Loving Change: LEVER Architecture's Chandra Robinson on Pushing Ideas, Being Seen, and Making Lives Better

By Julia Gamolina

Chandra is a licensed architect and Principal at LEVER Architecture, with fourteen years of experience designing and managing institutional projects for higher education and nonprofit clients. She serves on the Portland Design Commission, and as a board member for the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) Portland Chapter, and Hip Hop Architecture Camp. Chandra was recognized in 2019 with a DJC Oregon Building Diversity Award for her efforts in promoting diversity in the AEC industry.

Chandra recently managed a new LEED Platinum headquarters building for one of Oregon’s largest foundations, and prior to joining the firm, served as Project Architect on First Tech Federal Credit Union, one of the largest CLT buildings in the US. She is passionate about creating beautiful spaces that are accessible for everyone and enjoys working closely with clients to create designs that are expressive of their vision and values. In her interview, Chandra talks about the boundaries of space and diving into what excites her, advising those just starting their careers to make connections and welcome change.

JG: Tell me about your foundational years - where did you grow up, what did you like to do as a kid, and what was the biggest challenge you faced growing up?

CR: I grew up in Portland with my mom Maria, older brother Robert and younger sister Estela. We lived downtown on the park blocks which is an incredibly beautiful string of parks with a huge tree canopy, as well as fountains and gardens. We spent a lot of time running around the park and going into cafes nearby and were very independent in a way that kids cannot be today. We went to museums, plays and ballets often since we lived near all the theaters and museums downtown. My late father was an artist so my brother and sister and I were pretty good artists ourselves. We spent a lot of time drawing at the kitchen table once we got in from playing outside.

My Mom was born in Mexico and our extended family is really big! I have five uncles, two aunts, a lot of cousins on my mom's side, and many more on my dad’s. After emigrating from Mexico my grandparents settled in Mt Angel, Oregon, so as kids we spent a lot of time there in the summers. We went camping and fishing and our vacations were often road trips up and down the Oregon and California coast. When we stayed with my grandparents we would pick berries in the morning and swim at the pool at the Mt Angel Abbey in the afternoon. That swimming pool was torn down decades ago, but I remember it so well.

While we didn't have a lot of money growing up, I didn't have a lot of challenges as a kid. I was allowed to be independent, got to be outdoors in the city and in the forest and all that made me into an open minded and adventurous person. I would have loved to have more pocket money to buy books at the scholastic book fair every year or to study abroad in high school but that's about it.

I looked forward to those book fairs every year, and also would have liked more pocket money for that! What did you learn about yourself in then studying architecture?

I decided to go to architecture school when I was 31. At the time I was in my second year of leading sea kayaking trips around the islands in Maine, and I just thought - there are lots of schools in Boston - I am going to study architecture this year. I went to the Boston Architectural College where you are expected to work while you are in school and that really fit where I was in my life. I didn't want to be in a place where everyone was super young and didn't know what they wanted out of life. I knew I wanted to be an architect and I felt ready.

I learned in school that I was only ever competing against myself. I was in a cohort with some really great people and we talked about design and research and exposed each other to new cool things. We often worked in conversation with one another and could share those things that were inspiring us but that studio work was also deeply inward looking and when it was time for a critique, I always started my presentation with an explanation of what was working for me and what wasn't. I was not so concerned about whether the critics liked it, I was only interested in how they could help me understand something so I could push the ideas along.

“I always started my presentation with an explanation of what was working for me and what wasn’t. I was not so concerned about whether the critics liked it, I was only interested in how they could help me understand something so I could push the ideas along.”

— Chandra Robinson

How did you get your start in the field?

My first job in architecture was at Bertaux + Iwerks, a small firm in Boston. There were four of us, two of which were BAC students. At such a small firm I got to do everything. Master planning through construction administration on projects for the New England Aquarium, a transportation hub, and higher education projects. It was a great place to learn.

After working many years and learning so much, I think I actually got my big break when I started at Hacker Architects and got to work on one of the largest mass timber projects in the country. Drawing mass timber details and managing construction on a 5 story CLT building was really exciting. Almost no one in the US had been building with mass timber and the details and technology were all new. I grew a lot and found a passion for what is new and what is next. Once I came to LEVER, I was able to take that knowledge and apply it to several projects and learn from Thomas Robinson — our founding principal — and a team of designers already innovating in the field.

Tell me how your work evolved, and you with it.

In school I remember one of my thesis advisors told us to dive into something that excites you and that you want to understand and explore - but don't expect to ever get there. He suggested that if we were successful in choosing the right thesis topic, we would be studying that idea for our whole career.

Throughout design school I studied artists like Olafur Eliasson, James Turrell and Robert Irwin. For my thesis I studied boundaries of space that make a place visible only inside the boundaries of the neighborhood it is in. It was a lot about light and views and art and I cringe a little if I think about it too much, but it really is still what I am doing now. It has evolved into thinking about ways to make a project reflect the values of the people in it. How do you make a building reflective of culture? How can a building be comfortable to all but actually be shaped to welcome a specific group of people?

Where are you in your career today? What is on your mind most at the moment?

I feel very lucky to be where I am today. I am a leader in a firm where design and innovation are the highest priority. I get to focus on work that I am passionate about including institutional projects that support low-income families and work that creates spaces for the Black community in Portland. There is a long history of institutional racism in Portland that includes redlining, intentional disinvestment and land seizure. What I am thinking about most is how to bring those families who have been pushed out to the suburbs back to the historic heart of the Black community.

Looking back at it all, what have been the biggest challenges? How did you manage through a disappointment or a perceived setback?

The biggest challenge in my career has been being seen. I spent a few years at firms where I didn’t feel like I was getting to contribute and kept asking for more. Once I realized that I was not going to get to contribute to design or to work on what I was passionate about, I moved on. Moving on has not been hard because I am a big fan of change. I have worked in many firms just to experience different firm structure or size or building typology. I manage disappointments by looking for the change that needs to be made so I can get a better result the next time.

“What I am thinking about most is how to bring those families who have been pushed out to the suburbs back to the historic heart of the Black community.”

— Chandra Robinson

What are you most excited about right now?

I am excited about being in a leadership position where I can direct and review the work we are doing on projects without being completely consumed by it. This gives me the time to work on multiple projects that excite me. It also gives me time to do research and explore innovations in mass timber, in sustainability and in increasing equity in our work.

Who are you admiring now and why?

The late Christo and Jean-Claude have been on my mind a lot. I was always inspired by the idea that the seeds of their work grew over decades before they were realized. I missed L’Arc De Triomphe wrapped in Paris because I was not quite ready to get on a plane in a pandemic but I know I am going to regret that for the rest of my life. They are gone and I missed their posthumous work!

What is the impact you’d like to have in the world? What is your core mission? And, what does success in that look like to you?

I want to continue to use materials and tools in new ways. I want to make spaces that are incredibly beautiful and serve communities. I want to be part of making people's lives better by making space they are proud to live and work in. I want to inspire young Black and brown students to get in and stay in design so that one day soon I am not one of four Black identifying AIA members in Oregon. I want to make my family proud.

Finally, what advice do you have for those starting their career? Would your advice be any different for women?

Make connections wherever you are. Ask for what you want. Don’t be afraid of change. Get all the experiences you can in your work and to find something you are passionate about. It will not make the work easier but it will make your life meaningful.