Dive into the world of architectural design with Levi Brausey, our talented Architectural Designer, as he shares the intricate details of his journey into the field of architecture and his meaningful contributions to CMBA Architects. Join us in this engaging episode as Levi unveils the inspiration behind his design choices, his commitment to innovation, and the collaborative spirit that defines his work. Explore the fascinating intersection of creativity and functionality that Levi brings to every project.
Skyler: Welcome to another episode of laying the foundation
Skyler: and welcome back to another episode of laying the foundation My name is Skylar and we'll be doing another behind the blueprints episode today. I'm here with Levi Levi. Welcome to the show Hello. Hey All right. So Levi, um, we've been doing these behind the blueprint episodes where we kind of like sit down with you guys, uh, the various staff members from all the different branches at CMBA and kind of just talk to them a little bit about what you guys do as architects or designers or whatever the case, um, and you know, what that kind of looks like all around.
Skyler: Yeah. Um, and of course about you specifically, you know, you as a person outside of just, you know, what you do for, uh, for CMBA. So. And with that being said, let's kind of kick things off with that direction. So tell me a little bit about yourself, where you came from. Um, what, where'd you go to school and what, you know, within that, what was it that kind of led you to want to take the path towards architecture and design?
Levi: Yeah, definitely. So I am actually local. I'm a Spencer native, grew up in town, went to high school in town. So I have a lot of family close by. Um, pretty typical family. I'd say I have one sibling, his name is Josh. She is. I'm 25. Oh, okay. A little bit older? Yeah, pretty close in age though. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I have a lot of family close in town.
Levi: Um, my dad's family is actually like local also. And he has a huge family. Oh, okay. He is the 9th out of 10 kids. Oh my gosh. And my mom is the youngest out of 5 kids. Okay. So I was always kind of like the baby in the extended family. Sure, sure. But yeah, so I went to high school in town and then I did my college at South Dakota State.
Levi: Right on. So I actually just graduated in May of 2022.
Skyler: Okay, so you're pretty new. I am. Okay, good. Yep. So I'm pretty new as well, so this all works out. Yeah, definitely. Awesome. Okay, okay. Right on. And what was it like, I mean at what point in your life did you feel like, Architecture was where you wanted to go.
Levi: Yeah. I don't know if it was a one point specifically, but my grandma on my mom's side actually lived in like a land home, kind of like a, like a hobbit Hill, almost built in the middle of the woods. And just looking at that as a kid, no, it was like, it was like a big, like concrete dome built into a Hill.
Levi: And I would just look at that. It was just always like, just piqued my interest. It's like, how is this even a thing? And it was just so cool. I hadn't seen anything like that. Yeah. And then, even like into high school, I took like a lot of shop classes, so I was always making stuff with my hands, and just kind of connecting things, and I was always good at math too.
Levi: Okay. So I guess those two things just kind of combined led me to doing this. And even going into college, I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do, but I just chose and stuck with it. That's how I missed the NBA today.
Skyler: Yeah, no, that makes sense. So one of the common themes that I'm getting from a lot of these interviews is like math is always kind of a key centerpiece to what leads into architecture.
Skyler: Like, I mean, I guess when you have like. People with the creative spirit. And I guess it's the perfect like situation right here. So I also was like pretty, you know, creative and wanted to like make things and be hands on with things and like that. But admittedly, I was not great at math. Yeah. I don't know how the math
Levi: pipeline exactly happens.
Levi: Cause we don't, I don't use math that often. I don't think any of us do too much. Right. It's like, it's pretty like. Straightforward stuff. Yeah, just like beyond dimensions and stuff. Yeah, you don't do any complicated math. You don't really need any complicated math Okay.
Skyler: Okay.
Levi: Yeah, I don't know how exactly that happens, but
Skyler: it definitely is pretty across the board.
Skyler: It's super interesting. Okay. So anyway, yeah Growing up, you know, you kind of had this like desire for the creative element You had the math element and that kind of came together into the the architecture that eventually, you know got you where you are here Yeah. Very cool. Yeah, definitely. Very cool.
Skyler: Okay. Awesome. And then you, so you said you've been with CMBA for, let's see, you said May. And it's, I mean, I guess 10 ish months. Like about 10 ish. Okay. Very cool. Very cool. Awesome. I know like within CMBA we kind of have like our primary three areas that we typically work in, not saying we don't do some other projects outside of that, but you know, K 12 and our healthcare and our higher ed.
Skyler: Um, what is, yeah. Do you feel like you typically like lean towards or kind of fall within? I know, like I said, you know, you're pretty like fresh into all of this. So I guess since this is kind of early on in your, your process and everything, and I'm sure you're still kind of like learning and like getting a feel for some of the different areas.
Skyler: Do you feel like, you know, there might be one area or another that you might kind of feel a little bit of a lean towards?
Levi: You know, I've helped out with projects on all kinds of ends that we've done and even a lot that don't fit into the main, um, project types that we do. Yes. And anytime I get asked this question, I still don't know.
Levi: I think I've had to lean one way between like health and education. I think I would lean education. Okay. Maybe K 12. It's the projects I've helped the most with, I think at this point. So I guess I would lean that way, but I'm definitely not like dismissing health at all. Oh yeah, no,
Skyler: absolutely.
Levi: I could see myself doing anything to be honest.
Skyler: Okay. Very cool. Is there, is there something about The, um, education side that kind of like draws you a little bit towards it.
Levi: I, I think a lot of like the creative spaces and just thinking about how people function in them and like how you get educated and how education is based on like the space that you do it within.
Levi: Right. And you don't get quite as much of that in health. You still do. Oh yeah. Yeah. Like healing spaces obviously and all that, but a lot of it is also like guided by like necessity. Sure. Almost.
Skyler: Yeah. That makes sense.
Levi: And a lot of the education is like you have a little bit of flexibility and freedom and design that you don't Get quite as much of in health in my opinion.
Skyler: Sure. No, that's totally fair. That's totally fair I think everybody's kind of got that, you know that personal preference that they like to lean towards And I mean obviously there's nothing wrong with that So
Levi: yeah, because when it comes to projects I like I like schematic design a lot like being in that phase of like the big ideas and like Kind of making issues and then solving them.
Levi: Yeah, yeah. Well, you have to like, yeah, you have
Skyler: to be able to identify them along the
Levi: way. Yeah, and yeah, just coming up with those big schematic ideas and kind of like laying the foundation of the project. And I think with like K 12 and schools, you get that big, like, what does the school need? What kind of spaces do they want?
Levi: How do they want it to function?
Skyler: Okay. Okay. That makes sense. Yeah. I was going to say that was going to be my follow up question. I guess it was like, if there's like a specific, I don't want to say technique per se, but like, you know, within. Any of them, like if there was some aspect to the design process that you really like.
Skyler: So, yeah. Yeah. Schematic side of things. Yep. Definitely. Very cool. So, out of curiosity, and I know so far, um, what I've heard from a lot of people is that like there is no typical day. Yes. Yep. Which is totally fair. Um, but what, I mean, what is. It look like from like your perspective of like you come in in the in the morning and you're working on different things and different Projects like what does all that look like?
Levi: Yeah, I think a lot of it also depends on like what kind of projects you have going on Okay, like what phases they would be in. Oh, yeah, so sometimes you'll have like, oh I need this This project is in CDs and we need to go out to bid in two weeks. It's like, okay, I'm dedicating my whole day to doing that.
Levi: And sometimes you'll have a bunch of schematic design and conceptual projects that just have just kind of been kicking off. So then you can flip between them and wait till you have ideas on one. And if you think of something, flip back to it. Okay. Totally kind of depends. And then also, like, sometimes you'll have like project meetings.
Levi: So if I have a meeting on a specific project that day, I'll usually do that. Dedicate some time to like hone in on that and focus in on that project It's like I'm gonna get my mind in the zone that it needs to be in to talk about it Okay, sometimes flipping between projects too much. It's like
Skyler: Like trying not to get your ideas all like mixed together. Yeah, I need this space for these kids. Wait a minute. This is a health care And I like what you said about like Having an idea like during the day of like, wait a minute, what about this idea for like something that you're not even working on at the moment?
Skyler: And then you're like, let me jump over there and write that down real quick. Cause that's, yeah, that's cool. That's cool. I like that.
Levi: Yeah. A lot of times ideas kind of bounce between products. Like someone will say something on this product. Oh, that also applies to something else I'm doing.
Skyler: Very cool. Very cool.
Skyler: Okay. That makes sense.
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Skyler: To learn more about our internship program, visit the careers page at cmbaarchitects. com and spend your summer with CMBA. Would you say in the projects that you've worked on so far or been a part of working on or whatever the case Yeah what would you say has been kind of like some of your favorite aspects of it or Even if it's like one project in particular that you were like, oh man, I really love working on this Project for whatever reason.
Skyler: What would that be?
Levi: Um, it's kind of a tough question Um, one of the projects I have liked the most has been like the grandstand in town Oh, it doesn't fit into like what we typically do But I have enjoyed it a lot and it's kind of because I'm it's like it's just me and Adam on the team now So I'm kind of like taking on that leading position doing a lot of that stuff with the project.
Levi: Very cool And yeah, the design has just kind of been Me and him and like the clients also. Okay. And especially since I'm local to town, too. Like the Grandstand was always a building. It's like I've always known it my whole life. So now, yeah, now I get to change it and actually dig into it and see what that kind of, see what happens with that.
Skyler: That's really cool. Yeah, something that you've, yeah, experienced your whole life and now you get to like have a part in.
Levi: Yeah, I'd gone to shows as a kid and stuff and sat in the seats and it's like now I'm actually Looking at it with like a new lens, almost. Sure. Identifying a lot of things
Skyler: about it. Yes, definitely.
Levi: Some things you might not want to know. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Some things that could be upgraded.
Skyler: Yes, absolutely. And now you get to be a part of that and be like, create that experience for, you know, the future for other people that are going to be coming along and being able to sit there and. Experience it in a whole new
Levi: way.
Levi: Yeah, it's definitely a cool loop between doing this in like my hometown and close by. Absolutely. Because even if we do stuff with the schools, like, yep, I went to these schools. Yeah, kids. Like I know exactly what it's like. So that's awesome.
Skyler: Yeah. And I mean, I mean, there's some, there's some experience aspect to that, like bringing in, I used to go here or whatever the case, I'm like, these are things that I.
Skyler: You know, even when I was just sitting there in class, I was like, man, I wish I could change this. I always noticed like,
Levi: man, this sucks about this school. Yeah, exactly. Like now I, yeah.
Skyler: Now I can fix it or I can change it. Very cool. Okay. Okay. Um, this one is kind of a really broad question that I put in here and it could be different from everybody.
Skyler: I know to some extent, like a lot of people might answer it the same way, but what would you say is one of the like key or greatest, you know, aspects to like really great architecture and design? What's something that just really like stands out at least for you or, or that you've seen in your experience?
Levi: Yeah, I think I kind of tie back to what we just talked about and having like the ability to like step into someone else's shoes almost and like know how the space is used. Yeah. So when you design with it, you can keep in mind like, Oh, Hey, these people have this issue. They need this kind of space and just having like the kind of like flexibility to take what they need.
Levi: Yeah. And like mold it into like a functioning design almost yeah Yeah, it's kind of that adaptability that comes with that like they'll come up with a new idea They'll come up with a new need they need to be added into the design and just being able to like Be flexible enough to Adjust and mold that into feel like the final product of what they need,
Skyler: right?
Skyler: Right that like strategy that comes into place of like, you know, this is what they're looking for And this is what they need in their space. Yeah, how do we do that? how do we get there and that kind of harkens back to what you mentioned before about like, you know, the Schematic aspect of it. Yeah, really just like pre planning and getting all that setting setting the plans before, you know Jumping on to other things and making sure that like what they need is like pre planned Prioritized and gotten in there.
Skyler: So,
Levi: yeah. And being able to change. If something comes up along the line, you don't have, don't get locked in too much.
Skyler: Right. Yes. If
Levi: in the middle of the process, say, Oh, actually we need a gym. It's like being able to adjust. Oh yeah. So, okay. That changes things.
Skyler: No, that totally makes sense. That's awesome. Um, for those that might be listening out there and I think you have a really unique perspective on this for those that are out there listening to this episode right now. Um, and there are students in school, whether that be high school or college, and they might be thinking about architecture as a career.
Skyler: Do you have any, like, I want to say insight or any, uh, advice for them as they move forward?
Levi: Yeah, being freshly out of school. One thing that I was always told is being able to use the time as a student to like, take chances, especially with projects. Like, like you don't have many consequences, so you can go off the wall, do, do as unique a design as you can and just use that time and use the faculty because they want to help you.
Levi: So ask questions, engage them in their projects and just like, Don't take the criticism that they give you as like a bad thing, because they want to help you at the end of the day. So just being able to take in what they, what they tell you and kind of use, just use faculty, use the classmates, like use that school setting.
Skyler: Yeah.
Levi: To like just develop as a Someone who designs things.
Skyler: Okay. Very cool. Very cool. Yeah. And then kind of following after that as sort of a plug to some extent for CMBA, what, uh, what's a, what's an aspect about CMBA that you enjoy most about like being able to work here, like at CMBA versus somewhere else per se.
Levi: I think it's got, it's gotta be cliche, but I do want to say the people. Okay. We like to have fun. We do stuff like this podcast. Yeah. We have like the all staff meeting and like office outings and things like that. Yeah. So we like to have fun. We don't always, You know, it's not like, it doesn't feel like an office job so much as a typical like eight to five would.
Levi: Right, right. You don't just come in and sit behind a desk all day and not talk to anyone.
Skyler: Right, yeah. So between like, you know, the collaborative aspect of just like, even within the actual work that we do, like being able to go over and be like, Hey, what about this idea? And like pitch things back and forth.
Skyler: And then like you said, like all the, Kind of fun outside of work stuff that we get to do and things along those lines. Yeah. So yeah, right on, right on. Yeah. Just
Levi: the change of day to day. Yeah. Who knows what you'll be doing next week. I mean,
Skyler: keeps you from having like that monotony of just like, you know, typing in numbers or whatever, you know, all day long.
Skyler: So right on. Awesome. Awesome. Yeah. Well, that's all I've got, you know, today, but, uh, I really appreciate you stopping by and, uh, being on the show with us and everything like that. So, yeah. Thank you for having me. Yeah, absolutely. Uh, if you are interested in listening to more about, uh, laying the Foundations and more of these behind the Blueprint episodes, definitely be sure to check us out on anywhere that you can find podcasts, really Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts, all the big ones, all the small ones.
Skyler: Uh, we're probably there. So, um, of course you can find us on social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Um, you'll be able to see some of the projects that we've worked on, see some of the pictures even that, like Levi, that you've had a, a hand in as well. See some of that stuff, which would be really cool.
Skyler: Um, and also check out our website, CMBAarchitects. com. There, you can see more of the projects that we worked on, worked on in the pictures, as well as if you are an architecture student, or maybe you've just recently graduated and you're looking for a firm to get involved with, uh, definitely go over and fill out an application on the careers page, because we would love to connect with you and hopefully work with you guys.
Skyler: So again, Levi, thank you so much for being on the show. Yeah, thank you. Absolutely. This has been another episode of Laying the Foundation.