Phil Bernstein

Architect and Technologist

Basics
Bachelors and Masters in Architecture, Yale University; Architect at KMD Architects, San Francisco; Associate Principal at Cesar Pelli & Associates; Vice President at Autodesk, Inc. Lecturer at the Yale School of Architecture.

Awards

Fellow, AIA;
Design awards for work at Cesar Pelli & Associates, on New North Terminal, Washington National Airport;
US Federal Courthouse Building, Brooklyn, NY;
Lerner Center for Research at Cleveland Clinic;
Owens Corning World Headquarters, Toledo, Ohio.

Favorite Books

East of Eden, by John Steinbeck
Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke
Refabricating Architecture, by Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake.

Published

Bernstein has written for Architecture;
Architecture Record;
CADalyst;
Yale Perspecta 35;
AIA Handbook of Professional Practice;
Catalog for Tools of the Imagination.

Q&A

Who or what influenced your career choice; what sparked your interest in green design?

I was inspired when very young by my uncle, an architect who studied with Frank Lloyd Wright and designed the house I grew up in. My interest in green design emerged with the growing realization that the industry had ignored the issue for a hundred years and simply couldn't do so any longer.

What is the biggest worry facing the industry/profession?

For architects, failure to thrive in a globalized building economy that will face new challenges and risk. For the industry itself, marginalization by industrialized processes and lack of attention to the importance of architecture as an art form.

What's the biggest opportunity for the industry?

To take advantage of new processes and approaches that can break free of the ineffective, and elevate architecture and building to its proper place in the environment and human culture.

What advice do you give to young people who want to make a difference in the world?

I tell my students: once you understand how things are working (or not) today, you must go out and challenge those assumptions and smash the existing constructs. You have the insight and the tools to make the big changes that are really needed to be successful architects in a redefined world.

What is the role of technology in sustainable design?

Building information modeling should be part of any green architect or engineer's toolkit. It provides the best opportunity to predict the outcome of a building design before it's built.