When I was a boy, I’d would go to the public library and look at books about architecture. With each page, I would see beautiful images of magical places and I would stare at the photographs and think “Those buildings don’t look anything like the things I see around here”, and when looking at the modern houses, think “I wonder what those people are like who live in those places, they must be different from people I know.”Seeing at an early age that buildings can be magical places, I’ve never lost the impressions the images I would later learn were the photographs of Ezra Stoller, a master at capturing the feeling and spirit of design, along with all the great mid century architects whose design work I would later see in person, and made me wonder, “How did they do that”?Later, of course, I’d study design in college and graduate school, and while I realized my childhood dream to become an architect and to lead the design of buildings across the United States, I’ve never forgotten the power that architecture can bring to inspire us to do great things, and how great buildings and wonderful images can encourage a child to imagine the future.Another thing I learned as my life experience and awareness grew, was how people who weren’t architects would express how much they “loved” certain buildings, often older or historic structures, and use expressions like, “It’s so beautiful”, or “why don’t they make new places that are so nice anymore?” These were important lessons for a young designer, listening to how others shared their feelings about buildings, inspiring me to dig deeper in learning what qualities are enduring, and changes we make in our world can have lasting impact, both good and bad.I haven’t forgotten those observations, either, and one thing I believe is possible is that our buildings can reflect our desire to make a better place, bringing joy and positivity to our lives, through great design. That’s something that always excites me, realizing we can make a difference in our world, together.