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Evelyn Lee

Practice of Architecture: German Aparicio on building what doesn't exist yet

Published 28 days ago • 1 min read

2026

Hello Reader,

My kids were debating whether I build things. Not whether I’m an architect, they already know that part. Whether I actually build.

I asked them what they thought building meant. Buildings, they said. Houses. Things you can walk into. I tried to push them, what about systems, what about the way a process gets put together. My eight-year-old looked at me and said, “I don’t get it.”

I sat with that. Because honestly, the profession hasn’t done a great job of naming the answer either. We have a clear picture of architects who design buildings, and a much fuzzier one of architects who do the other work, the systems work, the building of the things that decide what gets built and how.

That fuzziness is the question this week’s episode walks straight into. German Aparicio is a licensed architect who now leads early innovation and partner development at Trimble Ventures, sitting at the intersection of architecture, software, and venture capital. He traces his path from a fifth-grade dream of becoming an architect to building the frameworks now reshaping the AECO industry from inside venture capital. He didn’t wait for the profession to name what he was doing. He went and built.

🎧 Episode 234: Build the Future You Want: A Builder’s Path with German Aparicio​

If the question of who counts as a builder, and where innovation actually comes from in this industry, is one that has been sitting with you, this is the final week to register for Innovation in the Built Environment at the University of Michigan's Taubman College. I have been working with the Taubman team on this one. Registration link is below.

What is your firm building right now that doesn't look like a building?

Keep learning and growing,

Evelyn M Lee, FAIA | NOMA

Founder, Practice of Architecture

Host, Practice Disrupted & Fractional COO

/// Brought to you by U of M /// Code: SAVE 400

/// PoA Podcast - Practice Disrupted ///

Build the Future You Want: A Builder’s Path with German Aparicio

As the lead for early innovation and partner development at Trimble Ventures, German shares his journey from a fifth-grade dream of becoming an architect to building the frameworks that are now reshaping the AECO (Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operations) industry.

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Evelyn Lee

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