Scroll through for a sample of my writing work.
The Hip-Hop Architecture Movement
I interviewed the founder of the Urban Arts Collective, his collaborators and colleagues, and the students of his camp in the Los Angeles workshop to tell the story of how he is trying to attract a new generation to the architecture profession. Read the story in Architect magazine, the official publication of the American Institute of Architects.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral Gets an Update Fit for the Pope
St. Patrick’s Cathedral, aka “America’s church,” completed a nine-year renovation just in time for the 2015 papal visit. Read the story in Architect magazine, the official publication of the American Institute of Architects.
Graham Harmon Publishes New Book on Ethics, Aesthetics, and Metaphysics of Love
I interviewed the philosopher credited with founding the metaphysical school of thought called object-oriented ontology, on his new book that draws connections from Heidegger’s tool analysis to Dante’s Inferno. Read about it on the Southern California Institute of Architecture website.
The Main Phases of LA’s Main Museum
The new Main Museum in downtown Los Angeles is a new art experience for the city focused on residency programs for local artists. Read about it on the Southern California Institute of Architecture website.
Louis Poulsen’s First US Showroom Opens in Los Angeles
The 158-year-old lighting brand Louis Poulsen is making a major investment in the U.S. market with its first-ever permanent brick-and-mortar stateside showroom in Los Angeles. Read about it on architizer.com.
Can You Imagine a World Without Architecture?
SCI-Arc produced a new short film that serves as a reminder of the role of architecture in everyday life and begs the question: Can you imagine a world without architecture? Learn more on the Southern California Institute of Architecture website.
SCI-Arc’s EDGE Fiction & Entertainment Tours India to Study Fiction and Technology
Students explore a new approach to placemaking and urbanism through mediums of fiction and entertainment, and techniques from visual storytelling mediums–from film to fiction, advertising to political campaigns, and augmented reality to gaming–to visualize new worlds.
SOM and P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S Propose Transformational Addition to the LA Skyline
LA-based developer City Century filed a project application with the City of Los Angeles’ Department of Planning for a project called Olympia, adjacent to L.A. Live, Staples Center and the Convention Center. Learn more on the Southern California Institute of Architecture website.
Pita + Bloom Install “Signatures” at Princeton University
Conceptually rooted in the interplay between two- and three-dimensional design, architectural designers Pita and Bloom approached the installation as a 3D design challenge that incorporates theories of popular culture, architecture, and notoriety. Learn more on the Southern California Institute of Architecture website.
SCI-Arc Student Union Holds “One for One” Charity on Skid Row
In addition to collecting fruit, nutrition bars, bottled water, and sandwich condiments, the donation period also incorporated an engagement board featuring questions for students to consider; primarily, how do we as architects make a difference in the Skid Row community, now and in the future? Read about it on the Southern California Institute of Architecture website.
SCI-Arc Celebrates the 2016 Design Awards and Powerful: Women in Architecture with AIA|LA
In conjunction with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles and Los Angeles County’s 2nd District, SCI-Arc students and studio faculty Darin Johnstone received a Merit Award in the AIA Los Angeles Chapter 2016 Design Awards. The winning project, IVRV House, is a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom house located outside the City of Inglewood, recently purchased by a US Army Veteran. Learn more at sciarc.edu.
Achilleas Souras Responds to the EU Refugee Crisis with Save Our Souls Installation
Souras’ architectural response to the refugee crisis is an igloo structure constructed of 35 fully functional life vests, Velcro, and six structural poles. The prototype, which was on view during his exhibition at the Barcelona Maritime Museum in Barcelona, was designed with dual purpose: As a practical housing solution for refugee camps, and a symbolic reminder to raise awareness. Learn more at sciarc.edu.
Kaeng Krachan Elephant Shell Park
Zurich design firm Markus Schietsch Architekten crafts a complex, freeform roof for several unusual occupants. My only regret with this story is that I couldn’t interview the users of the space for their unique feedback. Read more from Architect.
Innovative Detail: Pancho Arena
The 3,400-seat Pancho Arena, which hosts league matches and tournament games, maintains the style of the athletic academy’s campus and harmonizes with the natural environment, from the fan vaults that spread like tree branches to the use of timber as the primary building material. Read about it on architectmagazine.com.
Innovative Detail: Wood Innovation Design Centre
The eight-story, 96-foot-tall Wood Innovation and Design Centre (WIDC), designed by Vancouver-based Michael Green Architecture, sits on a concrete raft slab and contains 51,000 square feet of office and educational space. At ground level, a double-height, triple-glazed curtainwall with laminated veneer lumber (LVL) mullions connects an interior sheathed entirely in wood to the street outside. Read about it on architectmagazine.com.
The Auditorium at the University of Queensland
The facility is a hands-on learning site for its students and faculty with classrooms, large-scale manufacturing and civil engineering research labs, and passive design features with real-time monitoring of the AEB’s structural and climate performance. Read about it on architectmagazine.com.
Innovative Detail: Mark Thomas Architects Gives Visitors a Bird’s Eye View of Capetown
To celebrate the centennial anniversary of the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town, South Africa, the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) commissioned a 426-foot-long aerial walkway through the garden’s arboretum. The Kirstenbosch Centenary Tree Canopy Walkway takes visitors 40 feet up, through, and above a forest of approximately 450 indigenous species against the backdrop of Table Mountain’s eastern face. Read more on architectmagazine.com.
Chateau de Versailles’ First Contemporary and Permanent Installation
The shimmering chains of bespoke Swarovski crystals–turned-luminaires are the result of a January 2011 design competition hosted by France’s Public Administration of the Palace, Museum, and State Property Department for Versailles. Paris-based artists and brothers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec won the opportunity with a chandelier design that carries the vernacular of one of the country’s most storied palaces. Read more about it at architectmagazine.com.