Keywords: Planning, Hand Drawing, Ube Ice Cream, and Shooting the Hooch…
From Skevanston to Georgia, Colorado and back! This week we sat down with Teska’s newest planning associate, Andrew Dunham to connect on his path to planning, travels, and local roots. Having grown up in West Ridge, Rogers Park, Andy is no stranger to the area. He attended Evanston Township High School before heading to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to pursue planning, then on to Georgia Tech where he honed his Masters in Urban Design. Alongside his passion for planning and placemaking is an appreciation for a diversity of flavors, destinations, and experiences. From a fondness of ube-flavored ice cream and old buildings, to tubing the Chattahoochee River in Georgia… catching up with Andy was breezy, easy and fun! Point in case why we are thrilled to welcome him to Team Teska. Read on!
Q: What is your advice for planning students curious about the profession?
A: Cast a wide net! Be sure to test out different types of planning to find out what you like. Keep an open mind and research a variety of applications of planning. In hindsight, I would have taken a year post-college to work somewhere prior to going to grad school, it would have helped me better know where I could apply my planning skills.
"Keep an open mind and research a variety of applications of planning..."
Q: If you were caught in a zombie apocalypse and could only bring three things related to planning what would they be and why?
1. Magic lamp with a genie. I need wishes.
2. Self-charging electric bike since gas would be a limited resource; I’d bike south long term…
3. Baseball bat, I don’t think I am good with other weapons but I did little league.
Q: What was your path to planning?
I had a very non-linear path to where I am now.; I knew I wanted to do “planning” generally, but finding the proper setting and scope of work was challenging. After taking an architecture course in high school that introduced me to Revit, I went on to volunteer with Ross Barney and Active Transportation Alliance, then to the University of Illinois where I declared planning as my major in undergrad. I then got very interested in urban design and pivoted that way in Grad School.
It’s rare for high schoolers to know what “planning” is. I was very lucky to have had access to and the opportunity to do architecture coursework in high school which helped lead me down this path. A number of really great mentors further strengthened my focus; Kai Tarum, an adjunct professor at UIUC, and professors Mike Dobbins and Perry Yang at Georgia Tech.
"I was very lucky to have had access to and the opportunity to do architecture coursework in high school which helped lead me down this path..."
Q: If planning were an ice cream flavor what would it be and why?
Ube! I grew up having it at Skokie’s Village Creamery. While not a super well-known flavor… (the planning profession of ice cream flavors)... people should know more about it because (1) it’s great… and (2) knowing about it would make their life more fun and flavorful.
Ube (pronounced ooh-beh) is a purple yam from the Philippines with a mild, sweet flavor. The taste has been described as slightly nutty, or as a cross between vanilla and pistachio. It is frequently incorporated into desserts in Filipino cuisine with ube ice cream being one of the most popular preparations.
Q: True or false, you were on TV eating a pizza puff?
A: True! I was once in a news segment on pizza puffs. My mom wanted to go to a hotdog place before moving to Arizona so we swung into Byron’s on Lawrence Avenue in Chicago. Turns out PBS was there and asked to shoot some footage. I ate the whole puff in silence and was featured in a PBS special at 25 years young.
Q: What is an old-school tool you like to use?
Hand drawing has been something I’ve liked to do since I was a kid in 4th-grade art class. I didn’t have a ton of time for it in college but took a class in grad school and picked it back up. Whenever I draw, I try to add a mom and child walking together and someone with a kite. I also include people on bicycles, but this is considerably more difficult to draw so I avoid those details whenever possible..
Q: This or That?
Fall or summer: Fall
Morning person or night person: Morning
Roadtrip or airplane: Airplane 100%
Camping or glamping: Camping (to an extent … less than 3-days)
Dog or cat: Rabbit
Podcast or book: Podcast…unless it’s reading municipal code!
Mullet or mohawk: Mullet, it’s the duality of man; business and party
Q: Anything you miss about the south having attended Georgia Tech?
A: Not the pollen. But I loved the mountains, canyons, state parks, tubing the Chattahoochee; aka shooting the Hooch. Growing up, I spent a lot of time in South Carolina and really love the climate. Atlanta hip-hop is elite, too.
"I loved the mountains, canyons, state parks, tubing the Chattahoochee; aka shooting the Hooch..."
Q: Any hobbies?
A: Collecting little wooden hand-painted turtle bobbleheads; I have about 22. They’re a nice little trinket to add to any room. Flat surface, boom.
Q: Work style preference?
A: I prefer help and oversight while getting started on a project, but enjoy the freedom to take something and run with it.
Q: Why Teska?
A: I love the focus of projects – community ownership, scope of work, complexity. There is such a wide range of locales, projects, and needs in the Chicago area that you get to apply a bit of everything - art, writing, outreach, etc. to the work we do.
