In other worlds we meet people who are the same, yet different and still embody all that is human. Food will dance before us, or we hunt and gather, yet it is always at a shared meal where we come together with family and friends. We eat and drink while discussing our days, our disappointments, our dreams, and defeats. We plan, and scheme, and boldly walk away from the table ready to take on the next adventure or retreat to that quiet place where we just sit and contemplate all we just discussed.

Architecture for me is about creating magic, but it is not mine, it’s yours.  We were born gifted at seeing what is not there and somehow, through the years, an architect learns alchemy for our built world. We create the magic that allows you to travel on your adventure. We design those nooks and crannies where children run around, and pitch tents made of sheets and old sleeping bags. We compose layers so the family can be together in a great room yet have their private realm. We map out the space that allows you to gather with food and wine, bread and cheese; where you speak the language you all enjoy and become inspired.

The most exciting part of my work recently has been the introduction of Virtual Reality to my toolbox. We craft spaces that transport our clients into their dreams. They move and look, and see what isn’t there, but will be someday.  Like a dream, the hallucinatory experience is real to my clients in that moment. I no longer have to use adjectives as a way of explaining what I see in my head, while they look at a piece of paper.  The power of my magical abilities is now shared, and my words are directives, look up, do you see……Turn around, see that over there, that is the space you asked for. It is equal to Jake, crossing over to Pandora in the Avatar. We can now sculpt a space, inside, outside, upside down I’m sure, and you can experience it before we build it.  It’s most gratifying when a client allows us the opportunity to transport them into their world, so we can bring into existence their perfect home.

Come spend a little time with us, it will definitely be an adventure.

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When you enter the museum, you travel down from the largest of the glass pyramids. My intention was to transverse through the galleries in the Richelieu wing, which were highlighted by the smaller pyramids, on my way to see Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss, a sculpture by Italian artist Antonio Canova. That first stop upended my entire plan.

With the overhead diffused sunlight streaming down through the pyramids, shadows dancing off the marble, the space alone was stunning.  Add the white marble statues and tears welled up in my eyes; it was literally breathtaking. As an architect of over thirty years, I can now put into words what I could not back then. For me, my brain has always been attracted to the light and shadows on a form; it’s probably the most crucial aspect of the way I see the world that has propelled me into the field of architecture.

Unlike so many developments in the United States, a well-designed space, room, and piece of art has no back, like the sculptures in this room.  You can walk around each piece as I did and marvel at forms and details, almost alive to a point you want to reach out and touch them, yet knowing they are stone.  Without understanding with my brain, but definitely with my intuition and other senses, that day was the day I embraced my calling as an architect.  To be so moved by three-dimensional form solidified my quest for designing spaces that touched the soul, played with light, and provided the end-user with more than they expected. It seems only natural years later that I have continued to look for ways to express what I envision in my mind.  My Movie is my first attempt at playing with form, ideas, and technology to show you what is possible before a shovel ever touches the earth.

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