In this episode of The State of Inquiry, host Yaël Ksander brings together architect and sustainability expert Christopher Reinhart and multidisciplinary designer Max Fertik for a conversation about how design shapes the way we live with the world around us. From high-performance buildings and global sustainability standards to experimental materials and community-driven design, they explore how architecture and art respond to environmental challenges at every scale. The discussion highlights how creative practice, research, and teaching at Indiana University are helping reimagine a more sustainable and resourceful future.
Christopher Reinhart is an architect and educator who has implemented sustainability across a range of scales – at the hyper-local scale of teaching owner-builders to build their own homes of earth and straw, and at the large and mega-project scale of facilitating sustainability certifications for projects with budgets up to four billion dollars. He is a Udall Scholar, a Byron Fellow, a winner of the Solar Decathlon Design Challenge, and the recipient of the ARCC Kind Medal for architectural research, and he has presented about his work at many conferences, including Greenbuild, Living Future, NetZeroBuild and TEDxBloomington. Chris is a Lecturer in the Eskenazi School’s Miller Architecture Program, where he teaches energy and environmental systems, design studio, and professional practice, and serves as the program’s Licensing Advisor.
Max Fertik is a multidisciplinary artist, designer and educator whose work flows between the various languages of function and the material ecologies of the postindustrial age. Max attended Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) as well as Trinity College (CT) and is a Lecturer in Comprehensive Design at the Eskenazi School. Max has exhibited domestically and abroad, and his work with invasive species was shown at the 2023 Venice Design Biennial and most recently at the 2025 Aichi Triennial. As a design educator, he focuses on local, community-centered design and resourceful, innovative material use.
Yaël Ksander is director of communications and marketing for the Indiana University Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design. Previously, she served as director of communications and the mayor's spokesperson for the City of Bloomington, Indiana. Yaël is a regular host, producer, and narrator at Indiana Public Media and serves on the board of the Lotus Education and Arts Foundation.