2024 Board Voting

Matt Gries, AIA

For twenty-three years Matt has dedicated himself to the study, practice and advancement of Architecture and Ecosystem Services. While in Santa Barbara, Matt has been very active in the professional community, founding the Water Commons Alliance in 2016, and studying and promoting multi-benefit solutions to land-use development and watershed sustainability ever since. He served as a council member for the Community Environmental Council (CEC) for four years, and is currently serving as a board member for Sweetwater Collaborative. Matt has presented 4 separate workshop seminars on the topic of stormwater and greywater management, promoting new ways to organize the dialogue to best bridge the cross-disciplinary divide. During the 2020 Design Charrette, in addition to co-chairing one of the charrette groups, Matt created PlanSB.org, and ran this website throughout the duration of the charrette to help elevate and better coordinate the efforts being made by each of the charrette teams.

Robert Ooley, FAIA

Robert served as an officer on the AIASB Board of Directors from 2016-2020, and was elected President in 2019. Robert is an award-winning public-sector architect. He was elevated into the AIA College of Fellows in 2015 for his distinctive accomplishments as County Architect of Santa Barbara. He is the only County Architect in California to be elevated to AIA Fellow. As a three-diamond fellow he is a Charter Member of the College of Fellows Heritage Society. He also has served on the AIA California Board as the AIASB Representative. Mr. Ooley began his career in architecture from the private sector and he crafted some of the first ever adopted sustainable policies for a California County in 2000, work that has been replicated in other municipalities and continues to guide facility development in the county. His passion for historic preservation guided a 6-million-dollar rehabilitation of the Santa Barbara Courthouse Hall of Records, a project gaining the attention of the U.S. Department of the Interior and contributing to the Courthouse being designated a National Historic Landmark.

Erica Obertelli, AIA

Erica is passionate about supporting the work that AIA does to inspire our community. She is particularly interested in committees related to sustainability, community building, and programs. During the years that she served as the director for Emerging Professionals, she developed a monthly lecture series, which provided a forum for local architects and related professionals to share work that arose out of passion and excellence. She would be honored to serve as a board member for the exceptional AIASB community.

DIRECTOR CANDIDATES (11 positions, one-year term)

RESPONSIBILITIES: Directors of the board serve yearlong terms and may serve multiple terms if re-elected. Directors are one of a team charged with helping to develop guidelines and priorities for the chapter. In addition, Directors provide fiscal and governance oversight for the chapter. Directors are expected to attend all monthly board meetings, all major events and to engage members around key priorities. Directors are also responsible for leading assigned committees and ad-hoc task forces.

Jolie Wah, AIA – Past President

With over 30 years of experience in architecture, Jolie has enjoyed working in multiple facets of the field – from hospitality and retail projects, custom residential homes, to affordable and senior housing. Her goal has remained to bring to the community, spaces and surroundings that inspire and invigorate, but also bring a sense of comfort and ease. Jolie has been a resident of Santa Barbara for the past 19 years, volunteering on various fundraising and service committees such as ArchitecTours and as a member of the AIA Montecito Recovery Center. Jolie also took part in the revitalizing State Street Charettes, past and current. She has been inspired and impressed by the energy and ideas generated. Jolie is a senior architect and manager with RRM Design Group.

Alayna Fraser, AIA, LEED AP BD+C 

Having served as AIASB President in 2022, I look forward to continued service in a role with the Board of Directors. As a steward of this active and accomplished chapter, I will work to support the varied and ambitious goals of our committees and programs. I am a Santa Barbara native and licensed Architect at the local firm Blackbird Architects.

Clay Aurell, AIA 

I am a past board member and past president of the AIA SB. After sitting on the board for over eight years, I decided to take two years off and rejioined the board in 2022 as a Board Director. During the course of the past year, I took on being the Chair of the Design Awards Committee and sat on several other committees such as the Advocacy and Sponsorship Committees.  I continue to be impressed with the esprit de corps of our local Architectural community and the amount of time many board members spend both on the board and on committees. We truly have an acitve chapter and board and I am honored to be a part of this organization. I have found that the AIA is really the place for me to partner and make a bigger impact going forward.  I hope that the board and the AIA members will honor my request to come back to the board and be a part of several committees to forward the goals and intentions of AIA SB.

Ellen Bildsten, AIA, LEED AP

Ellen joined the AIASB board in 2008 and served on all the Officer positions, was the AIASB representative for two years to AIA California and continues to serve as Advocacy co-chair for the past few years. She helped create ArchitecTours in 2008 and has chaired the event several times. She was a key organizer of AIASB’s Housing charrette in 2011 and the State St. revitalization charrette in 2017 and 2020.  Ellen established her architecture firm in 2003.  Bildsten Architecture and Planning focuses on multi-family housing and community-based projects in Santa Barbara.

Bob Kupiec, AIA 

Bob Kupiec has been the principal of Kupiec Architects PC, celebrating 40 years of providing service for numerous commercial, institutional, and residential projects throughout this country and abroad. A resident of Santa Barbara since 2003 he has completed the downtown campus for Antioch University as well as the SB Airport Industrial Park on Hollister Avenue. He has recently completed the 50-million-dollar renovation of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and is busy restoring the Ojai Playhouse theater due to open next year. Bob is a past Chairman of the National Institute of Architectural Education and twice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the VanAlen Institute for Projects in Public Architecture. He currently serves as a Planning Commissioner for Santa Barbara County in Montecito.

John P. Margolis, AIA 

I would like to renew my commitment to the AIA/Santa Barbara Chapter. I have served on multiple AIA/SB committees including the Design Awards and Advocacy Committees. I have encouraged Appleton Partners, the firm where I work, to continue their annual sponsorship support and participation on a number of important levels including the 2020 Design Charrette, Design awards Gala and more recently Architectours. I look forward to being considered for another year of service.

Detlev Peikert, AIA, LEED AP BD+C 

Detty is a past president and has served on the board since 1985.  He is currently a principal with RRM Design Group and heads the firm’s Santa Barbara office. He has been working in the field of architecture for more than 40 years. Detty is thoroughly knowledgeable in all aspects of architecture practice with a particular emphasis on design, project management and real estate development. He has extensive experience in designing and developing affordable and market rate housing.  As one of the founders of The Sustainability Project of Santa Barbara, he is committed to the principles of sustainable design and green building. Detty is actively engaged in local community organizations including the Santa Barbara Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, Coastal Housing Coalition, and Garden Court Foundation.

Dan Weber, AIA 

I believe that architects have a responsibility to be leaders in our community.  As we sit at the intersection of community development, commerce, and regulatory agencies, it is incumbent upon us to leverage our position to guide our projects, clients, and communities toward creating a better world.  We spend nearly all of our time in built environments, designed by architects.  The impact of what we do, whether intentional or not, is enormous.  We need to use all of our combined resources to influence the direction of our built environments toward positive, sustainable impacts on the communities and environment.  We can’t do this individually.  I want to be part of a large, impactful, community-based team that shares these values.  I believe that AIASB, its Board of Directors, and its members comprise the team that I am aligned with in this mission.  AIASB works to support each other, elevates the influence of architects and the mission that every architect must share, and works to impact our community through design excellence.  Having grown Anacapa’s team of designers to be a force of 20 employees and 50+ active projects, I believe that we have scale that is substantial enough to be a strong contributor to this community effort.  I look forward to working shoulder to shoulder with my colleagues and the big group of dedicated professionals that the AIA has worked to bring together. 

Cash Upton – Allied Director 

Cash Upton is Design & Sales Coordinator for Brighten Solar and has served on the AIASB Board of Directors for the 2022 term. Cash has been the chair of ArchitecTours for the 2021 & 2022 tours. Cash majored in Political Economics with an emphasis on Environmental Sustainability at UC Berkeley and is passionate about furthering people’s access to a healthy and sustainable built environment. Cash currently serves as the board president of the Central Coast Green Building Council, where he is passionate about helping our community be more sustainable and developing more equitable access to a healthy built environment. Cash continued to pursue his dream of sustainable living and converted a shipping container to an off-grid home and agave farm. Cash has been working with solar since 2014, when he installed an array atop his shipping container home using salvaged upcycled panels. As an advocate for education, Cash can be found at local elementary school science nights getting kids excited about solar. A major emphasis of his life is social and environmental justice, and Cash advocates for building relationships that can solve the problems that perpetuate poverty and suffering.

Paul Belmont, P.E. – Allied Director 

Paul is a licensed Civil Engineer who specializes in structures, working closely with local architects, developers, and contractors. His experience dabbling in a wide range of construction trades including welding, concrete, framing, and carpentry elicits a unique approach in his work. As an alumnus of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, the California Central Coast has been his region of focus throughout his career. His involvement in the Santa Barbara AIA began in 2012 and he quickly became heavily involved in ArchitecTours. He served on the AIA Board of Directors from 2018-2021 and is looking to further his involvement by joining the Board again.

Natasha Elliot – Allied Director 

Natasha Elliot is a Landscape designer, Landscape contractor and educator. Her design practice is rooted in the idea of form following function with sustainability being the leading function. While earning a BFA in sculpture at California State University Long Beach, she explored themes of the human relationship with the outdoor world, particularly the ways in which humans have worked with nature to create the built-environment. After graduating, she studied horticulture, permaculture, and worked in restoration ecology. Today Natasha is the owner of the landscape design firm, Sweet Smiling Landscapes. Natasha is a board member of the Central Coast Green Building Council and teaches Landscape design at Santa Barbara City College. She has also taught as well as teaching Landscape Drafting at Santa Barbara City College and is a teacher in a program with the Metropolitan Water District that teaches home-owner’s principles of water shed wise landscape design.

AIA CALIFORNIA REPRESENTATIVE CANDIDATE (1 position, two-year term)

RESPONSIBILITIES: Duties include being a member of the AIA California Board of Directors; attending AIA California board meetings (every 2 months) and reporting back to the AIASB Board.