Transforming Matter: After Architecture's Kyle Schumann on Fabrication, Democratizing Technology, and Finding Intellectual Allies
Kyle’s portrait courtesy of After Architecture.
By Julia Gamolina
Kyle Schumann is Co-Founder of After Architecture and Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of Virginia. He previously held the Tennessee Architecture Fellowship at the University of Tennessee and received the Robert A.M. Stern Architects Travel Fellowship. Schumann holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University and a Master of Architecture from Princeton University. Together with his partner Katie MacDonald, he has been recognized as Next Progressive by Architect Magazine and included on Cultured Magazine’s inaugural Young Architects List. In his conversation with Julia Gamolina, Kyle talks about his work in research and academia, advising those just starting their careers to intentionally go after opportunities.
JG: How did your interest in architecture first develop?
KS: I have always enjoyed working with my hands and making things. My father taught me to use a bandsaw when I was seven years old, while my mother taught me to spin, sew, weave, and knit - my family operates an alpaca fiber farm, and I spent much of my childhood showing alpacas.
Whereas the art world tends to be more focused around an artist’s singular medium, I find that the specific material or craft is not as important as the excitement of transforming matter – architecture held the promise of working with complex assemblies and novel processes in a variety of materials.
Documenting After Architecture's first built work, Twofold, part of the Street Seats exhibition at Fort Point Channel in Boston. Photo: After Architecture.
Staging a large-scale model for a sylvan photoshoot. Photo: After Architecture.
Briefly walk me through how you got to what you’re doing now.
My work has developed as an exchange between experimentation in the academy and public-facing professional projects, which allows me to test and develop ideas before translating them into permanent interventions.
I completed my Bachelor of Architecture at Cornell, where I spent much of my time working in the wood and metal shop. There, I met my personal and professional partner, Katie MacDonald. We began entering competitions and soon built two public seating installations, which were picked up by a few design blogs and led to our first real commission for a pair of large public artworks on the San Diego waterfront. This threw us immediately into running our own practice, which was challenging but also allowed us to learn a lot very quickly. As our first professional projects were unfurling immediately following graduation, I started teaching at Cornell and then in Boston. A few years later, my graduate work at Princeton University brought me back into the fabrication lab, this time combining my long-term interests in craft with a growing interest in technology.
More recently, Katie and I were fortunate to jointly hold the 2019-2020 Tennessee Architecture Fellowship at the University of Tennessee, which granted us a particularly productive year to develop our practice and research together. Our work there focused on how invasive plant species and landscaping waste might form the basis of a new building supply chain – research that we are continuing to develop at the University of Virginia.
“I very much believe that some of the most exciting, progressive work in architecture comes out of the academy, and I am committed to helping students find platforms for their fresh takes.”
Who mentored you along the way? How do you mentor? How do you choose who you mentor?
I have learned so much from so many, but in many ways, because academia has led to frequent relocations, I think more than benefiting from a sustained mentor relationship, I found a partner in Katie, with whom I have confronted new territory and the associated challenges.
Mentoring is one of the draws of teaching, and I try to impart lessons beyond the delivery of coursework. There are many things one can do with an architectural education, which at its core I believe really teaches a way of thinking and a kind of comprehensive worldview in which relationships – between society, nature, culture, landscape, materials, technology – are all analyzed and choreographed through design of all types and scales. I encourage students to find what they are really enthusiastic about, consider how their work can make a difference, and identify and connect with intellectual allies.
I very much believe that some of the most exciting, progressive work in architecture comes out of the academy, and I am committed to helping students find platforms for their fresh takes. I teach students how to present themselves as professionals, share their work with press, publish scholarship, and pursue independent projects. I am proud that my students’ work has been published by platforms such as The New York Times and Architect Magazine as well as presented in international conferences on architecture and computation. Those kinds of experiences and resulting accolades can provide a great springboard for students as they embark on their careers.
How do you approach work and life integration? What else do you do, outside of your work in architecture, that makes you who you are?
In my experience, architects, as generalists, tend to feed off of their interests outside of architecture, and these interests ultimately find their way into the work. In the past few years, I have taken on an increased interest in botany and dendrology, so gardening and reading on these topics is my current relaxation activity. But at the same time, I am working on growing furniture in the office and developing biocomposites at the university – work and life quickly entwine.
Cooking is also a favorite pastime - when time can be found - in part because of its process or ritual, but also the conviviality of conversation over an elaborate meal. Katie and I have moved around a lot, so we have enjoyed hosting dinners as a way to connect with people when we land in a new place. Such gatherings have been sorely missed during the pandemic and we look forward to their imminent return.
Taking a foam impression of a masonry heater at Edoardo Gellner's Villaggio ENI during the RAMSA and Eidlitz Travel Fellowships in 2017. Villaggio ENI is located above Kyle's ancestral village Borca di Cadore in the Dolomites. Photo: After Architecture.
Hearth cabin under construction with the After Architecture team: Katie, Kyle, and job captain Ray. Photo: After Architecture.
What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced so far in your career?
I have to fight a desire to do everything all at once. I tend to want to apply for every opportunity, but this can result in an overwhelming to-do list – in a way it is a variation of the time-management challenges inherent to design work. In reality, taking on fewer things allows me to focus more on each and produces better outcomes. As my work has matured, it has been fulfilling to narrow my focus, allowing the work to grow deeper, as well as more narrowly define our business model so that we can decide which projects are good fits and make economic and creative sense for us.
What do you think needs to be done further to help women advance in the field? What do you do in your every day work to do so, and what would you encourage all of your peers to do as well?
My research focuses on the intersection of technology and materials, which is a particularly male-dominated research area that has long precluded high percentages of female involvement and recognition. As such, I work to incorporate these areas into core pedagogy rather than specialized electives, so that access to these techniques is inherent to design education and students are not intimidated to self-select into them. Another focus of my work is democratizing technology, making it more accessible to broader populations. By working with consumer-grade, intuitive technology in my teaching and research, barriers to entry are lowered, allowing all students to become comfortable with the potentials before taking a deeper dive. These approaches have allowed me to expand the demographics of students who are exposed to this type of work and reshape who opts into elective courses and work in these areas. As an educator, I also find it important to routinely reevaluate what readings, precedents, and invited speakers or critics are shaping students’ educational experiences and worldviews.
There is rampant exploitation of young design talent, both in the profession and in academia – and such exploitation has an even greater impact on those whose perspectives have been historically marginalized, contributing to these voices leaving the discipline or avoiding it entirely. I seek to reject this system by always both compensating and mentoring those who contribute to my research projects and professional practice work, and by encouraging students to never take an unpaid job. My goal is to empower students—one’s time, skills, and perspectives are valuable, and employers and mentors need to acknowledge and reward this.
“My research focuses on the intersection of technology and materials, which is a particularly male-dominated research area...As such, I work to incorporate these areas into core pedagogy rather than specialized electives, so that access to these techniques is inherent to design education and students are not intimidated to self-select into them.”
One of your identities is also a partner, to both your business and life partner. How do you make time to nurture this relationship, and how do you integrate the advancement of your own career with that of your partner?
Katie and my partnership came to be because we were good friends who admired the rigor in each other’s work, and we really began to feed off of this collective creative energy and ambition. When off-campus semesters and jobs on opposite coasts separated us geographically, we began video conferencing daily to develop side projects – our early collaboration actually took place largely online, long before Zoom became commonplace. Years later, following an official business partnership, budding romance, and marriage, we continue to revel in each other successes. There is seldom a project we do not coauthor, so the successes of our careers are inherently intertwined.
Work definitely plays a big role in our lives, but so do family, pets, meals, travel, etc. One of my favorite memories was our travel to Villaggio ENI in 2017, which is a company vacation town located above my ancestral village of Borca di Cadore, Italy, and designed by the talented regional architect, Edoardo Gellner. The focus of the trip was scholarly, funded by a pair of travel fellowships to research the settlement and related projects in the region, but we were also able to gain insights on the local history that shaped the project from my relatives who still reside there. In 2020, we contributed a chapter on Villaggio ENI to a book – The Routledge Companion to Italian Fascist Architecture – a meaningful contribution to architectural scholarship which brought together my familial history with my ongoing collaborations with Katie.
Anthropomorphizing a student model during the Material Misbehavior studio taught with Katie MacDonald at the University of Tennessee Knoxville in 2019. Photo: After Architecture.
Who is an architect that you admire? Who is an architect that is a woman you admire?
During my undergraduate studies, I was fortunate to intern for Billie Tsien and Tod Williams at Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects. Not only do I greatly admire their architectural work, from the elaborate models adorning their office on Central Park South to the sensitive combinations of material and form in their buildings, but I also admire them as human beings – they are thoughtful, generous, and earnest, in a way that sets them apart from many of the voices at the top. It was eye-opening to observe their dynamic and distinct approaches in the office; in particular, I was drawn to Billie’s meditative and deliberate cadence, characterized by attentive insights delivered at the right moment. She is an incredibly perceptive, thoughtful, and kind designer and individual.
Finally, what’s the best advice you’ve gotten along the way? What advice do you have for those starting their careers?
One, you will not receive any opportunities for which you do not apply. Two, do not underestimate the value of good documentation. Three, reach out to those whose work you admire. And finally, four, if you hit a wall, go to sleep and restart in the morning. Architectural production is a long game. Take the time to dream big and direct your creative efforts meaningfully.