Explore how full-circle architecture modernizes ancient design principles. Discover how balancing Vitruvius's classic triad of firmness, commodity, and delight with life-cycle assessment creates resilient, deeply sustainable community spaces.
My First Interview That Reconnected Me to the Past
A Daddy Architects Work-Life Blur and My Escape
Renewal is Valuable for Heart and Hometown
There is not a leaf that has fallen without promise. The promise of renewed life and the coming spring. Underlying this is an order that connects all things. Sometimes, architects have a sensitivity toward nature, but it is something that we could all explore further.
Sustainable communities, like the blood and flesh of our own bodies, are made from living parts. Just as the human body regenerates its own cells regularly, it also experiences entropy. In a similar way, we should not forget...
Eureka for George in Seinfeld Episode 181
Could George Costanza’s alter ego, Art Vandelay, have invented the LED light? Jerry Seinfeld added a lot of street-cred to the architecture profession when he decided that his best friend George had always wanted to become an architect, but never made the leap.
Comedians like Jerry are astute observers of reality and the particular quirks carried by our culture. He’s right too! In social settings, when I meet new people and tell them I am an architect, the responses range from, “I always wanted to be an architect”, to “my uncle is an architect”, to “have you ever watched Seinfeld?” Yes, the circle is complete.
Die Hard: 7 Ugly Sins Killing Your Community
American culture has rejected sustainable community development for too long. Even though many of us want make our community stronger, the historic heart of our towns are often weak and perforated - due to the sins of our fathers. Some of us are guilty too! Like a dead whale launched to the beach by a tidal wave, many of our communities' best properties lie broken, abandoned, and steadily decaying. How did things get this way?
Through my work as the staff architect for the Oklahoma Main Street Program, I have come to find resonance inside the bowels of the past. Often far from revitalized, our historic downtowns broadcast your town’s self-concept - just like a neon sign.