Archinect - The Architectural Venn Diagram

Qatar: A Tasting Menu of Doha

2017-01-29T17:09:00-05:00

Qatar: Doha - Day 1: December 23, 2016

Over the holidays, I embarked on a three week trip with my sisters that took us to Qatar, Oman and Sri Lanka. The next few posts will cover the architecture, culture and highlights of the trip.

Our first stop in Doha, Qatar was actually a strategically planned full day layover on the way from New York City to Oman. We landed in the city of Doha at 7 am and our connecting flight departed at 7 pm. In the few hours we had, we did a brief tasting menu of the various sites Doha had to offer. This allowed us to take advantage of Qatar Airline’s free Doha City Tour. Tourists with layovers are given the option of either a free day visa allowing tourists access to the city with the tour group ONLY or a $27 visa allowing passengers to explore the city on their own. The tour lasts about two and a half hours on a large bus and stops at the Dhow Harbor, Katara Cultural Centre, the Pearl-Qatar, and Souq Waqif. We opted to purchase a day visa so we could extend...

Tokyo Drift - 17 Hours in Japan

2013-06-17T12:22:00-04:00

In the last entry, Beijing Rising - Of Walls and Walkways, I introduced my summer fellowship and the groundwork and research of Beijing that I have so far compiled. In this entry, I give a brief snapshot of a quick layover I had on my way to China.

Arriving in Tokyo at 23:00 on a Saturday night, my good friend and roommate of two years in St. Louis, Ryunoshin (Dew) Hirai, picked me up at Haneda airport. Dew is a Tokyo native and one of the most talented and driven designers I have ever met. You can check out his website here He currently works in the office of Klein Dytham Architecture. Our 17 hours together was non-stop and relentless as he gave me the most enjoyable and thorough whirlwind experience of his impressive city.

In typical Dew fashion, he whipped up this awesome mapping of our tour.

There was little time for sketching, and at the pace we went I did more observing with my own eyes than my camera. From the food, to the architecture offices, high profile buildings...

Beijing Rising - Of Walls and Walkways

2013-06-13T13:25:00-04:00

This past spring I was honored and deeply grateful to be named the 2013 graduate level recipient of the Steedman Summer Traveling Fellowship.

Awarded annually to two students of architecture, in Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis (one graduate student one undergraduate student), the fellowship supports summer travel and investigation of an architectural topic of the student's choosing. Recipients are selected by the Steedman Fellowship Governing Committee on the basis of their proposed study outline, portfolio of work, and academic achievement, and must present their research to the student body in the fall.

I am spending the summer in China to investigate, document, and research traditional Chinese urban communities. Focusing specifically on the Hutongs in Beijing and the Longtangs of Shanghai, my analysis revolves around the complex tension between these neighborhoods and the current state of Chinese development.

For the month of ...

Spain: of Pilgrim Paths and Galician Granite

2013-02-08T16:16:00-05:00

"Any reader who has come with me so far through the Iberian Peninsula should be prepared for a pilgrimage across northern Spain to the sanctuary at Santiago de Compostela, the finest journey in Spain and one of the two or three best in the world. It is a twofold pilgrimage to a long-dead form of art and to a living religious shrine."
James Michener, Iberia

Last June, my father and I cycled 803 kilometers across Northwestern Spain along the Camino de Santiago from Madrid to Finisterre.

Several months ago, I documented the first phase of the journey from Madrid to Sahgün, the much less known 320 km route that runs north over the Guadarrama Mountains and over the Spanish plains and mesas of Castilla. This entry tells the remaining story of our journey from Sahagún, the confluence between the ruta Madrd into the most popular and traditional route of the pilgrimage, el Camino Francés, to Santiago de Compostella and Cabo Finistere.

Part II of Camino de Santiago Installment...

Barcelona: Architecture of the Old and the New

2012-10-24T04:49:00-04:00

In the previous post on Barcelona I introduced El Gòtic, the heart of Barcelona’s old city, and Las Ramblas, the city wall turned promenade. A bike ride through the neighborhoods of Barceloneta, Vila Olímpica and Sant Martí introduced some of the more recent architectural constructs of last few decades. Now I follow the expansion of the city beyond El Gòtic, and the architecture of the old and new Barcelona.

The next phase of Barcelona’s expansion was El Raval, located to the left of Las Ramblas. The Roman core of Barcelona expanded into the Gothic quarters it further expanded to engulf El Raval, at which point a new city wall was built to incorporate El Raval.

Antoni Gaudí: Palau Güell
Located in El Raval this residential palace was designed by Antoni Gaudí for the Catalan tycoon Eusebi Güell. The same tycoon who commissioned the housing district of what would later become the Park Güell.

Passeig de Gràcia
Prior to the 1800’s the Passeig de Gràcia, known as Camí de Jesús (...

Barcelona: Sensuous City

2012-10-09T01:55:00-04:00

After a semester abroad in the cool quiet blue of Helsinki and an exhilarating journey across Eastern Europe, I begin my summer semester with WUSTL's Sam Fox School in the colorful loud vibrant Barcelona as Alexander embarks on his cycling pilgrimage to the Camino de Santiago with his father.

The entry is punctuated with excerpts from my Barcelona summer seminar project entitled: A Quixotic City. It is an A5 sized book (a.k.a. misalito) describing my experience of Barcelona.

"Sandwiched somewhere between the sky and the earth you find Barcelona. A sensuous city nestled in a dimple of the Serra de Collserola ridge, between the mouths of the Llobregat and Besòs rivers, and perched on the coast of the Balearic Sea. I inhabit a point in this plane dubbed District 1, Obradores 9°. From this point, lines radiate outwards tracing a personal journey throughout the city of Barcelona."
- excerpt from A Quixotic City

View of El Gotic and Barcelonetta from Montjuïc

Being so replete...

Spain: of Roman Roads and Castle Kingdoms

2012-09-21T02:13:00-04:00

After finishing our journey south through Eastern Europe, Jennifer and I parted ways. While she remained in Barcelona to partake in a summer studio with WUSTL’s Sam Fox School, I ventured on to reunite with my father to cycle the Camino de Santiago across Northwestern Spain from Madrid to Finisterre, the westernmost point of continental Europe and the sacred point once thought to be the end of the world before the discovery of the Americas.

Part I of Camino de Santiago Installment, Madrid to Sahagún

In a nutshell:

803 Kilometers.
498 Miles.
187 Spanish towns and just as many churches
67 Kilometers a day
15 Castles
6 Distinct regional landscapes and cultures
5 Major Spanish cities
3 Mountain Ranges
2 Flat Tires
1 Absolutely profound experience

The Way to Santiago

The Camino to Santiago de Compostella is one of the most famous and ancient pilgrimages in western civilization. Going by way along various routes of the historic Camino de...

Digestion of a Cultural Tasting Menu

2012-07-23T00:37:00-04:00

Eastern Europe in a Wink, Conclusions

It is difficult to absorb the intense, non-stop nature of the trip we had just completed. Every day was jammed with as much as we could see. The loose itinerary we left for ourselves was liberating, but it took a lot of focused, on the spot planning to make it efficient. The short timeframe required the majority of our traveling to happen overnight. We were constantly tired, but the wanderlust kept us going all the same.

In this sense, it is only fitting that the last day of our trip was a brief and exhausted encounter with the Italian Port city of Trieste. As our overnight bus arrived into the terminal from Split, we took our stiff and tired bodies into the sleepy early morning streets in search of a good place to sketch and some cappuccinos. In a few hours, we would hop on a flight to Barcelona (and encounter the biggest asshole of a cab driver), where our adventure would continue at a more relaxed pace.

Sketching is something that ...

Croatia: of Old Walls and Red Roofs

2012-07-16T22:23:00-04:00

Eastern Europe in a Wink, Part IV

Riding high on the heels of our eye opening experience in Serbia, we continued our journey by bus down through the dramatic mountains of Bosnia into Croatia.

COUNTRYSIDE

By the end of the exhaustive 16 hour passage (packed, hot, and no leg room) the sparkling blue Adriatic Sea opened before us, and we spent the last 2 hours captivated by this picturesque Mediterranean landscape. The road hugged tightly to the steep winding hillsides high above the sea and dropped straight into the waters below. Along the way every few kilometers below the road were small idyllic villages of white walls and red roofs that occupied every sheltered harbor. The timeless towns were as much an integrated natural element of the landscape as the thousands of white boulders and knob-bly trees that littered the Dalmation coast.

Typical Croatian town tucked into the hillside below.
The Dalmatian Coast is sheltered by thousands of islands that run parallel up the c...

Serbia: Scars of Modern Conflict and Diplomacy in the White City

2012-07-07T21:38:00-04:00

Eastern Europe in a Wink, Part III

Continuing our 10-day gambol through Eastern Europe, we jumped on a last minute opportunity to fly to Serbia.

Our initial interest in coming to Serbia stemmed from a friendship we formed with Uros Kostic, a native of Belgrade also studying abroad in Aalto University. He was part of the Wood Program a very special design-build studio that designed a contemporary smoke sauna to be located on the property of Alvar Aalto’s experimental summer house in Muuratsalo, Finland. It looked like a fantastic experience and we were envious them.

Scars of Modern Conflict and Diplomacy in the White City
Officially the Republic of Serbia, the country is located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, a desirable and strategic location at the top of the Balkan Peninsula. This, coupled with a region struggling to come to terms with each other’s autonomous identities and sovereignties, has cast Serbia into much conflict. It was in this count...

Poland: of Harvest, Death, and Perseverance

2012-07-05T21:14:00-04:00

Eastern Europe in a Wink, Part II

After our short flirtation with the Estonians, the two of us set forth to continue our hopscotch south through Eastern Europe.This seemingly aimless pouncing resulted from a combination of our curiosities, contacts, and ability to take advantage of Europe’s many discount airlines.

Of Harvest, Death, and Perseverance

With a population of over 38 million, Poland is the European Union’s largest post-communist member. The country gained its independence just before the 1920’s, only to have its youthful aspirations and optimism crushed with the invasion of the Germans in 1939. Indeed, Poland’s hinge location between Western and Eastern Europe has served itself for better and for worse throughout the ages. In medieval times its location provided a pivotal anchor point for the salt trades, a time without refrigeration, when salt was deemed as valuable as gold. It was Poland’s proximity to Germany and central location that the Germans strategical...

Estonia: Eastern Europe in a Wink

2012-06-19T06:05:00-04:00

As the country of the midnight sun finally lives up to its name we depart Helsinki with fond memories. With 10 days to get from Helsinki to Barcelona, Spain the whirlwind tour of Eastern Europe begins with a 3 hour ferry ride across the Baltic Sea.

TALLINN, ESTONIA (May 25, 2012)
The immediate impression of Tallinn, especially coming from Helsinki, was a feeling of a long history. Where Helsinki is a relatively young city, established in 1550, Tallinn’s history stretches as far back as 5000 years. However, there has been a long history between the Estonians and the Finns as they are both descendants of the Baltic Finns.

A view of the Stenbock House from the base of the Toompea hill. It is the seat of the Estonian Government.

Located at a strategic point between Russia and Scandinavia, the history of Tallinn is riddled with struggles for independence. There is a very strong Soviet presence that manifests in streets of Tallinn. The struggle culminated on February 24th, 1918...

Finland West: The Sacred and The Profane

2012-06-12T16:16:00-04:00

Following the excursion to the northern Arctic Circle, and to the eastern Lakelands of Finland, the semester in Helsinki was capped with a final tour through western Finland.

In just two days we visited multiple chapels and cemeteries such as Erik Bryggman’s Resurrection Chapel, and Reima Pietila’s Kaleva Church. One of the largest highlights of the trip was Alvar Aalto’s famous Villa Mairea. Jari Jetsonen, the husband of our history professor Sirkkaliisa Jetsonen, took the reins on this journey.

In western Finland, Tampere and Turku are the third and fifth largest cities in Finland respectively with a long and rich history. Tampere was once the center of the Finnish industry. Turku was the capital of Finland before that title was moved to Helsinki in 1812. It remains the oldest city and was designated as the European Capital of Culture in 2011.

Villa Mairea.
The most highly anticipated building of the trip was the Villa Mairea. It was designed by Alvar Aalto in t...

Vappu: Celebrating the Sun

2012-05-05T17:18:00-04:00

A few posts ago we spoke of Helsinki’s spring awakening. One week ago, however, we experienced Finland’s Spring Explosion.Explosive street life at the steps of Senate Cathedral

We speak of May Day, the traditional spring festival celebrated across northern and central Europe. Internationally it is known as worker’s day or labor day, but that just barely scratches the surface. In Finland, it is known as Vappu, and it is much more than this. It is the Finn’s very own carnival - a day when kings behave as if they were fools and fools as if they were kings. There is much more lore to all of this, but when everything boils down, it is two fantastic days for commemorating the coming of spring, and the much desired sun.

Although the unofficial celebrations for Vappu started roughly a month ago with several university students (identifiable by their overalls with colors that designate their schools), the official ceremony begins on Vappu Eve, or April 30, where tens of thousands of pe...

LAKELANDS: Finland East

2012-05-04T20:00:00-04:00

In addition to our personal travels, our semester program includes three architectural study tours throughout the diverse regions of Finland. A few months ago, we reported on our excursion to the Arctic Circle.

Here, we present to you our adventure through the deep woods of Finland’s eastern Lakelands, led by our history professor Sirkkaliisa Jetsonen, an accomplished author of Finnish architecture, and a celebrated expert on all things Alvar Aalto.

Two weeks ago, the eight of us crammed into a van with Sirkkalissa and set forth on our non-stop 3-day adventure

The Finnish Lake District is a hilly, forest-covered landscape dominated by beautiful eskers and sinuous drumlins. The innumerable lakes, about 55,000 of them, (there is no Finnish consensus as to what constitutes a lake, so there are nearly 200,000 if you count those narrower than 200 meters), were long ago carved out by glaciers and make up about 25% of the landscape. It is a remote area with low population density, ...

Helsinki Under Construction

2012-04-26T15:44:00-04:00

The last time we touched base about Helsinki it was early April, and we found ourselves caught in the middle of a tug-of-war between sun and snow. It seems, and we must stress with fingers crossed, it seems, that good weather is here to stay, and that Spring has overcome. Almost all the snow has melted and the frozen harbors have opened up, adding a beautiful addition of reflected, rippling light to the city. Though the days are still chilly, the sun doesn’t set until after 9pm, and the city is alive like we have never seen before. Indeed, the Finns have come out of hibernation and brought with them their street café tables and idiosyncratic sense of style. With each day we get 5 additional minutes of light, and after a long, dark, and snowy winter, people just can’t get enough of it, including ourselves. Now that we are through cataloguing our exhaustive spring break tour, we have a lot to share with you about what’s going on and what we are doing in Finland. Here you have it:Pan...

Oslo

2012-04-23T20:00:00-04:00

Part III of Spring Break installment

For the final leg of our adventure west of Finland, we journeyed up to Oslo, the capital city of Norway. Hopping on an overnight ferry out of Copenhagen, we cut our way up into the choppy North Sea and awoke in the early morning to watch Norwegian Fjords pass and Oslo’s harbor rise into the horizon.

Just off the ferry: our immediate view upon arrival.

Slightly over the population of Helsinki (and slightly under the latitude), Oslo was founded nearly one thousand years ago. Indeed, the city is a blend of old and new, and what distinguishes Oslo from all the other Nordic towns we have visited thus far is the topography; its buildings and grid are comfortably nested into the surrounding hillsides that tumble down into the ocean. Though Helsinki does have significant topography, it is not as severe.
Holmenkollen Ski Jump designed by JDS Architects (Formerly PLOT with Bjarke Ingalls) It was the recipient for the Norwegian Steel Construction Pri...

Malmö

2012-04-12T19:31:00-04:00

Part II of Spring Break installment

Just 15 miles beyond the windmills of Copenhagen’s shore we have Malmö, a Swedish city that has boldly rebranded and reconceptualized itself over the past decade.

Malmö skyline from atop the ferry as we leave Copenhagen for Oslo. This panorama was taken with a telephoto lens; Calatrava's Turning Torso tower is normally the only structure visible from Copenhagen.

Once home to one of the most prominent shipyards in Europe and the iconic Kockums Crane, the industry went bankrupt in the 1990’s and Malmö saw its economic lifeline and identity slipping. The city has since made a conscious decision to transform itself from an industrial city into a city for people, students, culture, and new high tech business.

Through an aggressive agenda of phased investments in infrastructure, transportation, new housing, old housing, museums, universities, libraries, and business centers, and strict energy policies, Malmö is now a city of 300,000 (the third...

København

2012-04-08T18:47:00-04:00

Part I of Spring Break installment

København

Back in March, the two of us ventured back across the Baltic to visit our warmer Nordic neighbors to the west. This is the first installment of three entries covering our spring break adventure.

The iconic windmills of Copenhagen

Much like Finland has bits and pieces of Russian influence in its culture, one can sense the very same in Denmark in its relation to Dutch culture: loose morals, Dutch gables and pediments, pastel colors, and canals. Denmark is the only Nordic country with a geographical connection to the rest of Europe. A cultural bridge of sorts.

Caught between the Royal Gardens the Royal Library and the Danish Jewish Museum
Landmark Spire of Christianshavn

A city of spires, windmills, bicycles, the Danish Crown, hippy communities, and some of the most bold and optimistic new architecture and development either of us have seen, Copenhagen is at once as old as it is new. Cosmopolitan in every sense, in few other ...

The Tall Office Building Efficiently Considered

2012-04-06T20:01:00-04:00

Much has happened, and it seemed, for a fleeting moment, spring was here to stay in Helsinki; we found ourselves with consecutive days of sunshine, blue skies, melting snow, thawing sea ice, and the clocks jumping forward one hour.

Then on April 1, like a sick joke, we got 4 more inches of snow. No Finns seemed too
shocked about it. We even got more snow today, though it seems the sun is finally
winning the battle. Our understanding is that this back and forth can very well go on
into early May. At least we don’t have to wear hats.

Things are very very busy. Here is the next installment.

The Tall Office Building Efficiently Considered

As an ongoing component of building and firm visits for our Building Technologies class, yesterday we went to the Kone Headquarters outside of Helsinki for a fascinating meeting with Johannes De Jong, Head of Technology at Kone.

Kone is one of the world leaders in escalators and elevators. They operate around
the world and work with ...

Designing a Place to Sit

2012-03-15T17:03:00-04:00

Hello, Archinect!

In our last chair post, Prototyping a Place to Sit, we created molds and laminated foam core prototype shells of a variety of Finish wood case study chairs. Taking in our new understandings of ergonomics, profiles, seat dimensions, and discussions of comfort, aesthetics, and form of these and other Nordic chairs, we move forward into our own designs.

Designing at 1:1 offers new advantages in that one can test ideas immediately at the full scale and not lose the details in a scaled down model. It is an amazing realization that every single centimeter (yes, we are on the metric system here) needs to be impeccably articulated, and that with the slightest alteration of a curvature or bend, the entire nature or attitude of the chair can change.

We have been simultaneously thinking about the legs: what material, the connection, the joint, and the form. The Finnish attitude is that while the legs are obviously as a fundamental ingredient, they serve are ...

Sights, Sounds, and Observations: Volume 1

2012-03-11T11:33:00-04:00

As we experience Finland and Helsinki we continue to catalog and document the plethora of details, nuances, and findings that cross our path. We hope to share these findings with you.

Here you have it, our first installment of an ongoing series:

Sights, Sounds, and Observations.

Enjoy, and please share your thoughts!

Aalto's signature plaque: Rovaniemi City Library

Aalto's signature plaque: Maison Aho

the "HANDSHAKE OF THE BUILDING" - Juhani Pallasmaa

Aalto: Maison Aho

Alvar Aalto Door Handle 1952-1957
The single door handle was originally designed for the National Pensions Institute in Helsinki. The double door handle was first designed for the Rautatalo (Iron House) office building located in Helsinki. Aalto’s handles could be stacked at varying levels to accommodate various heights.

Aalto: National Pensions Building

Juhani Pallasmaa's handshake: Korundi Art Museum in Rovaniemi

Dipoli Center by Re...

Prototyping a Place to Sit

2012-02-23T11:58:00-05:00

In our last chair post, Digitizing a Place to Sit, we showed you our initial process of digitizing our 4 Finnish bent wood case-study chairs (we have since uploaded a video to better demonstrate the process).

We now take our measured drawings to produce a 1:1 prototype of the shells in accordance with Finnish practice.

Taking the initial point cloud measurements in rhino, we clean up the files and surface the curve networks into a digital model. We then cut 25mm sections through the chair profiles and wire cut each section on 25mm foam.

After laminating the foam profiles to create a mold, we sand down the edges to produce the proper curvature. Bent wood veneer is easily imitated by striping one face of foam core and gluing two pieces together at the stripped side. It is a two-person job, but the curvature holds almost immediately after adhesive is applied.

In the final step, we trim the ends and sides to size, and cut out the cymized detail at the corner...

DEEP NORTH: Light, Snow, and Alvar Aalto

2012-02-22T18:47:00-05:00

Rovaniemi: Home to the arctic circle, Santa Claus, reindeer, world class skiers, and of course, a wealth of Alvar Aalto works.

Excursion

As our colleagues Brian and Brownyn of the Red Herring mentioned in an earlier post, we traveled to the northern Finnish City of Rovaniemi for a study tour. This is the first component of what will be three excursions throughout Finland: the North (Lapland), the East, and ultimately the West.

This was not your typical whirlwind of an architecture tour; the spirit of the excursion remained true to the nature of Lapland – relaxed, restful, and an escape from the schedule-obsessed pace of the city.

A twelve hour night train sweeps us out of Helsinki, through the forests and up the coast into Lapland. By early morning we arrive, where we are greeted by Matti Rautiola, Rovaniemi native, our studio professor, and guide for the weekend.

Fortunately (and unfortunately) we arrive on a particularly warm (by arctic standards) and snowy weeke...

Digitizing A Place To Sit

2012-02-16T11:24:00-05:00

Of the four classes we are taking in Helsinki, one of them is Furniture Design with Julie Scheu. A product designer, Julie is also in the process of obtaining her masters degree at TaiK, the industrial, fashion, interior, and furniture design department at the Aalto University in Arabia.

The course goals of the semester is to design and build a 1:1 scale prototype of a bent plywood production chair for use in a public space. Before we begin our individual designs, we are engaging in a short exercise to familiarize ourselves with the process of measuring, casting molds, and prototype modeling bent lamination. We are divided into 4 groups of two and are assigned 4 Finnish bent plywood chairs. There are no current digital drawings or models that exist of these chairs. In addition to studying the chairs for our understanding of how to create a casting mold, we are also contributing to a future publication that documents particular aspects of bent plywood lamination.

Kari 3 ...

Welcome to Hel

2012-02-11T21:37:00-05:00

(January 20-30, Orientation)

Here we are.
Its cold, its dark, and its snowy.

These are the immediate subjective impressions, all of which we knew were coming.

We arrive early morning by sea, with less than a few hours of sleep on the ferry. Tired, hungover, and wanderlust, we force ourselves up from the depths of our C-Class cabin (located below the car storage) to the ship’s bow to watch the passing of countless islands as Helsinki harbor emerges through the misty horizon.

With literally no time to rest, orientation begins within a few hours of arrival.
Under the close guidance of our program director/Associate Dean of the Sam Fox School, Peter MacKeith, we began with an intensive weeklong orientation of all things culturally, socially, politically architecturally and linguistically Finnish.

As not to exhaust you with every single detail, here is a quick breakdown of our week:

• Numerous architectural tours around the city
• History lessons on Helsinki City ...

Stockholm

2012-02-08T19:13:00-05:00

JANUARY 20-21, 2012

It is time to begin our Spring Adventure abroad in Helsinki. We go by way of Stockholm for two days, unite with two friends, and carry on to Finland.

Both of us were working internships in New York City over our winter break, and on the evening of January 19th we flew with high anticipation on a red eye out of Newark Airport on SAS Airlines.

After landing in Arlanda International Airport outside of Stockholm, neither of us had slept a wink on the plane; somewhere over Greenland we were lucky enough to witness the Aurora Borealis. It was greenish in color and looked at times like a ribbon with its lights streaming upwards. This particular haze of light fluttered slowly across the sky for about 2 hours before it faded out.

After checking into our hostel and meeting up with two of our colleagues also partaking in the semester, (Brian and Bronwyn) we were ridden with anticipation and did not want to waste a moment of our two days in Stockholm. So... ti...

Subjective Principles

2012-01-27T05:08:00-05:00

Architecture is subjectively founded on principles. The key word is subjectively.

In school, in practice, and in life, we as architects attempt to make sense of, digest, and argue subjective principles as an attempt to find a greater meaning to shaping space. Whether it is our peers, our professors, non-architects, family, or historical characters, there is a constant urge to validate or improve our profession by the avocation of principles.

Our response? Embrace it, learn from it, argue against it, disagree with it, but do not reject it. If one takes too severe a stance he or she will never reach full potential. To paraphrase the Director of our Graduate Program, Kathryn Dean, “architecture is a game of constraints: be it clients, budget, materials, location, zoning, or time it is about creative solutions within constraints.”

We live in one of the most exciting times to be alive. Never before has the world been so explorable and had the ability to communicate and chang...