Urban Bodhi

2020 Lawrence

I believe that values do not have to be sacrificed for economic gain.  It could be argued that successful businesses produce a product based upon shared values between themselves and their customers.  This is why I admire Chris Achenbach and his team at Zocalo Development where they make an honest evaluation of emerging energy technology and responsible construction practices to ensure the project’s feasibility within the context of environmental values.  Green-washing is one of my greatest concerns with the sustainability movement.  The efforts of Zocalo Development to ensure the proper implementation and promotion of their sustainability mission through all of their products demonstrates how green-washing can be avoided in the building industry.


Inverness at Dry Creek

TOD?  From a fundamental standpoint I would say no.  Metropolitan Homes is certainly marketing the development’s proximity to transit, but it’s a healthy walk to the Dry Creek station.  The purpose of TOD should be to reduce the agglomeration of urban vehicle usage.  Vallagio is a vehicle centric community where each townhome has a 2 car garage and the condominium buildings meet the standard 1.5 parking spaces per units.  From my point of view, this is an example of a development that misrepresents the TOD lifestyle and ultimately harms public perception of how urban communities can be built to reduce daily dependence on vehicles.  After working on this community and reflecting on the end results I realize policies or life style direction urban planners want to promote for public interest must be well defined to be successful.


Stargazer Observatory

This is the pinnacle of thematic suburbia.  It’s a new spin on the old paradox:  which comes first the community or the marketing.  The development is named Observatory Village so of course it would need a functioning observatory as its clubhouse.  I did enjoy working through the technical aspects of designing an observatory but at the same time communities like this represent what I see as one of the fundamental reasons for the housing market crisis and current recession.  Builders such as Village Homes attempt to “build communities” and promote the notion that home ownership includes entitlement to an established and functioning neighborhood.  The problem of course is communities cannot be built with physical elements and charming marketing schemes.  Interaction between residents is required to nurture thin social threads into strong community ties.  I would argue the location of these developments prevents such interaction where most of the resident’s daily functions are spent in a vehicle.  Buyers who felt it was necessary to exceed their purchasing capability in order to afford a house in these pre-made communities are a link in the chain of events leading to our current economic situation.


Dakota Lofts

This was my first large-scale structural project and it was integral to my professional development.  At the time my knowledge of concrete construction was very limited but my CAD skills were strong.  Instead of focusing strictly on drafting the engineer’s redlines and edits I took time to study the how, where, what and why aspects of the project as a whole.  Any production time that might have normally been lost during this learning process was compensated with efficient drafting.  I now realize command of a skill set with dedicated time management allows for professional growth during project production.  By demonstrating my competency with buildings of this nature I was able to expand my responsibilities beyond the traditional drafter and become an integral design team member throughout the project’s lifespan.