Laura Shinn, AIA

The architecture community is quiet with the grief-stricken news that Laura Shinn, AIA, of San Diego, was killed this week in a bicycling accident.

The loss is inexplicable.

Many are still trying to make sense of it, including the AIA Staff.

Shinn was biking to work in the daylight and she was hit by a car from behind. She was riding in a protected bike lane as the driver veered into it. Shinn was staunchly committed to cycling as an environmentally responsible means of transportation, but riding was also her passionate hobby. Shinn was training for a cycling adventure with family and friends this summer.

Attributes to describe her: bright, vivacious, ambitious, tenacious, personable, and kind. Shinn approached life with positivity and enthusiasm.

Her husband Steve, who was also a former member of the AIA CA Board of Directors, expressed how important the AIA community is to them both.

Please don’t hesitate to show Steve your love and support during this extremely difficult time.

To honor her memory, we invite any who’d like to leave their thoughts, memories, condolences in the comment box below.

Art Gensler, FAIA

The hearts of AIA CA staff weigh heavy with the passing of Art Gensler, FAIA. Please visit the tribute from his namesake firm to learn more about his legacy—both in architecture and in life.

Michael Bobrow, FAIA, Founder of Bobrow/Thomas & Associates

Michael Lawrence Bobrow, 82, died on Monday, May 3, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. He will be dearly missed as a devoted husband, father, grandfather, brother, mentor, and friend. He received the 2019 AIA CA Lifetime Achievement Award for Healthcare Design, and his legacy certainly illustrates why.

Michael was born on April 18, 1939 in New York. He attended the High School of Music and Art and earned his degree in Architecture from Columbia University in 1963. Following Columbia, he served as Senior Architect in the USAF Office of the Surgeon General, where he focused on the planning and design of worldwide healthcare design during the Vietnam Era. In 1966, he was hired by Medical Planning Associates (MPA) in Malibu, California, rising to Director of Planning.

Michael founded Michael Bobrow & Associates in 1972. In 1978 he partnered with Julia Thomas, to form Bobrow/Thomas & Associates (BTA). BTA grew to become one of the nation’s leading architecture and planning firms with expertise in healthcare, academic, cultural, and advanced-technology projects.

Michael was distinctively known for a design philosophy which balanced functional efficiency with humanizing the user experience. This was particularly true of healthcare facilities where BTA was recognized as a firm leading the patient-focused design movement.

Michael was a mentor to many next-generation leaders of healthcare design, and BTA’s methodology was adopted by generations of architects who went on to found successful practices. Clients included Stanford University, UCLA, CSU Channel Islands, Otis School of Design, Chicago’s Cook County Hospital, US Navy, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Motion Picture & Television Fund, Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center, University of Arizona Cancer Center, Monterey County Natividad Medical Center, Shriners Hospitals for Children, and more.

Two projects designed by BTA received the Modern Healthcare Award:

Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, San Bernardino, California (with Perkins + Will) and the Stanford Cancer Center for Advanced Medicine, Palo Alto, California

As BTA grew, Michael divided his professional time between architecture, teaching, and board activity, notably as founder and adjunct professor of the UCLA graduate program of Healthcare Design, and as Board Chairman of Friends of the Schindler House.

In recognition for contributions and achievements not only to the profession but to society at large, Michael was named as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) in 1997. In 2019, He and Julia Thomas were given AIA/California’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Healthcare Facility Design. BTA’s work is explored in detail in Humanizing the Institution. The Architecture of Bobrow/Thomas and Associates by Edizioni Press.

Michael is survived by his wife, Julia Thomas; children of his previous marriage with (Iris) Susan Lukin: Elizabeth Pressler Erica Bobrow, David Bobrow; stepdaughter Leslie Thomas and their significant others; grandchildren Samuel and Sarah Pressler, Jacob Bobrow, Nico Thomas Hrzic and Deborah Masika; and brothers, Robert (Rusty), and Eric. Predeceasing Michael are parents Ruth and Jacob Bobrow, and brother Daniel Bobrow.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in memory of Michael to benefit the ongoing restoration work of Friends of the Schindler House: www.schindlerhouse.org

In Memoriam: Thomas “Al” Whitley, AIA

It is with heavy hearts we learned of the passing of San Diego architect Thomas “Al” Whitley, AIA.

The architecture profession mourns the loss of Southern California architect, Bradford “Brad” McNamee, AIA. Read the tribute to his life and work from WATG, the firm where he served as global hospitality architect and Senior Vice President.

Marvin Malecha, FAIA

Many in California, the nation, and the world wide are feeling the loss of NewSchool of Architecture + Design President, Marvin Malecha, FAIA, who died Monday, May 4, due to complications from heart surgery. Many are mourning the loss and remembering his legacy with tributes, such as this one from “Architect Magazine.”

Bill in Venice (Courtesy Jonathan Massey)

William “Bill” Menking, architectural historian and educator who was co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Architect’s Newspaper, passed away today at his Tribeca, Manhattan, loft after a long battle with cancer. He was 72. Read the tribute here.