The UTSA CACP’s Rising Star Distinguished Alumni are those who are demonstrating bright promise in the first decade of their professional lives. They show evidence of outstanding professional progression, such as licensure in architecture or position increase over time in any field, and evidence of service to their communities or professions. A native of Carlos, Texas Charles received his Master of Architecture degree from UTSA in 2008 and went to work for Overland Partners, where he is a Senior Architect and Director of Design Operations. He is a licensed architect in the State of Texas and is working toward LEED accreditation. His work has included many non-profits such as The Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit, The Pittsburgh Botanic Garden, The Houston Botanic Garden, The San Antonio Botanic Garden and the Catholic Worker House. Charles has participated in the San Antonio Professional Practice Leadership Program, speaks to junior high and high school students about the architectural profession, and has represented Overland at university career fairs.
On his time spent at UTSA:
UTSA was attractive for a very practical reason. I graduated Texas A&M in December as opposed to the typical spring and UTSA was willing to enroll me the following semester. I was able to work with Dr. Tangum for a period of time, I interned at Overland for a year and a half, and even taught a Design IV studio my last semester while completing my thesis.
The second reason I chose UTSA was that I already had some classmates from the year ahead of me going to school here. I also had inside information from one of them that Overland was going to be teaching a studio my first semester. Having been at TAMU while the Bonfire Memorial was designed and built, I really admired their work and wanted to learn from practicing architects, something not available in College Station.
Michael Rey taught that first studio and has become a great friend and mentor over the years. He also taught the studio I took the following semester. I enjoyed my time at TAMU, but consider the Overland studio my first true “design” studio, where I wasn’t relying purely on my intuition and form-making talents, but thinking critically about the concept, the diagram, the design and how that impacted the details. I think it was a key formative experience in my professional development.
On working with Overland Partners for 11 years:
I’ve truly got an experience of Overland not many get to have: I’ve had a chance to grow within the firm from an intern position, cut my teeth as a designer/technician on some really great work with really great people, earn my license and run my own project not long after doing so, lead multiple projects and multiple people, and now lead thought and design thinking across the office.
On recent or notable projects:
My keystone project was a small church I worked on here in town called the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit. This project is interesting on many levels. It was my first project to work on, lead and manage as a licensed architect, I was specifically requested to work on it by a building committee member who happened to be the father of one of my classmates, I was the only one on the project so I was responsible for everything, and to top it off, I volunteered to fabricate the door handles for the main door that we designed.
I also got to work on the Liberal Arts building at UT which was the opposite end of the spectrum. The building was so huge we broke it up into pieces for each member of the team to manage. At one point we had 15 people around the table during a team briefing. I learned the importance of designing with rules and conviction while collaborating with a lot of people. It taught me that we can’t do everything ourselves all the time and that you have to rely on others and communicate really well to be successful.
Most recently I’ve worked on a couple of high-end residences as well as a pair of visitor centers for two separate botanic gardens. I think what is most interesting about these is learning the difference between working with different types of clients, very different ideas of “budgets” and very different types of delivery and construction processes. It really keeps you on your toes.
On the Overland Workshop:
The Overland Workshop is the physical embodiment of the aspirations of several people in our office that value the art of craft. It is literally where “ideas are made”. It began with a couple of us who had strong backgrounds in fabrication (specifically steel fabrication) and the thought that we could build it to become an integral part of our design process or even design offerings. The “Workshop” was where several of the large, costly design items for our new office were fabricated when the contractor was going to charge more than we wanted to pay. It allowed us to explore and create things we wanted to have and do so in an affordable manner because we understood the design well enough to fabricate them economically. In the following years, the Workshop participated in a few “Treehouse” designs for the San Antonio Botanical Garden, the most recognizable of the designs being “the Gourd.”
His advice for current students:
- Read. Expose yourself to as many different architects and their work as possible – both contemporary and historic. Read about history, art, psychology and philosophy – they will come in more handy than you think.
- Travel. Learn from other people and other cultures. See different things. It’s just like reading, only more costly.
- Get involved now. Don’t want until you graduate, or until you are licensed, or until you have a family. There are opportunities to participate and share your voice all around our city. You have been given an education that allows you to see the world differently than most people, solve complex problems more creatively, and care about one another and our environment more passionately. Use it.
- Expand your toolbox as much as possible. Firms like people who can work across multiple platforms and can communicate their ideas effectively as such. This includes sketching, painting, and building with your hands.
- Put in the work. The more effort you put in, the more you will get out of it.
- Fail well and learn quickly.
- Practice writing, presenting and sharing your thoughts. Communicating your ideas is key to success.
- Speak up. I was once told I was hired to think, not draft. If you are not sharing your thoughts and ideas – regardless if they are good, bad, chosen or not – you are not doing your job.
- Learn to work with others really well. Our profession is all about collaboration: within teams, within the firm, with consultants, contractors, and owners.
- Don’t be afraid to admit you don’t know something. We are asked to know a lot about a lot. It’s ok not to know everything. Just be honest.
- Don’t take it personally (most of the time). When you encounter friction between differences in opinion, everyone is attacking the idea not the person. Friction is a good thing and often leads to the most creative solutions. If you do all of the above, you will be able to have a more thoughtful, productive and rewarding conversation with the other person.
The UTSA CACP Distinguished Alumni Awards were introduced at the college’s 15-Year Celebration in Spring of 2017 and are now awarded annually as part of the CACP’s Scholarship Banquet each fall semester. Distinguished alumni are nominated by faculty, vetted through a faculty committee, and voted on by faculty.