Why did you choose to attend the University of Virginia?

Visiting the Grounds in March of my senior year of high school made a strong impression. Seeing the Lawn for the first time on a sunny, seventy-degree day (in contrast to the long gray winter still underway in upstate New York where I grew up), while watching students play Frisbee, was a compelling experience.

How did you become interested in architecture?

I was first exposed to architecture through a close family friend who was an architect in New York City. About once a year my family would spend the weekend with him, his wife and son at their second home (which he designed), a Breuer-like box which cantilevered off a stone plinth in the Connecticut woods. Perhaps this inspired me to write a very short story, “I am an Architect,” which was published in Inkspots, the elementary school newspaper, when I was in first grade. Immediately thereafter, I received a letter with a job offer (“work to commence 1985”) from the parent of a classmate who was a partner at a local architecture firm. He became a mentor, and I worked several summers for his firm when I was in college.  

What do you miss the most about Charlottesville?

From the sublime to the ridiculous: the Lawn and the Gus Burger at The White Spot. 

What is the most exciting or interesting project you've worked on?

This is always the project I am presently working on! But recent projects that come to mind range from our research and design associated with climate change adaptation for rising sea levels in New York City to the restoration of Donald Judd’s studio and house in Manhattan to a recently completed boat pavilion on the Hudson River in Beacon, New York. 

What have you learned that surprised you?

This is in no way surprising, but I am conscious of how much I have to learn.