As the BSA celebrates the 2021 BSA Design Award winners, we are featuring profiles on individuals who served on the 2021 Design Award juries. The awards recognize remarkable achievements in architecture that serve as inspiration for practitioners, and elevate the potential for the positive impact that architecture has on our quality of life.

Degrees:

BA in Music, Cornell; MArch, Yale School of Architecture

Tell us about your path to architecture and how it has impacted your career.

I have always wanted to be an architect since childhood, though I also love music and studied musicology as an undergraduate. Music and architecture share deep connections around ideas of form, structure, rhythm, and human experience of space and time. Each informs my understanding of the other.

Professional interests / what are you working on now?

I enjoy working on a wide range of project types, and exploring how ideas can cross-fertilize between them. Current projects include: Enterprise Research Campus in Allston (MA), US Embassy in Brasilia (Brazil), Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation at the American Museum of Natural History (NYC), a new theater for the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival (NY), and towers in Toronto, Honolulu, San Francisco, and San Jose.

What interested you in becoming an awards juror?

The opportunity to connect with new colleagues, and to learn about and discuss new and exciting work together.

What expertise are you excited to bring to this role?

Deep experience with housing at multiple scales, and a special interest around how housing interfaces with different architectural types, uses, environments, and cultures.

What do you think is the most important aspect of a successful project?

That it serves its entire community well—from users to the plants and animals that live nearby.

What does “design excellence” mean to you?

It means different things for different projects; ultimately, I believe "design excellence" lies in the ability to establish the right questions and priorities for each project, which can then generate an excellent design response. I believe that "excellent designers" are agile thinkers who avoid polishing a single groove, constantly challenging themselves to evolve in response to our changing world.

Why do Design Awards matter?

Design Awards raise our awareness of each others' efforts, and hopefully provide a forum to elevate new talent and new voices in the profession.

If you could create any Design awards category—realistic or fantastic—what would it be?

Structural Expression.

Have you won any award(s) from the BSA or another establishment? What elements from that project would you like to see shape the future of the profession?

Yes; our Solar Carve (40 Tenth Ave) project has been recognized by the AIANY, ULI, and others, and shows how architecture and zoning can be more responsive to specific environmental conditions to bring benefits to the public realm.

How has design improved your daily life?

Too many ways to answer... great design brings joy to me every day in so many ways!

What is the most effective step you’ve taken in your work toward a more sustainable built environment?

We established a task force—a cross-studio committee of architects and designers—to focus specifically on sustainability. This has allowed us to look critically across our body of work over the last several years, and develop long-term strategies to design for a healthier planet.

What do you see as the largest barrier to equity in the profession and solutions you'd like to see?

There are many, but the educational pipeline is a major concern and a prime area for improvement to bring increase equity in architecture.

What is your favorite Boston-area building or structure?

The Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts and Trinity Church!

If you could collaborate with anyone in the profession, who would it be and why?

Lina Bo Bardi. I am fascinated by her work, especially SESC Pompeia and the way this project brings together new and existing elements to create a beautiful one-of-a-kind place that is beloved and embraced by its community.

What architectural buzzword would you kill?

"Iconic".