The College of Architecture and Design will welcome archimania’s Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer Barry Yoakum, FAIA (’78) to address graduates during the college’s commencement ceremony on Thursday, May 16. 

For nearly three decades, Yoakum and his team of archimaniacs have served Memphis, Tennessee and the nation in designing authentic spaces. The firm’s projects include Conservation Hall at the historic Governor’s mansion in Nashville, the James D. Eason Transplant Institute at Methodist University Hospital, and the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art with Pritzker prize laureates Herzog & de Meuron as Design Consultant. Their work has earned archimania the title of the state’s most award-winning firm. 

His journey to the profession began in a third-grade class when his teacher found him stacking milk cartons to build a house during his class’s nap time. She suggested to Yoakum that he become an architect, and from that day forward, he considered no other career path. 

While spending summer vacations and short trips in Knoxville with his extended family, Yoakum became familiar with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His late uncle, Ray, instilled a love for the Big Orange into him, and ultimately helped Yoakum become a Volunteer himself. 

In 1974, after finishing high school, Yoakum was working at a gas station to support his muscle car hobby. His future was altered when the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) imposed an embargo on the United States, impacting the nation’s petroleum access and tripling the price of oil. The embargo left an impact on him as he traveled across the state to UT, where he began his architectural pursuits. 

Yoakum began considering energy in new ways, simultaneously, UT was contemplating the same. 

“At the time, the College of Architecture and Design had faculty who were informed by the work taking place at the Tennessee Valley Authority and Oak Ridge National Laboratory,” he said. “The program had the early beginnings of sustainable design, which wasn’t something I initially planned to pursue.” 

Yoakum began to approach architecture by doing more with less. After graduating in four and a half years, Yoakum took his architectural knowledge back home to Memphis, where he joined archimania with founder, Todd Walker. With their staff, the pair began producing high design and high-performance projects on a budget. 

In 2018, Yoakum and his wife, Kathy, traveled to the 2018 AIA Conference in New York. The pair were at an award ceremony for the committee on the environment (COTE) when they heard about a challenge they couldn’t walk away from. 

“They said ‘we need people from the middle of the country creating excellent sustainable design.’ Kathy and I looked at each other and we both were like ‘let’s do it,’” he said. 

Two and a half years later, Yoakum and his archimaniacs designed and built his current home, Civitas, the first zero energy and zero carbon building in the world to achieve ILFI certification as well as LEED Platinum for Homes certification.  

The building is one of the first projects to meet the AIA’s 2030 Commitment, an actionable climate strategy that sets standards and goals for reaching net zero emissions in the built environment. Three years later, COTE awarded Civitas as a Top Ten winner. 

In 2023, Barry and Kathy established the Yoakum Zero Carbon Scholarship Endowment in the College of Architecture and Design. The award supports students who focus on design that elevates economic, environmental, and cultural development of both high design and high-performance integrations to reconcile humanity’s relationship with the national environment. 

In addition to his practice, Yoakum has served as an author, educator, juror, mentor, speaker and community board member. 

For more information about the college’s commencement ceremony and parking and security information, visit the commencement website.