CITYCROPS started in earnest when I got laid off from my role as ‘Senior Architectural Technician’ with HOK. I worked in a Seattle-based project office on the Honolulu International Airport, a multi-billion-dollar-budget project that I was often frustrated by - hierarchy and all.

I have a lot of experience with aviation architecture and working with a number of stakeholders to develop an environmentally responsible airport was as good a project as any to practice what LEED is helping to achieve. It’s not that I’m uber-passionate about airports, but I am passionate about helping any project find new efficiencies and ways to be environmentally sound. But the economy got the best of the tourist industry in Hawaii (down 40% at last count) and stalled our project a bit - as did the hierarchy. Then it caught up with us here in Seattle and around the US.  You know the story - many, many rounds of layoffs of architects in Seattle-area firms, not to mention my colleagues in LA who had been let go the month before (and it doesn’t look like the employment forecast is going to get any better any time soon).

Strangely (or perhaps is not) the next day was filled with relief.  It only took me a few days to realize this project is what I should have been developing  in the few years prior. Since working full time on CITYCROPS, I’ve been able to reconnect with why I love architecture. We can create public buildings and spaces that matter to people and help us change the way we think about and use our resources.

It’s fair to say being your own client doesn’t pay well at first. It’s fair to say I’ve been stressed (occasionally) about what that means. It’s fair to say that if I still worked in a firm, I would have found my way back to this project and my passions in architecture. But timing being what it is, I’m grateful for the ability to do this.