Our Team

David C. Martin, FAIA, is an award-winning architect who has been recognized for his innovative, inspirational, and cutting-edge projects. 

As design principal of Los Angeles-based firm AC Martin, David furthered his family’s legacy of major involvement in the civic vitality of Southern California. When he joined the firm in 1966, he ushered in the third generation of the family business. Over a 50-year career, his body of work spanned commercial facilities, academic institutions, spiritual spaces, and community buildings, many featuring engaging plazas and public art. David’s final project with the firm was Wilshire Grand Center, a 75-story hotel and office complex in the heart of downtown Los Angeles that incorporates all of the qualities he values in an architectural experience—inspiring, imaginative, creative, functional, has a spirit, and is both a good place to work and an exciting place to play.

His drawings and watercolors have been exhibited throughout the United States, including “On Site: Travel Sketches by Architects” at Hunter College, “line.dot-Drawing the Design Process at the Martin Design Studio” at UCLA, and “Form Follows Software: A Revolution in the Architectural Process” at USC, University of Arizona, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. 

David is a member of the Board of Councilors of the USC School of Architecture and a member of ArtCenter College of Design’s Board of Trustees. He is a past president of the Southern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and a former board member of AIA California and the Los Angeles Conservancy. David and his business partner and cousin, Christopher C. Martin, FAIA, received the AIA Los Angeles Chapter’s Gold Medal of Honor for their major contributions to the built environment in the City of Los Angeles. He was inducted into the USC Alumni Hall of Fame in 2019.

He is the author of Legacy, which traces the history of AC Martin’s third generation through his eyes, and Joy Ride, a chronicle of his travels through Mexico.

He holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Southern California (USC) and a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University. While at Columbia, he spent four months on a traveling fellowship researching the great urban spaces of the world.

Mary Klaus Martin was appointed by Mayor Richard Riordan to the Cultural Heritage Commission for the City of Los Angeles in 2000; she served seven years and three mayors, half of those as president. In 2008, The American Institute of Architects presented her with the “Good Government Award” honoring her commitment to preserve and protect the city’s cultural and historic landmarks. Under her Commission’s watch, the city’s Historic Core underwent a major revitalization.

She attended school in Switzerland and earned her Bachelor and Masters in Education and French at the University of Southern California. A two-time All-American triathlete, Mary qualified for TEAM USA, representing the United States and placed third at the Inaugural World Champion Triathlon in Avignon, France.

After serving as a Docent for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), she became a Charter Founder for the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) where she recently (2015) was elected as trustee to its board. She has worked in support of the Music Center, the Public Library, the Kennedy Center, and the Colleagues.

Mary founded the Los Angeles apparel company Mary Martin for Rainbow of California and was named “Outstanding Woman of the Year.” Mary along with her husband, have established MADWORKSHOP, a foundation that endows the next generation of inventors with the opportunity to freely explore their ideas from inspiration to reality.

Sharon S. Takeda is the Senior Curator and Department Head of Costume & Textiles, and Japanese Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). She joined the curatorial staff in 1987 after receiving her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and concluding two years of postgraduate work in Japan under the auspices of the Japanese Ministry of Education. Her exhibitions at LACMA include “Reigning Men: Fashion in Menswear, 1715-2015” (LACMA 2016, Saint Louis Art Museum 2017, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney 2018); “African Textiles and Adornment: Selections from the Marcel and Zaira Mis Collection” (2015); “Kimono for a Modern Age” (2014); “RODARTE: Fra Angelico Collection” (2011); “African Inspiration: Kuba Textiles and European Modernism” (2010-2012);” Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700-1915” (LACMA 2010-2011, Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin 2012, Les Arts Décoratifs Paris 2012-2013); “Five Centuries of Indonesian Textiles: Selections from the Mary Hunt Kahlenberg Collection” (2008-2009); “Breaking the Mode: Contemporary Fashion from the Permanent Collection” (2006-2007, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence 2007-2008); “Miracles and Mischief: Noh and Kyōgen Theater in Japan” (2002); “Japonism in Fashion: The Influence of Japan on Western Dress” (1998); “The Fabric of Life: Japanese Folk Textiles” (1995); and “When Art Became Fashion: Kosode in Edo-Period Japan” (1992-1993), which won seven national awards, including the American Association of Museums’ Fifth Annual Curators’ Committee Exhibit Competition. The Costume Society of America awarded the Richard Martin Award for Excellence in the Exhibition of Costume to “Reigning Men” and “Miracles and Mischief.” Two of Takeda’s exhibition catalogues won the Millia Davenport Publication Award from the Costume Society of America. Additional publications include “Japanese Fishermen’s Coats from Awaji Island” for the UCLA Fowler Museum and contributions to ”Moriguchi Kunihiko: Yuzen/Design, Crossroads of Creativity” for The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto; “Edo: Art in Japan 1615-1868” for the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.; “The Dictionary of Art,” “Encyclopedia of Contemporary Japan,” and numerous articles in American, Japanese, and Spanish journals and magazines. Takeda was a visiting professor in the Department of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA (2000-03), is an advisor to the Medieval Japanese Studies Institute in Kyoto, and currently serves on the Directing Council of the Centre International d’Etude des Textiles Anciens (CIETA), an organization for professional textile historians based in Lyon, France.

Karen Hofmann is the president and chief executive officer of ArtCenter College of Design. When she assumed the presidency on July 1, 2022, she captured several culturally significant milestones—she is the first woman, the first alumna, and the first ArtCenter provost to hold the position.

In her role as the College’s chief academic officer, she led academic leadership on a process to envision the “Future of Education 2030,” to reimagine how ArtCenter prepares the next generation of creative leaders. She championed a strategic agenda with a focus on access, affordability, and inclusion, taking an omnichannel approach to delivering art and design education, and developing a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Action Plan to help broaden access to ArtCenter’s offerings. And she expanded the College’s exhibitions programming, further solidifying Pasadena as a must-stop destination for anybody interested in experiencing art and design.

Karen served as chair of ArtCenter’s Product Design department and has taught at the College since 2002. During that time she developed the DesignStormä collaborative design sprint project model. She spent the earlier part of her career engaged in advanced design and research at Johnson Controls Automotive Systems Group.

She graduated from ArtCenter in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Product Design, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from California State University, Northridge in 1990.

Edie Cohen, in her long-time association with Interior Design magazine, is a contributing editor writing for both its print publication and website. Edie established the magazine’s first West Coast office when she moved to Los Angeles in 1994. She is a frequent panelist and speaker and has written several books: West Coast Rooms and Dining by Design with Sherman Emery. She served as editorial director and writer, along with David Martin, of Legacy, published by ORO Editions. Currently, she is working on another book project with David, chronicling the story of the Arroyo Bridge Section on its journey from the USC classroom to exhibition in the Giardini della Marinaressa during Venice’s Art and Architecture Biennale. Recently, she has been spending time living in Italy, perfecting her Italian.

Regarded as one of our most acclaimed industrial designers, Swedish-born Carl Gustav Magnusson has left his indelible mark on a wide range of products, including those for Teknion, Knoll, and MoMA.

After groundbreaking work with Ray and Charles Eames in Venice, CA, and opening his first studio in the 1960s, Carl forged a career of over three decades with Knoll, serving as Director of Design in Europe and North America.   His designs remain best-sellers to this day, including his computer monitor arm system (MAST) for Teknion and MoMA’s classic IVY umbrella, co-designed with his wife Emanuela Frattini.  During his Knoll tenure, Carl also initiated the Knoll Design Symposium at Cranbrook Academy of the Arts in Bloomfield Hills and co-founded the Knoll Museum in East Greenville, PA—considered the most comprehensive collection of archival items assembled by any single furniture manufacturer.  He is currently a board member of the Henry Bertoia Foundation.

A sought-after lecturer and competition judge, Carl’s guiding philosophy is that “innovation is a unique combination of existing ideas.” Since its inception in 2005, his firm CGM Designs has won over 50 awards for designs ranging from furniture and textiles to race cars, and a humanitarian project known as the micra-ambulance that can navigate narrow passageways in congested streets.

“As a lifelong devotee of design, it is a pleasure to be a member of the MADWORKSHOP Advisory Board. Its mission to act as a catalyst for new minds and their ideas is most appealing. The Foundation’s initial projects, as diverse as they are, are very promising and the ability to design, prototype and critique under one roof is inspirational. I look forward to contributing to its future and success.” -Carl Magnusson

Barbara Heizer is an advisor to artists, publications, and private collectors. 

 

She began her work in publishing as managing editor of the literary and art journal Grand Street, coordinating the repositioning of the seminal publication. Heizer later served as features director of Harper’s Bazaar, producing stories that showcased collaborations between major artists and the publication, as well as overseeing coverage on art, books, film, architecture, and celebrities.

 

As executive editor of ONE: Design Matters, she participated in the development of the cross-media venture featuring the world of design. Heizer co-designed Govino wine glass products which received awards from Good Design, Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design, and from the International Design Excellence Award, Industrial Designers Society of America.

 

She co-edited “Michael Heizer: Sculpture in Reverse,” published by The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles in addition to working on other Michael Heizer projects for 20 years.

R. Scott Mitchell is the owner/principal of Gigante AG, a Los Angeles design-build and fabrication consulting firm. He has worked for Gehry Partners, Morphosis, Bestor Architecture and Atelier Van Lieshout. Early in his career, he worked as both a laboratory instrument maker and structural fabricator. His work has appeared in Metropolis, Dezeen, Fast Company, Wired, Architectural Record, Interior Design, and Designboom. He was the co-editor of the book Give Me Shelter: Architecture Takes on the Homeless Crisis, published by ORO Editions in 2018. Scott was a research resident at Autodesk’s Technology Center in Boston, and has exhibited at the European Cultural Center in Venice, High Desert Test Sites, Vox Populi Gallery, and Socrates Sculpture Park. Since 2007, he has been teaching digital fabrication and design at the USC School of Architecture. He is on the advisory board of 826LA, a children’s educational non-profit.

John Uniack is Creative Director of MADWORKSHOP. He brings to the position over 50 years of experience in architecture, industrial design, and the visual arts.  Early in his career, John was involved in the design and fabrication of prototypes for Pacific Bell, Max Factor and Marantz Electronics. John studied at ArtCenter College of Design and went on to serve as owner and principal of UNIACK, a commercial photography studio. After ten years as a photographer and business owner, he returned to college to study architecture.  Upon receipt of his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the USC School of Architecture, John joined AC Martin, where he contributed as a planner and urban designer for eighteen years prior to joining MADWORKSHOP. John’s experience includes teaching a very popular furniture design course at the USC School of Architecture.

Gail Larkin has been a long-time curator of style and a fashion tastemaker. Gail moved to France after completing her studies at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in San Francisco. She successfully launched several interior design and lifestyle stores in the French Basque Country. Gail then sold her stores and moved back to the US where she became Buyer for Fred Segal’s Santa Monica location and then a personal shopper at Barneys NY. Gail went on to launch a unique styling company called VIP Closet Consultants. Her clients included some of the most fashion-forward women in Los Angeles, in addition to numerous entertainment entities. Gail has been profiled in C magazine, The Los Angeles Times, and Angeleno magazine for her personalized approach to fashion.

Gail eventually moved on from fashion and worked closely with the Founder of Boxfli, a unique retail concept, to launch and operate the store’s flagship location. Gail’s passion for entrepreneurship has led her to her most recent endeavor, designing vintage pillows through her Lark Design brand.

Gail serves as Estate Manager for Cielo and manages the Martin Project.

Jennifer Duclett has a 40-year history in architectural business development, assisting both Los Angeles-based and national firms in securing project commissions over the course of her career. These firms have included SOM, AC Martin, Dworsky Associates (now Cannon Design), Perkins&Will, and others. 

Her affinity for writing has brought opportunities to help architects successfully pursue FAIA designations and design awards, and refine manuscripts.

In the early 1980s, Jennifer attended the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies (IAUS) in Manhattan. This immersive experience provided her a new perspective on architectural education and practice, and the profession’s responsibility to society and nature. She earned a Bachelor of Architectural Studies degree from Scripps College in 1984. 

Jennifer’s interest in desert life led her to become a certified botany volunteer with the State of California. Her activities in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in San Diego County include conducting plant tours, eradicating invasive species, and cataloging specimens in the Park’s herbarium.