How did you get into architecture? Ever since I was a kid, I liked drawing floorplans. It was a bit of an obsession.
Then at university [Williams College in Massachusetts] in my second year, I took history of architecture and fell in love with the subject. A few weeks before graduation, without any job prospect in sight, the dean of the college told me that Denise Scott Brown, who had just submitted the Williams College campus masterplan, was looking for a fresh grad to be an intern or assistant. The person in this role would also live with them.
The next weekend, I took the train down to Philadelphia for an interview. Robert Venturi, himself, met me at the top of the escalator, and the rest is history, as they say. Advertisement What does it mean to be an LGBTQ+ led practice?
As one of the two newest partners at Allies and Morrison, the idea of ‘leading’ something is still something to get used to, but I guess we are, in part, LGBTQ+ led! We are very established, sensible and experienced, but we also have a lot of youthful energy and hunger for experimentation. It’s a good spot for a queer perspective to shine.
How has being a member of the LGBTQ+ community shaped your career and your work? Back to university days, having expected to have a career in politics, I was convinced that I was consigned to a life of pretending to be straight. My shift to architecture sort of paralleled my coming out journey.
Quite literally, in fact! It was in the Venturis’ house in Philly where I came out to my sister. I also broke up with my first boyfriend in that house.
So, this emblematic setting is etched into my memory in my self-discovery as a gay man. I’m thankful to the world of design. What’s the most influential LGBTQ+ space or building for you?
I have a soft spot for Charles Moore. Two places in particular: Sea Ranch on California’s Sonoma Coast and the Williams College Museum of Art. Not specifically queer spaces but their architect was.
Maybe it’s something about their offbeat-ness that can feed the gay soul. ‘It was in the Venturis’ house in Philly where I came out to my sister’ What advice would you give to your younger self? Stand up for yourself a bit more.
By the way, I’m not old. What would you like to see change in the industry? We need to break away from the whole Part 1/2/3 thing and embrace more alternative career paths within architectural practice.
We also need to engage more with the reality of the world around us, particularly economics and politics. Designers and architects should have more financial and political power. We should be higher up the food chain!
The world would be better for it, too. Advertisement Where’s your happy place? Tokyo Tell us your favourite anthem, LGBTQ+ book or film.
Straight people underestimate just how meaningful it can be for us to see the gay experience represented in popular culture because we are bombarded with straight love stories all the time. But enough already. Mine is a film, Happy Together by Wong Kar Wai.
What a beautiful thing. By the way, that’s also an amazing film: Beautiful Thing. Look it up.
Takes place in Thamesmead. If you don’t know it, you should.
