Why did you study Architecture?
I have always loved stories, whether fairytales, fiction, or histories. The physical world, particularly the city, is the setting for great stories to which I’d like to give form. One of my favorite quotes about architecture is an excerpt from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities: “Cities also believe they are the work of the mind or of chance, but neither the one nor the other suffices to hold up their walls. You take delight not in a city's seven or seventy wonders, but in the answer it gives to a question of yours… or the question it asks you, forcing you to answer, like Thebes through the mouth of the Sphinx.” Studying architecture is about learning the secrets behind the city, what “holds up their walls”, where people go, and why.
My architect hero?
Carlo Scarpa! I love the way that he played with light and created delightfully insane details. Hopefully someday I’ll be able to visit Verona and see the Castelvecchio Museum in person.
My two favorite buildings?
Hospital de Sant Pau by Lluís Domènech i Montaner in Barcelona, Spain
La Tourette by Le Corbusier in Éveux, France
Your Favorite Foods?
Suyukash - a lamb-based Uyghur soup with tomatoes, vinegar, and handmade square noodles.
Top songs on my mp3 player?
Belle and Sebastian : “God Help the Girl”; Earth, Wind & Fire : “September”; Icona Pop : “I Love It"; Susan Boyle; "Make Me Channel of Your Peace"; Hamilton Cast: "Dear Theodosia"
If I could live inside a work of art, I would choose…
Wassily Kandinsky’s Composition IX
Secret ambition?
I’d like to write books someday, preferably history, biographies, sci-fi, or maybe children’s books.
Favorite San Diego experience?
Visiting the Hotel Del Coronado on Coronado Island: where my parents got married!
What’s next?
I plan on applying to graduate school
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