FCC alumnus explores the possibilities and designs his future
Kiel Famellos-Schmidt helps design a cooperative coffee village in El Eden, Nicaragua.
As co-founder and partner of Spacio Design Studio, Fresno City College alumnus Kiel Famellos-Schmidt uses his architectural training to show clients that design matters. “It has a value,” he said. “It’s not just aesthetics. It also has a functionality aspect.”
Kiel, an urban designer working toward his architecture license, was raised in Fresno’s Tower District before attending Fresno City College. Although he always had a strong interest in architecture, before settling on a major, Kiel said he “tested the waters” to see if he was making the right decision.
At FCC, he took classes in philosophy, writing, anthropology, and even archery. “I liked being able to pick and choose what really interested me,” he said. “It was a time to try things out. The experience helped me determine that I really wanted to do architecture.”
“Exploration is important.”– Kiel Famellos-Schmidt
With a solid educational foundation in place, Kiel transferred to the University of California, Berkeley where he earned his bachelor’s degree in architecture. After graduation, he joined Public Architecture, a non-profit think tank based in San Francisco, and worked on design projects around the world. Assignments included a cooperative coffee farm in Nicaragua and an orphanage in Sri Lanka. While he was a long way from home, he was surprised at how familiar it felt.
“There were a lot of conditions in these Third World countries that reminded me of Fresno—cultural issues, homelessness, agriculture, poverty—and I was feeling like my energy wasn’t focused,” Kiel said. “So I wanted to come back here and help, because I have roots in Fresno and I feel like I can make long-term connections. I can focus my energy to achieve some measurable results.”
Kiel and his wife moved back to Fresno. He found work at a local architecture and engineering firm, and even taught architecture classes at his alma mater, Fresno City College. He also created Archop.org, a blog dedicated to exploring and improving the built environment of the San Joaquin Valley. But, when he was laid off last year, Kiel took the opportunity to form his own firm with a few former colleagues.
The new company, Spacio Design Studio, is a boutique architecture and design firm with offices Fresno and Los Angeles. Their work includes anything from space planning to urban revitalization, but it is all based on contextual design that engages the community.
“It’s easy to do what you’ve already seen and what people are familiar with,” Kiel said. “The weight, I think, is on the designer to really explore what a client needs, rather than just what they’re asking for. Because there might be something that can better represent the client—aesthetically, functionally, and even economically.”
For a recent project involving ACEL Fresno, a charter high school based in Downtown Fresno, Kiel took a unique approach to planning the school’s use of space.
“Rather than talking only to the upper level administration at the school,” Kiel said, “we also held design workshops with the students and teachers—talking to the people who are in the space from day to day,” Kiel said.
The primary benefit of these workshops is a sense of pride and ownership among those who spend time in the finished space. “Even if a student’s suggestion was already planned the final design,” Kiel said, “the fact that they are engaged—and see their suggestion in the final product—means they feel a little more connected to it and empowered.”
Kiel’s time at Fresno City College is continually reflected in his career and life.
“Exploration is important,” he said. “And not getting stuck behind one idea. I was able to look around and experience other things [at Fresno City College] before committing to architecture as the best course of action. And I still practice that today. I don’t just settle on one idea. I’ll explore it. Both in design and in making decisions, you want to look at things from more than one angle.”
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