Episode Description

This episode of Beyond the Surface features Jen Park, award-winning architect, educator, and co-founder and principal of ParkFowler Plus. Recognized with the AIA Chicago Dubin Family Young Architect Award in 2019 and the AIA National Young Architects Award in 2021, Jen has built a career defined by both design excellence and leadership. Alongside her professional work, she is a professor and coordinator of the second-year undergraduate studio at Illinois Institute of Technology and an active leader in advancing equity and inclusion within the field.

Jen’s story begins in the Midwest, where she grew up in Wisconsin after her parents immigrated from Korea. Raised in a tight-knit family while navigating environments where she often stood out, she developed a resilience and self-awareness that continues to shape her approach today. Her interest in architecture emerged from curiosity, eventually leading her to New York for her education. This experience sparked a desire to continue exploring different cities, later taking her to the West Coast for graduate school.

“Every time I learned something, whether you want to call it a failure or not, I would take that experience, harness it, and grow from there.

Central to Jen’s perspective is the idea that growth comes from experience, not perfection: “Every time I learned something, whether you want to call it a failure or not, I would take that experience, harness it, and grow from there.” Her early career spanned multiple regions, including New York and Virginia, before she ultimately established roots in Chicago. Along the way, Jen intentionally sought out diverse experiences, using each role as an opportunity to refine her voice and clarify her long-term goal of starting her own practice. That vision came to fruition with ParkFowler Plus, where her work reflects a balance of design rigor, collaboration, and purpose. Across all aspects of her life, as an architect, educator, and mother, she approaches each role with care and intention.

“Diversity breeds creativity. The greater diversity you have, the greater perspectives that you have at the table, the more creative output you will have.”

At the core of her work is a belief in the power of diversity to shape better outcomes in design and beyond. “Diversity breeds creativity,” she explains. “The greater diversity you have, the greater perspectives that you have at the table, the more creative output you will have.” Jen’s journey highlights how openness to change, commitment to growth, and investment in others can expand not only a career, but the impact of the work itself.