Metropolis Digital Optimism Talks logo

Join us every second Tuesday of the month for a dose of optimism with thought-provoking guests who are revolutionizing their fields. Innovators will lead virtual workshops for an hour of discovery, inspiration, and community. Led by editor in chief, Avinash Rajagopal, these workshops will be guided by our audience, where questions are not only welcome but encouraged.

Register Now
natural habitat cold spring home exterior

Metropolis Editors, Natural Habitat, sustainability, sustainable architecture

METROPOLIS Introduces Natural Habitat, a Sustainable Homes Video Series

The series debuts with a tour of a tranquil upstate New York retreat designed with Passive House principles.

Read more

November 2, 2021

Angie Lee Believes Connectivity is the Key to Progress

Pembroke’s vice president and head of interior design, part of Metropolis’s Specify Hot List 2021, talks about developing human-centric spaces as the president-elect of the IIDA International Board of Directors. 

By: Anna Zappia

Angie Lee, vice president and head of interior design at Pembroke and former partner and design director of interiors at FXCollaborative, uses a multifaceted approach to create interiors that have emotional resonance. As the president-elect of the IIDA International Board of Directors, she is set to apply the same balance of technical skill and creative thinking to steering the group’s sustainability and social justice efforts. 

“When you walk into a space that moves you, it’s because the designer was able to channel a profoundly personal point of view that they translated from a client brief into an honest understanding of human-centric values,” Lee says.

She thinks IIDA could similarly translate design from a privilege for a few into a benefit that’s accessible to all. “That kind of impact, that impression on memory that design can accomplish, is something I’ve always strived to do,” she says.

In her design career, for example, she has aimed to create experiences instead of interior looks. It’s an agility that comes from 20 years of honing her craft. “The typology, residential or commercial, the budget—it doesn’t matter as far as I’m concerned. It’s a matter of finding the best possible solution for any built environment.”

Technology & Accelerator Incubator by FXCollaborative. COURTESY CHRIS COOPER

Now that the pandemic has forced a reevaluation of essential spaces, Lee says the workplace in particular will be transformed because expectations have shifted so dramatically. “We’ve spent a year and a half getting familiar with the four walls of our primary residences. When we get back to the office, we want to know that we’re still going to be supported, taken care of, and respected, in ways similar to those we have been experiencing at home.”

Lee is also pondering more than the workplace, however. As the IIDA president-elect (and a mother of two), she wants to bring a wider audience to the table on important conversations about wellness, people, and the planet. “There’s going to be a lot of focus on sustainability,” she notes. “And sustainability has to be democratized. We’re talking about it with a different vocabulary and looking at it through an intersectional lens of race and environmentalism, gender and environmentalism. It’s all interconnected.”

Those connections, together with bonds among design professionals, can have a lasting impact. “Members of the IIDA, nationally and globally, typically find a [community] when they join, and take advantage of that network. I want to foster that connectivity because I feel like that’s the key to not only renewed optimism but making real progress.” 

  • Lobby Interior
    250 Park Avenue lobby COURTESY CHRIS COOPER
  • Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge
    Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge COURTESY FRANK OUDEMAN
  • workplace interior with feature ceiling
    Technology & Accelerator Incubator by FXCollaborative COURTESY CHRIS COOPER

Would you like to comment on this article? Send your thoughts to: [email protected]

Latest

  • Curved metal-roofed modern buildings surrounded by trees, with people walking on stone paths in a suburban neighborhood—a peaceful setting reminiscent of a thoughtfully designed Camp for the Blind.

    Projects

    In North Carolina, an Iconic Park Completes a Community  

    In North Carolina’s fast-growing Research Triangle, Machado Silvetti and OJB transform seven acres into a civic landscape that doubles as public infrastructure, cultural hub, and long-awaited town center.

  • Two people sit and talk at an outdoor table in a courtyard, with trees, shrubs, and a brick building in the background.

    Products

    16 New Releases Doing More by Design

    From tactile surfaces to reworked natural references and systems, these products foreground durability, flexibility, and sensory experience.

  • A large waterfront power plant with three tall chimneys and a rectangular base stands against the cityscape and hills under a cloudy sky, setting an industrial scene reminiscent of installations showcased at 3daysofdesign.

    Viewpoints

    UIA 2026: No Easy Answers in Barcelona

    Rather than offering a unified vision for architecture’s future, the 2026 UIA World Congress embraced contradiction, bringing together diverse voices to debate ecology, technology, craft, and the social role of design.