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Joyce Owens

Joyce Owens

Joyce Owens, FAIA, RIBA — 2027 AIA President-Elect / 2028 AIA President, and founding principal architect of Architecture Joyce Owens LLC | Studio AJO in Fort Myers, Florida.

Sep 3, 2026

14:37
You know,
14:38
Brian, you come, you know, you mentioned the fact that we live on the coast, right? And we're doing coastal architecture.
14:45
And not only is it we're dealing with our own climate here with the heat and humidity, but we're dealing with the hurricanes, right? Which not only puts us into the building codes, but for me as a custom home designer, puts me into Florida, you know, DEP and FEMA, right? So all those regulations that happen, right? And then each jurisdiction that you go to is different.
15:08
And I know it's sort of a feed the information in, feed it in, feed it in, it'll come out.
15:13
But there's so many different things in Florida in different ways than the rest of the country that will probably be one of the last ones that that you get to, Michael, you know, because it's so site-specific.
15:24
I mean, I didn't even know when I started doing residential architecture, let's say, because I was away in Europe for a long time.
15:33
I probably started doing coastal homes about 15, 16 years ago when I had to learn all of those codes and regulations.
19:42
Do you agree with that perspective? And is there an opportunity with technology and what you're seeing with AI for architects to once again have the ability to add value to the majority of homes that are built in the U.S.?
9:54
What has Florida meant to your career and your leadership journey? You've kind of touched on that somewhat.
9:59
Some of you might may or may not know my story.
10:02
You know, I lived in a couple of places before I got my license.
10:05
And then as soon as I got my license, I did move right back to England.
10:08
It was a great run.
10:09
OK, I had my own business there.
10:11
I immediately got licensed in England as well.

8 MINS LATER

18:34
Which of these issues do you think will have the greatest impact over the next several years? Um...

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