homes, retail, and worship spaces build on 30 years in the ‘laboratory’ of the California landscape. She is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was its first female student body president. She was awarded the Compton School Prize and Grunsfeld Architecture Prize in 1969. Maria serves on the AIA’s national Urban Design Committee and represents the Central Valley in the Housing Congress. She was Central Valley Chapter president for many years and helped found its annual Architectural Festival.

Maria Ogrydziak, AIA

Why did you become an architect?

It was really a culmination of my interest in painting and landscapes. My parents moved to Taiwan when I was young, and I painted almost every day for two years. I learned Chinese brush techniques and appreciation for nature, landscapes, symmetry, contrast, so many things that drive my work even today.  I felt I was in the painting, creating a place that started as a vision in my brain. And I discovered architecture is just like that, and more. It’s a system that lets me create a three dimensional place, a sense of place.

If you were not an architect, what would you be?

Once I decided to be an architect, I just wanted that, and after hundreds of projects it’s still so rewarding.  And I’m still painting. In my mind painting and architecture are much the same thing — conceptualizing, creating places. I also sketch when I’m just starting with a client for their new house, not CAD drawings. It’s such a great way to share ideas I’m forming for them, to share the process and the energy.

What is your morning commute? What do you listen to?

I love that question, because my commute for years has been from one room to the next in my studio-home. As a mother, I’ve been so fortunate to design homes while having my family around me, and connected to them growing up. It drives so much energy. It seems to be much more common now than when I started so it’s fascinating to see more moms and dads working from home and getting that same energy.

As for what I listen to, I like silence as opposed to having a radio or music. Family activity and everyday noises are part of the background, and then when I have silence it gives me more focus.

Coffee or tea?

I’m a coffee person. I’d have infinite cups in my college years, but I’m down to one or two a day from a Nespresso machine.

What about your roles with AIA?

I’m on AIA Urban Design Committee and represent the Central Valley in the Housing Congress. But I really got more involved with AIA as the Central Valley Chapter president several years ago.  When I was elected, my husband asked, ‘Well, what are you going to do?’.  It struck me that we needed a showcase for our members and their work, so with our director Kim Anderson and later our committee, we created an architecture tour which hadn’t been done before. My first list for events and ideas had 27 things! It was a huge effort and I loved every minute. It’s still going strong, and changes to fit the times.

What’s on your bucket list?

Giving back has been part of my bucket list — doing what I hadn’t had time for (while raising two kids).  One thing I’m in the middle of checking-off, is a huge pro bono project here in Davis. Paul’s Place is a four-story homeless-housing and services building that just won city approvals. I’ve done religious and institutional work but this brought so many people together for something we just don’t have, and every city needs.

1. When did you decide to become an architect?
   I have always enjoyed drawing. I started thinking about architecture in junior high school. In high school I tailored my studies to get into architecture school and took all of the drafting classes that were offered.  When I got to college I discovered that Architecture was so much more than I had imagined and I was hooked.
2. If you weren’t an architect, you would be …
   I would probably be on the production side of the music business.  I enjoy music very much and enjoy opportunities to be creative and to collaborate with creative people.  That creative collaboration is what still inspires me about architecture.
3. What did you listen to on this morning’s commute?
   A jazz guitar mix on my ipod. Yes, I still have one.  The mix is pretty wide ranging, from classic, to smooth, to some pretty edgy stuff.
4. Coffee or tea?
   It may be because I live in Bakersfield but I am an ice tea junkie.  I have a glass of ice tea beside me all day.
5. Why are you serving on the Planning & Finance Committee?
   I believe that the real work of AIA gets done at the committee level.  The Planning & Finance Committee along with the Excom plays a critical role in helping to guide the direction of the organization.  I have been very impressed with the incredible people I have gotten to work with on that committee.  We make some very hard decisions about what programs are promoted and funded by AIA California and what is placed in the “parking lot” for future consideration.  Hopefully I have made a positive difference in the future of AIA California.  I know that I have grown personally in my understanding of this profession and how it interacts with society at large.
6. One place you want to visit from your bucket list:
   I would love to see any of the architectural wonders we all dream about seeing but I try to take life as it comes.  I have been very pleasantly surprised by the places fate took me that I never intended to visit.  Some, like New Orleans after Katrina, were certainly not fun, but they provided experiences that are priceless.