In light of my recent ‘Design Manifesto’ interview with Modelo, I’ve returned to the manifestos I studied as a college student, and I remember the excitement it generated in me as a young architect. The writings were brimming with possibility, and the future that lie ahead only need be forged. I recall the certainty I felt about how I would change the world; it’s easy to feel this way as an academic, particularly as a young student. When the realities of entering the workforc

A couple months ago we were asked to be the feature of a Ford commercial. We have the final product here! Check it out. #Architecture #community #style #residential #oakland #Theory #Design #Improvisation #Collaboration

We have been working for some time on the MacArthur Annex project which is now under construction. It is a mixed-use container project that acts as an open architectural framework for a local community. The occupants will range from artists and craftsmen to professionals and small businesses. Included in the mix are a local coffee shop and a new beer garden brought to you by Farm League Design & Management Group, the team who recently launched Drake’s Dealership in Uptown Oak

In the beginning of 2015, there was a great deal of talk about architecture in ‘crisis’, and I found it simultaneously fascinating and ridiculous. Fascinating because it was interesting that mainstream media was talking about it, but ridiculous because the idea that architecture is ‘dead’ or at least dying has been around for a long time, and yet we’re still here making architecture. The material I’m referring to has been circulating around the web through outlets like Forbes

I haven’t provided any recent project updates, but we have a lot under construction and even more being designed. Below are some highlights from the field. Helen Street, Oakland: New project in Dogtown with a low volume that morphs around its site, connecting  a patchwork of interior and exterior spaces into a singular form. Harmon Street, Berkeley: One of my favorite upcoming projects, this house bends itself to maximize light and minimize bulk to the neighbors. Angular spac

The foundation of adaptable characteristics are present in most people at a young age. For a child it is difficult to understand that it is possible to simultaneously care for the self and for others. Because a child is dependent on others for survival, the needs of others may be made primary in order to receive sustenance from them. The boundary between self and other is then blurred, trapping the child into perpetually attempting to become the person or people they are depe

Style in architecture is useless as a design tool. It is a formula usually derived from a kit of parts which are applied (like make-up, or cake icing) to any problem regardless of context or external content. On the other hand, process is methodological. It is something integral and less surface oriented both physically and intellectually. Often, particularly in residential design, a style consists of elements that are added to the front face of the exterior of a box (and som

The last couple of Fridays at the studio we’ve been engaging in design sessions to further explore and manifest ‘adaptability’ as both a process and product of architectural thinking. To focus this, we looked explicitly at ‘the window’ and asked: what could new unique expressions of a window beyond its immediately perceivable utility as a perforation between ‘interior’ and ‘exterior’ look like? Could it serve a more dynamic interface to some other use, another role, another e