Bio: 

I graduated cum laude from Norwich University in May of 2010 and hold a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies. I was also commissioned into the Vermont Army National Guard that same day. Shortly after commissioning and graduating, I attended the United States Army flight school in Fort Rucker, Alabama. After 13 months, I graduated in the top tier of my class and then in the spring of 2012, I attended the Medical Service Officer Basic Course in San Antonio Texas. I returned to Vermont and began my Masters of Architecture degree at Norwich University in the fall of 2012, I graduated in May 2013 Summa Cum Laude. I maintain employment by the Vermont Guard as a commissioned officer and pilot. Since February 2014 I have been working as an architectural designer at the Bread Loaf Corporation in Middlebury, Vermont.

Design Beliefs:

Throughout my five years in architecture school, many of my professors have posed the question “what is architecture”? From my early perspective, this was the single most important problem I could answer and that coming to a distinctive conclusion would propel me into the future and into being a great designer. Recently, I have determined that the entire premise of that question is wrong and has thwarted progress in the architecture industry.  To me, the question should be “what can architecture do”? By making this shift in paradigm, I believe architects will design better products. The thinking is not limited to making better products, but rather, better experiences with the built environment. 

Design should serve a purpose.

There should be a strong emphasis on performance and the purpose of the design. In architecture this rule becomes extremely pertinent. Buildings should never be primarily about looks but rather about how they perform; the form of any product should be derived from the function it holds. This belief is common in nature and should be used as a model for designers by placing emphasis on structural and environmental performances. This sometimes means that designers need to put aside their personal wishes, tastes, or current building trends in order to enhance the efficiency of the design. 

Designing with rigorous constraints yields better products.

One of my favorite examples of this is when Dr Suess’ editor challenged the writer to only produce a book using only six words. These constraints led Dr Suess to produce one of the most successful children’s books of all time, Green eggs and Ham. This holds true in many fields, but particularly in design. Designers should not think about how projects are impossible due to the constraints of the requirements but rather in the opportunities that the constraints are affording.  This takes much of the designer out of the process, as they become an editor of constraints.

Material science is a must.

Louis Kahn once stated; “consider the momentous event in architecture when the wall parted and the column became”. Neri Oxman expanded on that quote; “to me the wall and the column are the same thing, it’s just how materials distribute themselves”.  Designers need to continue to progress this thinking and expand the materials that we build objects with, allowing materials to have multiple purposes. In architecture, this may mean that that structure of the building doesn’t just support the skin but that the structure is the skin; the structure is the conduit for building systems.