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- On Architecture…:
My interest in architecture started when I was young. I remember
playing with the erector set my Dad played with as a child, and building a barn my model horses could call home. Even as a
six year old, I strapped on a tool belt to help my Dad and Grandfather work on the house. The summer after 10th grade, I attended
an architecture program at Auburn University geared for high school students. It was there I finally put it all together.
I actually liked staying up all hours of the day and night in studio with the other students, working out the puzzle pieces
that would become a new building.
- On Sustainability…:
One semester in college, the class assignment was
to create our own version of Utopia. The projects varied; some students master planned a neighborhood, others designed mass
affordable housing. I created a self-sustaining community. One in which the residents collected rain water for drinking, grew
their own food, and powered their dwellings with the sun, wind and water.
In the old days, from cavemen to the early
settlers, the early architects instinctively knew how to work with the land. They knew how to evaluate the angles of the sun,
track the wind patterns, and follow the natural ebb and flow of water in order to locate the building appropriately. They
didn’t fight the elements; they used them to their benefit.
Somewhere in the hype of technology, the profession has
gotten lazy. The mentality now is facing the front of the building toward the heaviest traffic route; don’t open the windows
because the windows haven’t been located to catch the breeze and it will be too hot; double the size of the mechanical units
to compensate for poor building design. It's funny how progress sometimes sets us back instead of propelling us forward.
- On
Design and Construction…:
It is imperative that architects know how to put a building together on paper as well as on the
construction site. My first job after college was with a small architecture firm in Decatur, Georgia that focused on low income
housing. Although the type of work was not very exciting, I spent most days of the week on site learning the current construction
practices from a man (my boss) wielding a bat to make his point with the contractors. I choose not to carry a bat but still
make sure construction is progressing as designed.
- On Project Experience…:
I have worked in several offices
learning many things along the way, but I always wanted to return to my passion for sustainability. I decided to leave the
corporate world and bad architecture behind and work with clients who feel the environment is important, too. There is nothing
like seeing a client be really excited about their new project and it’s nice to know I can create environmentally responsible
architecture and save them money at the same time.
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