Kurt Worthington, President
Kurt: There are aspects that I see that have and do heavily influence who I am as an architect and as a member of society. These aspects include: Point of Origin, Current Home, Education, Public Involvement & Discourse, Travel, and Complimentary Work Experience.
I was born and raised in Colorado and it is there that I developed my love for the outdoors and with Colorado’s 300 days of sunshine, I also fell in love with light. I came to California for college where I received my Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Design from University of California at Berkeley and a Master of Architecture from UC Berkeley. I, like so many others, fell in love with the Bay Area and after living in Oakland and San Francisco for a time, decided to make Berkeley my home.
Here in Berkeley I am involved in many groups including the Berkeley Design Advocates where we help shape public spaces in Berkeley through charrette, lectures, letter writing or other means of lending our voice to the public forum.
I am also a member of the Berkeley Breakfast Club, which is a social club that has been around since 1936 and where about a 100 of us gather each Friday morning for breakfast, camaraderie and a lecture about a variety of subjects which feeds my constant desire to learn new things.
I am also involved in the community through my children’s schools and am a baseball coach for my son’s team.
Another guiding principle of architecture and life comes from the love of travel and of diversity in peoples and cultures. To me it is important that an architect take himself out of his shoes and firmly place himself in those that are different then himself. I have traveled through Europe, Africa, Central and South America and Asia. And on each of these trips I learned something new about other people and cultures and most importantly about myself and my place in the world. This more than anything has given me the awareness of the importance and criticalness of sustainability in architecture and life in general.
While going to college and for a time after college, I worked construction as a laborer, a carpenter and as a superintendent racking up over seven years in the construction field. This gave me a valuable lesson into how things actually go together as well as the contractors point of view – both of which are extremely valuable lessons and tools that I am grateful that I have experienced and that I use every day.
All these aspect exemplify who and what I stand for. My architecture is very concerned with light and materials and I am always trying make a connection from the indoors to the outdoors and I see the interior and the exterior as complimentary to each other as opposed to being treated as binary elements. I therefore do not see the building itself as the termination point of the design but rather as an integral part to the whole site. It is my belief that the site, the environment and the building coexist with each other in a multitude of ways and should fit together like a well made watch.
I am also aware that architecture is a very public endeavor and that it coexists as a part to a larger geometry puzzle and that public discourse both agreeable and disagreeable is healthy. I celebrate and relish this dialogue that some may find confrontational and intimidating and I pride myself in finding a solution and in bringing together the various stake holders for a successful project be it residential, commercial or in the larger context of urban design.
Jennifer Lee Brodie, Principal
Jennifer Lee Brodie joined Worthington A+D in 2021 after working at Lundberg Design for 17 years. Before that she worked for SMWM, Roth + Sheppard Architects in Colorado and Adele Santos and Associates. Jennifer has a BA from the University of Chicago and a MArch from UC Berkeley. Jennifer’s project range is immense, where she has worked on numerous varying and award winning projects that include everything from a 911 call center in Colorado, a crush pad in Napa, a penthouse remodel in SF, a ground up residence in Woodside as well as numerous other projects. Jennifer also enjoys interior design and has worked on various restaurants and office spaces. Jennifer enjoys family life with her two active kids and a golden retriever as well as traveling, sewing, cooking, and eating. She also skis both on water and in the snow. We are lucky to have her talent and organizational skills with the firm.