We are so happy to celebrate Steven Ohlhaber’s one-year anniversary with MWA. Project Manager on our infrastructure team, Steven has gifted us with his humor and hard-working spirit. We are grateful for his contributions to our team and excited to congratulate him on one year! To celebrate this milestone, we asked Steven to share a bit about his life in and outside of MWA.
STEVEN’S REFLECTIONS ON ONE YEAR WITH MWA
What projects are you working on right now?
I am currently busy with various projects, including the McMinnville Water & Light Administration Building, Tualatin Valley Water District Offices, Chapul Farms Food Waste Reclamation Facility, Divert Food Waste Reclamation Facilities, and the Camas PFAS Filtration Facility.
What project phase is your favorite? Why?
Programming and Design – It is interesting to hear about our clients’ businesses, processes, and needs to help them strategically plan and design their facilities.
What’s your favorite thing about working at MWA?
The people.
“Talk about a guy who is a character and also has character. His comedic relief to what can be a stressful field of work is only tempered by how much he cares about the success of his projects. He often steps up to help and clearly demonstrates the value he brings to our office and many projects. We’re lucky to have him.”
– Kelsey Plucar, Designer
How do you maintain work/life balance?
I like walking to work and dedicating Saturdays to be my family and friends’ day.
What do you hope to do more in the next few years?
More personal creative projects and staying active riding my bike and hiking/running with my wife.
What is your next career goal that you would like to tackle?
I’d like to focus on successfully completing my current projects.
When you started your career, why did you want to become an architect?
I liked the blending of design and science.
Is there a particular architect’s work that inspires you? Why?
I visited the Broad Museum (Diller Scofidio + Renfro) in Los Angeles and was really impressed by the sequence of coming into the museum, how it seamlessly supported the experience of viewing the art and how the design fit into the city. I also like MWA’s portfolio of work, which was one reason I joined the firm.
STEVEN’S PASSION PROJECTS
Steven has always been interested in drawing and illustration. At a recent happy hour, he walked us through some selected works ranging from comic illustrations to self-published children’s books to hand-drawn animations.
Holstein is a comic series that Steven based on a relationship between his former roommate and his roommate’s cats. The comics follow Holstein, a man oblivious to the philosophical musings exchanged between his pets, more often than not questioning his human behavior. Steven hilariously comments on the connections that humans have with their pets, which are more one-sided than humans would like to admit. Steven describes creating Holstein as journal entries, ways for him to get ideas down and reflect on life. Hearing him talk about his artistic process and motivation to illustrate brought up questions of why we create and for whom.
What’s Inside, a children’s book (please read to your children at your own discretion) written and illustrated by Steven, tells the story of a young boy who on his birthday is more obsessed with the potential of what his gift could be rather than the actual contents. The story continues to show the boy never opening a gift again, instead hoarding them, still wrapped, wondering what they could possibly be for the rest of his life. Steven created this story at a point in his life when he was reflecting on his own life and potential.
“It is a pleasure to have you part of the team. Your unique background and perspective is helping us evolve our team in a positive direction.”
– Colleen Linn, Project Manager
