2023 Women in Construction: Jayne Goethe, Amenta Emma Architects

What was your greatest professional achievement or most notable project in the last 12 months? I am currently completing documents for the renovation of a large lecture hall at MIT. The built-in constraints of renovations always intrigue me as a designer because there is already so much to react to spatially before you create your intervention. I’m proud of how we were able to furnish our client with many options and believe we were able to identify smart moves that will transform the space in an economical manner.

What made you interested in seeking a career in the AEC industry? My father worked for General Motors and would occasionally take me along with him when he called on dealerships. I was always drawn to the glossy brochures with their paint chips and swooshy concept sketches, and I spent hours emulating the angular forms in my sketchbook next to my drawings of galloping horses. These early encounters with engineering and design showed me that beauty, optimism, and excitement need not be separate or less than the solution to a practical problem. I was lucky to then attend NC State University’s College of Design, which exposes students to multiple design disciplines united under a Bauhaus pedagogy. 

While I ultimately pursued an architecture major, dipping my toes in industrial design and graphic design encouraged me to see the world as one big design problem that requires all types of thinkers and creators to solve. This cross-disciplinary thinking informs my work today, especially as I work across different scales.