GSD student Danny Forster was selected as the new (?) host of The Discovery Channel's Extreme Engineering, for his uncanny ability to "explain architecture to the average viewer." chronicle
The Architect Sketch
By ANNE K. WALTERS
He could have been writing his master's thesis, but instead Danny Forster was climbing to the top of the Arizona Cardinals' new stadium and mugging for the cameras. Mr. Forster, an architecture graduate student at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design, was on the job as the new host of the Discovery Channel show Extreme Engineering, which takes a look at marvels of modern design.
Last spring Mr. Forster was procrastinating on his thesis when he heard about the show's search for a host and submitted an audition tape on a whim. A few weeks later, he had the job and was taking a semester off to travel to construction sites around the globe.
The show had already aired for two seasons, with an off-camera, anonymous narrator, and Discovery wanted a new tone. Mr. Forster adds a human touch. As he follows construction workers on the stadium's roof high above the Arizona desert, viewers learn he is afraid of heights.
Though his knowledge of the subject was a plus, Mr. Forster's ability to explain architecture to the average viewer was even more important, says Julian P. Hobbs, a producer with the Discovery Channel.
Ratings for the show, which appears on Wednesdays at 8 p.m., will determine whether Mr. Forster keeps his job. No matter what happens to the show, the ability to explain design techniques to a broad audience will serve him well in the profession. "In the end, clients are not other architects," says Mr. Forster, who is back at Harvard completing his degree.
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Stay tuned here on Archinect for our interview with Danny...
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