About Me
I began my journey through life in Milwaukee Wisconsin, growing up in a vibrant historic neighborhood known as the lower east side. I attended University School of Milwaukee, a K-12 college prep school, from kindergarten through my high school graduation. On graduation day in May of 2002 I received a paperweight with all the names of the “Lifers” inscribed; proving that I and 23 others had achieved our first real educational step in life. Growing up in the Midwest was a great experience, as there are so many people of good nature influencing me every step of the way. Milwaukee is my hometown, but I did a fair amount of traveling in high school.
Growing up obsessed with Legos and Sim City, the first time I realized that I wanted to devote my life to architecture was on a trip to Paris when I was 17. The historically delightful city gave me a completely different look at how cities were built. It made me understand that we do not need to separate our uses…. housing goes here, strip malls go there… and asphalt in between. Little did I know at the time however, of how important cities are to the way we occupy this planet – but that is an entirely different conversation. A few months after my return from Paris, I decided to apply to architecture schools.
I was accepted to the University of Colorado at Boulder, School of Environmental Design, a wonderful forward thinking architecture program set in an incredibly beautiful natural landscape. What more could I ask for? My time in Colorado was one of the best experiences in my life. I met people that inspired me and friends that I will have for the rest of my life. During my first summer break I returned to Milwaukee, and worked for my first architecture firm outside of Chicago, Illinois. I received valuable training and experience within an architecture firm environment, and got paid to learn AutoCAD.. It was a perfect job. During that time however, working on single family homes, I felt that I chose architecture to have more of a positive impact. An impact on the way we live, and the way we consume resources. How can we preserve our way of living without putting pressure on future generations? That is the question sustainability asks.
The next summer, instead of returning to work for a firm, I decided to get real world experience. I went back to Milwaukee, and got a job working for a commercial roofing construction company. It was an excellent experience that bolstered my understanding of architecture and how buildings are put together. At this point I began to understand what I was getting myself into. The complexities of the built environment go way beyond simple insulation with rubber roofing.
Upon returning to school in the fall of 2004, it was at this point that I began to take more intensive architectural history, sustainable design, and architectural theory courses. I was tasked to write a manifesto, only one page in length, and I can definitively say that this was a turning point for me. I wanted to devote my life to historic preservation and sustainable design.
The culmination of that realization came in the form of a study abroad trip to Rome, Italy in the summer of 2005. The hundreds of ancient structures we visited were extremely inspiring and thought provoking, and I would always try to imagine how each place looked in ancient times. In addition to our stay in the Campo De Fiori, we spent two weeks living in Sicily, experiencing what life was like outside of the massive European city. The entire trip was an incredible experience and I cannot wait to return one day.
My final year at the University of Colorado was spent working on a design build project known as the Trailerwrap (www.trailerwrap.net). Upon graduation, I decided to stay in Boulder, and work for the department of parks and recreation at the Boulder Reservoir. Applying my construction knowledge I assisted with the construction and repair of facilities, as well as Lake Patrol duties. In November of 2006 I secured a position at Jeselnick Architecture in Denver Colorado and worked with Paul Jeselnick for a little over eight months. I had taken the year off to work, but I felt I wanted to return to school to receive a graduate degree in architecture.
In the fall of 2007 I moved to Portland, Oregon to begin work on my two year Master’s of Urban Architecture degree at the University of Oregon, Portland Campus. Working in a LEED Gold historic building was inspiring and motivating. As a class we took a trip to Vancouver, British Columbia to see the Utopian future city of podium towers and gain an understanding of the most recent creative approach in city habitation. We also took a trip to San Francisco, California, a city that I fell in love with my first time there. The culmination of my time at the University of Oregon was the production of my thesis project, an adaptive reuse of a historic warehouse complex into a center for the continuation of sustainable technology and design. Based upon a building complex located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin the project represents my interests, aspirations, skills and dedication to sustainable design.
Since graduation from the University of Oregon in June 2009, I have been lucky to find work at two construction companies, even though they only lasted a couple months each. Since then I have created this website, passed the LEED green associate exam, and am actively seeking employment in the architecture field anywhere in the world. In addition, I am spending about 20 hrs a week volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, assisting with the design of two homes in Philomath, Oregon. My determination to work in the field of sustainable design will never fade away, without regard to the status of the world economy.