2019 Monterey Design Conference Draws Record Crowd

California Conference Draws Record Crowd — Reed Kroloff, dean of the IIT College of Architecture, served as emcee for the three-day-long event.

*Photo courtesy AIA California*

The Monterey design conference (MDC) celebrated a milestone in October, presenting its 25th edition. The biennial event, with its oceanfront location, is a favorite among architects from California and across the country, this time drawing over 950 design professionals.

Despite the crowds, the weekend-long conference remains a casual and intimate affair, with ample opportunity to mingle—including fireside at a bluegrassfest—with both presenters and colleagues. This year’s speakers included Yvonne Farrell of Dublin-based Grafton Architects, Mexico City–based Alberto Kalach, Nova Scotia architect Brian MacKay-Lyons, Chinese husband-and-wife team Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu, Greg Pasquarelli of SHoP Architects in New York, and local heavyweight Mark Cavagnero, who spoke about his architectural influences growing up around Marcel Breuer buildings in Litchfield, Connecticut. As always, MDC, for which RECORD is a media partner, mixed those thought-provoking presentations with equally engaging ones by California-based emerging professionals, including two of the magazine’s former Design Vanguard firms.

The next MDC will take place October 22–24, 2021.

Josephine Minutillo is editor in chief of Architectural Record. Trained as an architect, she began writing for RECORD in 2001 while practicing architecture, and has held several positions at the magazine over the past two decades. Her articles have appeared in many international publications. She has been an invited critic at Washington University in St. Louis, The Cooper Union, Columbia GSAPP, Pratt Institute, The City College of New York, and Yale University.
Instagram: @josephineminutillo_