About

About

It all started when…

We won our 4th grade park design competition. My teacher told me about architecture and what architects do, I thought it was the coolest thing. I loved building Legos, forts, tree houses you name it. I was always fascinated with how things work and went together.

I grew up in Ventura County, California, where I loved surfing, In-N-Out and Mexican food. Turning my surfboard in for a snowboard, I ended up at the University of Colorado, Boulder where I got my undergrad in Environmental Design, Architecture. After graduating I was ready for the real world, but graduating in 2009 during the recession was not easy. I ended up sticking with my passion for woodworking. I landed a job at a woodshop where we built furniture, casework, kitchen cabinets, and did finish work including trim, tile, flooring, and some light framing. Oh, and the dreaded drywall work.

After a year at the shop, I was ready to start looking for an architecture job. I didn’t just want any old job, I wanted it to be in a place I could see myself living and it had to be an area of the country that was pushing the envelope on green building. So I packed up all my stuff and moved to Seattle, without a job or knowing a single person. In fact the closest person I knew was 1,500 miles away. It was still the recession so finding a job was challenging, especially having no experience. I was sending out resumes and trying to set up interviews. I ended up joining about 7 different architecture/ building groups in the area. Most folks weren’t ready to hire someone full time. I wanted to find a way to be helpful, so started the RAD Newsletter (Ryan Adanalian Designs) where I would give summaries of what happened at the 7 group meetings I attended. My goal was to help keep folks up-to-date on what was happening in the Seattle architecture and building community. I ended up starting my own business to do contract work. It was a good start and I landed some projects. I met so many people and built some great connections.

Through one of the groups I got a lead on a job at Board & Vellum. Jeff the boss was looking to hire his first employee. It took me about 2 years to get my first full time gig. I was at Board & Vellum for 7 years and we went from just me to 35 people including landscape architects and interior designers. We won many awards for being the best place to work, including top 5 in the state and even winning several local and national design awards. My personal favorite award was winning the Best In State for Sustainability, 2019. It has been a fun ride and now I can’t wait to see what path I end up on next.

In my free time

I love being outside. Whether it’s snowboarding, trail running, mountain biking, backpacking, sitting around a campfire after a long day, I love it all. I also have a passion for woodworking and coming up with new ideas on how to put things together. Sometimes I will stay up late learning about new technologies and sciences, like mechanical engineering, astronomy, sociology, and building science. I’m always looking for new experiences to keep my brain and body active.

Barriers are OPPORTUNITIES

Ok, I know this must be taboo to talk about, but I have something to say, I am dyslexic. Being dyslexic is not all negative, there are actually some huge advantages. Yes, there are studies that suggest that it is actually 5 times harder to read than the average person. In fact, when I was officially tested I was in the bottom 3% of other kids my age at reading and spelling. The crazy thing is I was in the top 99% of kids my age for putting shapes together and solving puzzles. Why is this? People have columns in their brain that act as telephone poles. These telephone poles process information and are connected by wires that send the information. Autistic folks have these telephone poles very closes to each other. This give them the incredible ability to focus on one thing. Dyslexic folks have the opposite with their telephone poles very far apart. This gives the ability to see and form connections between things very easily. You can see the big picture on how it all comes together. This is great for fields that require taking in a lot of information or puzzle pieces and being able to come up with how they all connect. Fields that allow for visualizing, creating, inventing, and communicating are ideal for folks with dyslexia.

I do have a harder time reading and spelling, but I can still do it, it just take more time. Test are also hard for me. I took a little break from the ARE’s, but I plan to keep pushing as it is incredibly important to me to one day be a licensed Architect! When I took the test, I passed the vignettes with over an hour to spare, but I just got hung up on the multiple choice. I was the first student from my special needs class to go on to graduate from a 4-year university, after being told I never would. It was not easy, but I cared enough to make it happen. There are great tools like spell check, books on tape, and text to audio that are making it easier. I would not give up the fact that I’m dyslexic and I actually feel grateful for this gift. Heck, Albert Einstein was dyslexic. I can’t think of anyone more badass than him.

Resume

Aspiration

• To work with a team to make positive, lasting impacts on the community and environment through sustainable design.

• To push forward with new materials and methods that aid in the rehabilitation and protection of the environment.

• To be a part of a organization that empowers all members and pushes us to be better than we were before.

• To leave the planet better than I found it.

March, 2021

Ryan Adanalian
ryan.adanalian@gmail.com
206.486.0459