Journal

Townhouses have a special presence in the city. Their intimate scale, relationship to the street, private gardens, and expressive details, among other qualities, have helped drive a renaissance in townhouse living in New York and beyond.

Townhouses have a special presence in the city. Their intimate scale, relationship to the street, private gardens, and expressive details, among other qualities, have helped drive a renaissance in townhouse living in New York and beyond.

Townhouses have a special presence in the city. Their intimate scale, relationship to the street, private gardens, and expressive details, among other qualities, have helped drive a renaissance in townhouse living in New York and beyond.

What stands in the way becomes the way

At a fundamental level, the purpose of a house is simply to provide shelter.

I dreaded going to the suburbs as a child.

Luxury is often associated with material goods such as cars, jewelry and fine art, but the luxury of nature can be far more extraordinary.

What I miss most about New Orleans, the city where I grew up, is the magnificent trees. The Oak trees especially. Those majestic, aged trees to me embody both the beauty and power of nature.

Great movements can start with just a little push.

Most successful projects are group projects—but not everyone sees it that way. Some professionals prioritize their own interests over others. I call this the “problem of me.”

What do you want?
How do you build trust?
How do you succeed?

There’s something magical that happens when designers successfully collaborate with makers on projects. I’ve been fortunate to collaborate with talented makers working in a variety of media, and the design and construction result is often better than what I could have achieved on my own.

I binge-watched “The Queen’s Gambit” on Netflix recently, and I can't stop thinking about it. Not because I follow chess per se, but because I think there’s something valuable to be learned from the way the series portrays teamwork as the driving force behind the success of an individual.

The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have brought me back to the last time I experienced something seismic like this: the 2008 financial crisis. It was frightening, it tested me, and ultimately it made me and my work better. Fear, uncertainty, and a kind of creative energy all seem to go together in times like these. 

In March of this year, we were invited to the Lang Architecture’s offices to celebrate the last home sale at Hudson Woods.

When I decided to initiate a large development project from within our architecture studio, called Hudson Woods, among my primary goals was to reinforce the notion that good design is good business.