In 1974, I was a sophomore at Barnard College in New York City. In my studies towards my degree in Art History, one of the most memorable courses I took was entitled “Philosophy of Beauty.” The class focused on ways of thinking about beauty that are not tied to one particular style or taste. Rather, beauty is about seeing an idea or object as beautiful because it is unique to who created it.
Though I graduated college more than thirty-five years ago, this philosophy continues to define my work, and informs my specialty as an architect. That is, creating spaces that are unique and special to my clients – domains that fit the beauty of their distinctive lives.
I am proud to be among the first six women at Barnard to earn a pre-professional degree when I graduated in 1978. I continued on to the Graduate School of Architecture and Planning at Columbia University in the City of New York and graduated in 1981. In 1990, I went solo, and have been ever since. My work took me through Architecture Review Boards in Incorporated Villages of Long Island, until I finally became a Trustee in my own. For 10 years, I was head of the Recreation and Landscaping Party, redesigned major residential projects that were altering the value of the historical quality of our village, originally designed in 1906. Consequently, I wrote the Architectural Review Board Code and changed a few ordinances that would benefit the village.
While I enjoyed my years working in the public sector, my clients always came first – above all, my architecture business is about people. Just three years ago, after having designed three homes for a family, their oldest daughter, who I first met when she was five years old, hired me to design a home for her husband and three young children. I’m also currently working for family who I met in 1999 – after two large renovations in their home in Long Island, I am now finishing their next new home in New York City.
There are many stories like these, special relationships and strong bonds that have been created over the years. And all these relationships began the same way: by treating each project as unique to the particular client, whether I’m building a family’s first home or dream home. I request visual references, and ask questions about their living style and their aesthetic taste – all with the goal of understanding how they see beauty in the world around them. This, in turn, becomes their personal style.
When a project is finished, I always make sure to let my clients know that they did it all, not me! They traveled through the mental (and physical) journey of creating a singular space that reflects their way of life, their own style, and their own philosophy of beauty.