The Beginning….

A place for thoughts - Place des Vosges - Paris

Blogging is new for me and you can only imagine my anxiety in making my first post.  I struggled for some time trying to settle on a theme for my thoughts and finally remembered an occasion this year which enabled me to distill my approach and spirit of my role as an architect over the past 30 plus years.  During a SWAT analysis session this year, the question was put to me to describe my approach to architecture.  Having mostly approached the design process from an intuitive standpoint, it was quite difficult for me to express in a succinct way an answer to this question.  What finally came to the surface was my belief in the inextricable connection of art, architecture, and life which, without exception, influenced and continues to influence the design process for the projects I undertake.  To define it more clearly, it is the human existence and interaction which occurs within and around the buildings and spaces, that is the adrenaline of my passion for what I do.

For several years during the latter part of the 90’s, I traveled to Paris.  For me, the attraction of that city was the street life, both day and night, which was like the life blood of a living organism.  I remember the lovers who paused on a pont to embrace in a loving kiss; the older gentleman (reminding me of Spencer Tracy) who, sitting on a park bench in the Tuileries Gardens during his lunch hour, fed the birds from his hands, reaching periodically into his valise for more seed; the woman (I call her Bilbea) who couched herself in a back corner of a terrace at Café Marly, off the Louvre plaza; and one lone soul sitting on a park bench in Place des Vosges, at one with his thoughts protected from the busy street traffic by the pastoral setting of the park.  From these memories and others, I find the purpose and success of architecture.

In reflecting on the many projects which I have built over the span of my career, I can see how my personal approach to the design of buildings and spaces, was successfully informed by this understanding which excites me in what I do – whether it be a renovation of a single family residence, design of a small mountain hotel, an adaptive re-use for an arts center, a city hall, or a community bandstand situated on the city square.  I can find my imprint in each and every one of these and other projects, and can say with pride that each was, and continues to be successful in fostering salient human needs for interaction and reflection.

In my blogs, I want to talk about art, architecture, and life as a whole – and not separate.  For my experience as an artist, architect, and an engaged individual in life,is that they each influence each other – thus being inextricably interconnected.

I hope you will visit often and will add your comment.

Lovers on the Pont - Paris

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