Recently, Jaki, Michelle and their fellow cohorts of the HOK St. Louis Diversity Task Force unveiled a scheme to get us on our feet and out of our comfort zones. An ingenious mashup of The Amazing Race, Survivor, The Game of Life and Lego, The Amazing HOKLife encouraged everyone to mix, mingle and learn about the diversity of our practice neighborhoods.

Here’s a video postcard from the event to give you a taste of Life at HOK in St. Louis:

The St. Louis Diversity Task Force concocted an exciting office-wide event blending elements from four popular games: The Amazing Race, Survivor, Lego and The Game of Life.

Designed to lower the barriers that separate practice neighborhoods, The Amazing HOKLife encouraged people to collaborate with members of other groups while promoting a deeper cohesiveness among the people and teams that form the HOK St. Louis community.

Armed with maps and instructions, 20 teams visited “neighborhoods” and gathered as many Lego pieces as possible to build the most creative structure to enter in a prestigious design competition (juried by HOK practice leaders, who are still deliberating…)

Congrats to our …

Last week, HOK participated in the National Organization for Minority Architects (NOMA) 37th annual international conference and exhibition.  As a part of the firm’s diversity initiative, HOK is partnering with organizations like NOMA to break through barriers by expanding the academic and professional horizons to a more diverse pool of individuals pursuing the field of architecture.

Attendees experienced an exciting and energizing line-up of speakers, including keynote presenter Gyo Obata, who recounted his personal journey confronting discrimination as a Japanese-American during World War II.

HOK hosted a special interactive planning and design charette benefiting South Side Day Nursery (SSDN). The exercise included visioning for a new, modern and “green” facility to …

The HOK Chicago DTF has sponsored and organized several events in the past year.  Some of those events include viewing an exhibit by disabled artists, an evening at the symphony, and many other successful activities.

We often partner with minority consultants and firms in an effort to introduce and expose our office at large to projects completed by our minority consultants. DTF now is sponsoring a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago – North Wing Addition.  We will tour the new addition by architect Renzo Piano Building Workshop in conjunction with architect of record Interactive Design.  The addition has received very good reviews, specifically regarding the attention paid to details.  This tour will be lead by Dina Griffin, president and principal at www.IDEA8.com.

If you are in town …

This past weekend, Kuwait made history when four female lawmakers were elected to the country’s parliament. According to CNN, men have filled all parliamentary seats for nearly five decades, and it was only four years ago that the country even granted women the right to vote and run for office.

HOK recently shattered its own “glass ceiling” with the election of Chief Talent Officer Susan Mitchell-Ketzes to the firm’s (previously all-male) Executive Committee. On Thursday, Susan accepted the “Corporate Executive” award from the Atlanta chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners in recognition of her talents. To commemorate the achievement, her Atlanta co-workers hosted their …

ABACUS

On 04.14.09, a team of HOKers presented to the greater DFW their new exhibit to celebrate Architecture Month in Dallas. The exhibit theme, called “Retrospect,” brings the work of leading Dallas architecture firms to the public to help raise awareness of their firms and the industry as a whole.

This year’s team came up with a design that brings DIVERSITY as its theme. HOK participated with a single-kiosk display 8-foot-tall by 3-foot-wide display showcasing diversity of projects, diversity of individuals creating these projects and diversity of materials in how the exhibit comes together.  The nickname for the design is “Abacus” becasue of the nature of the design being able to slide, twist and turn, while adding value at every …