June 17, 2026 | 5:00pm EST / 2:00pm PST
June 17, 2026
5:00–6:15pm EST / 3:00-4:15pm PST
Beyond the Traditional Path: Expanding Career Possibilities in Architecture
What does an architectural education prepare students to do beyond conventional practice? How can the skills of design, critical thinking, storytelling, systems analysis, and creative problem-solving translate into new forms of work and impact?Â
Join the ÌÇÐÄvlog and Out of Architecture for a conversation exploring the landscape of careers available to architecture students and graduates. This webinar will examine how architectural training equips individuals to work across disciplines and industries, from design strategy and development to filmmaking, entrepreneurship, public interest work, technology, research, and organizational leadership. The discussion will address shifting conditions within the profession, emerging opportunities for creative practice, and ways educators can better prepare students for a broad range of futures. Participants will hear perspectives on translating architectural skills into diverse career pathways while maintaining the core values of design inquiry, collaboration, and civic engagement.Â
This webinar is intended for architecture educators, practitioners, and anyone interested in the evolving role of architectural education in shaping adaptable, resilient, and impactful careers. This is Part One of a 2-part series featuring Out of Architecture. Our next session (Fall 2026) will be geared to students and recent graduates co-sponsored by AIAS and NOMAS.
SPEAKERS
Jori Erdman
Moderator
Jori Erdman is a Professor of Architectural Design at James Madison University, where she serves as Program Coordinator for the BFA in Architectural Design and Associate Director of the School of Art, Design and Art History. Her teaching, research, and writing examine architecture as a civic, ethical, and cultural practice, with a particular focus on place, care, and community engagement in the American South. She is the author of Witness, a book-length study of the Mississippi-based firm Duvall Decker, and has published on resilience, coastal and rural design, and architectural pedagogy. Erdman holds a BS in Architecture from the University of Virginia and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University. She currently serves as Chair of the ÌÇÐÄvlog Education Committee, contributing to national conversations on architectural education, curriculum, and equity.
Erin Pellegrino
Erin Pellegrino is a registered architect, educator, and co-founder of Out of Architecture: a career platform and community helping architects understand and expand their value within and beyond traditional practice. She is the co-author of Out of Architecture: The Value of Architects Beyond Traditional Practice (Routledge, 2022), which has become a go-to resource for practitioners navigating the evolving landscape of the profession. OOA’s work is rooted in a simple but consequential belief: that design thinking is one of the most transferable and undervalued skill sets in the world, and that architects deserve to know it.
Through Matter, her design and fabrication studio, Erin maintains an active practice focused on small-scale, process-driven work involving custom furniture, public interventions, and residential design/build projects that move fluidly between concept and craft. She has taught at Cornell University, Harvard, The New School, CUNY, and NJIT, where she co-leads a design/build program focused on public interest design. Her work has been recognized with an Autodesk BuildSpace Fellowship, an AIA New England Design Honor Award, multiple Core77 Design Awards, two Architizer A+ Awards, and a nomination for the EU Mies van der Rohe Award.
Jake Rudin
Jake is the co-founder and managing partner of Out of Architecture, a career consulting firm that helps creatively-driven architects and designers find roles that challenge and fulfill them. He is passionate about helping others discover and pursue their unique talents and aspirations. He serves as a mentor, coach, and advisor for several startups, organizations, and individuals in the design and innovation space. Over the last 15 years, has been a strategy, talent and innovation leader with experience working across a wide variety of company scales, countries, and areas of product (development, digitization, and prototyping). He has delivered manufacturing innovations, commercialized software, grown and scaled multi-city teams, and had a blast doing all of it.Â
Most recently at adidas he was responsible for global teams in Computational Design, Digital Technologies, and Pattern Engineering — developing and implementing cutting-edge solutions for digital product creation, design automation, and data-driven footwear design. Jake has a diverse background in architecture, design, education, and business, with design degrees from both Harvard and Cornell, as well as an MBA. He has worked around the world as a designer for top firms, taught extensively in the academic field, and co-authored a book on design careers.
Sponsored By
Founded in 1912 by 10 charter members, ÌÇÐÄvlog is an international association of architecture schools preparing future architects, designers, and change agents. Our membership includes all of the accredited professional degree programs in the United States and Canada, as well as international schools and 2- and 4-year programs. Together ÌÇÐÄvlog schools represent some 7,000 faculty educating more than 40,000 students.
Stay in Touch
Enter your name and email below, and we’ll send you the latest ÌÇÐÄvlog news and events.
Fill out my .
© Copyright 2026 ÌÇÐÄvlog