Why I Practice Architecture

I practice architecture to explore the ways designed places nurture and inspire human experience. I believe that good buildings go beyond efficient function and beautiful style to frame the elusive mystery of dwelling in this world. Toward this end, architecture, from its overall plan to each detail, becomes an opportunity to re-imagine the meeting points between people and their surroundings, between the human spirit and the earth. Doorways become places to foster the significance of threshold crossing. Passageways offer ways to discover the possibilities of movement through space and time. Rooms establish settings for making one’s place in the world and unfolding creative ways of living.

I practice architecture to find more ecological means of dwelling. As each design choice can foster more significant psychological meaning, it can also become a way to attune human life to nature’s processes of growth and renewal. In this way, architecture can be a vehicle for seeing through preconceptions and limited viewpoints to discover innovative solutions to pressing environmental problems.

I practice architecture to collaborate with others and explore creative possibilities that we could not invent alone. For me, design is a dialogue between all the individuals and forces shaping a given building. To gather with others and see what arises in the space between us is an enriching and inspiring process.

When We Meet to Talk About Your Home

When we meet to talk about remodeling your house, making an addition or building a new one, I would ask you what makes you feel at home. I would listen to what inspires you and hear your stories about the places that resonate deeply. If you showed me pictures of houses you find beautiful, I would invite you to look past surface appearances and notice the qualities of light, the textures of the materials and the shape of the spaces that feel cozy and inspiring. We would discuss how you truly want to live and how your physical surroundings might be designed to align with your deepest needs and expansive dreams. 

To let you know about me, I might describe how I’ve always looked behind the outer form of things to see how they were shaped by the attitudes and ideas of the people who designed them. I would want you to know that I’ve traveled the globe, learning how different cultural beliefs shape the rich array of global architecture. In India, I learned the value of exploring the inner design of the mind through meditation and yoga. Studying world mythology and Jungian archetypes, I deepened my understanding of how consciousness and form influence each other. In architecture school at the University of California at Berkeley, I discovered how to weave the regenerating forces of nature into architecture by doing my masters thesis on the relationship of sunlight and architectural form. For more than 30 years I’ve used this knowledge to help clients achieve their dreams. 

I shared the knowledge I've gained in two books about the relationship between who we are and where we live. THE TEMPLE IN THE HOUSE: Finding the Sacred in Everyday Architecture explores how buildings are outer expressions of inner patterns of thought and feeling. A HOME FOR THE SOUL: A Guide to Dwelling With Spirit and Imagination describes how each room in your home can become a setting for nurturing and inspiring your spirit. For fun I wrote a children’s book called Frankie’s Bau Wau Haus about a dog who designs his own dream house. I’ve authored other books and made a 30-minute documentary film called THE LIVING TEMPLE: A Journey Through World Sacred Places. My work has gained international attention and has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, National Public Radio and numerous other media. I’ve been invited to give lectures and workshops on creating a home for the soul in all parts of the country.

I would hope our conversation inspired you to begin the journey of remodeling your house, or creating a new one, to fulfill your dream of finding a home in the world that is truly your own. I would hope it was the first step in the journey of working together to make that dream a reality.

Some Details About Me

California Architect’s License: C-17095

Education: M. Arch., University of California, Berkeley

PUBLISHED BOOKS

The Temple in the House: Finding the Sacred In Everyday Architecture, (Tarcher/Putnam, 1994)

A Home for the Soul: A Guide to Dwelling with Spirit and Imagination (Clarkson Potter, 1997)

Frankie’s Bau-Wau Haus, Co-authored with Melanie Brown (Rizzoli, 1995)

24 Patterns of Wisdom: Navigating the Challenges and Awakenings of the Human Journey (Ink Monkey Press, 2011)

SELECTED PUBLISHED DESIGN WORK, INTERVIEWS, TOURS

National Public Radio

The Oprah Winfrey Show

Tapestry, Canadian Broadcasting Company

Interior Design Magazine

Home Magazine

Los Angeles Times

Sacramento Bee

Iowa Architect

Detroit Free Press

Metropolis

Successful Restaurants

The Soul of Paris: An Art, Literature, and Architecture Tour, Institute of Noetic Sciences

Numerous other television and radio interviews and newspaper articles

SELECTED PAPERS & LECTURES

Architecture and Psyche, Jung Foundation of New York, 2012

Dwelling in the Sacred, Shambhala Mountain Center, 2012

Architecture, Myth and Culture, Pacifica Graduate Institute, 2012

Architecture and Psyche, Jung Institute of Los Angeles, 2012

Creativity and Design, Three Rivers Arts Center, 2011

The Architecture of Healing Spaces, Pacifica Graduate Institute, 2011

Earth, Mind & Design, 8 lecture series, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, 2008 

Architecture & Healing in the Age of Neuroscience, Pacifica Graduate Institute, 2007

The Living Temple, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, 2006

Transcendence & Architecture in The Digital World, School of Architecture and Planning at The

     Catholic University of America, 2006

Creating Practical Poetics In Building Design, AIA National Convention, 2003

Soul is in the Details, Cathedral Heritage Foundation Festival of Faiths, 2002

The Temple in the House, Jungian Institute of Chicago, 1996

Creating A Home for the Soul, Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, 1995

Archetypes, Architecture & Sacredness, Jungian Institute of Chicago Conference, 1995

The Sacred in Everyday Architecture, Graham Foundation, Chicago, 1995

Soul & Cutting Edge Design, American Institute of Architects, New York Chapter, 1994

The Temple in the House, Berkeley Architectural Heritage Society, 1994