Autobiographical Sketch

Me on the Clearwater taken by Piglett A Hartnett

My education started at my home in Chicago. I grew up in a two flat on the west side where my family and I lived until I was nine years old. I consider myself to a certain degree home schooled, but not because I never attended school. In fact, to this year I have spent 15 of my nearly 21 years attending schools. However, the one thing that has contributed more to me than anything else is my home. My two parents and three siblings have shaped me more than anything in this world, for they shaped my hands to shape myself. I believe that I did not start to truly value school until later. In fact, it was not until I was twelve or thirteen years old that I learned to value school as a resource for learning that my parents could not offer.

When I first started to address the question of influences on my interest in design, I started (with what seemed at first natural) by journaling about my grade school experience. I thought about various lessons or excursions that stood out in my head. However, in most instances, every significantly creative experience I had, has been either at home or in my post-elementary experience.


Home

My home for me was a magical place. It was constantly exploding with things to do. From art, to Legos, to the back yard, I was never at a loss for stimulation. My dad’s Masters in Fine Art and my mom’s study of interior design were a large part of this. Whenever they would sit down to work, I would too. Drawing and coloring maps, painting pictures, and model building with fom-cor. When my dad sat down to ink maps, I sat down to color next to him. When my mom worked with designing and building model furniture, I sat down to use the scrap pieces to construct a fort for my own toys.

Despite the fact that my parents were fairly conservative with their monetary resources, they never denied my siblings and me tools of expression and creativity. Whether it was musical instruments, quality colored pencils, or clay, we were granted all of it lovingly. We all chose different mediums, which even switched at times. There were phases where Esther got really into Sculpey and Fimo, or Samuel got into drawing and I got into Legos.

Mies Van Der Rohe once said “Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. There it begins.” My bricks for design were Legos. My first experience with these wonderful toys was when I was three or four years old, at my friend Jeremy’s house. I was instantly hooked. For years to come I recall many hours spent getting lost in the design and construction of fortresses to keep out monsters and bad guys. I remember a time I was playing with Jeremy and I wincingly watched him lay brick directly on top of brick. He did not understand that made for a weak wall. I explained to him that it just made sense to overlay them offset on top of each other. It was experiences like this that made me aware of the fact that I am fairly picky about things lining up and looking good. I discovered at a young age that I have a much more particular sense of how things need to be in order, guided by utility, reason and aesthetics. This is a trait that has emerged time and time again in the years hence.

I also leaned early that there are many things I can do with my mind and my hands, in fact, I believe that there are few things I cannot do. Often, when we would not afford to buy something, we would make it. From costumes to tools for dad’s workshop, we attempted first to make it all. I recall wanting to be a grasshopper for Halloween one year, so my parents sat down to design and put together a hindgut, legs and antennae to go with my green sweatpants and sweatshirt. Another time for Christmas I noticed that my dad’s workshop was getting a bit dirty and so I wanted to get him a sponge. My mom set me on the task of taking some of my old, worn out Batman pajamas and cutting them up, sowing them together and stuffing them. The sponge was a huge success.

I highlight my interest in creative resource conservation, because I feel this is a large part of why I am where I am today: At an environmental studies school learning about how to demonstrate to others the importance of creative, resource conservation design and implementation. To this day I can rarely stomach buying a finished product as a present for someone. For me it is a direct reflection of the interest I have in that relationship. Whether it is making a mix CD, a kitchen knife rack, a pot hanger, a CD shelf unit, a hiking stick, or a belt. I have always sought to achieve simple utility with eloquence.

School

While my experiences in school have not shaped me to shape myself nearly as much as my experiences at home, there are several instances where school was particularly stimulating. There are several school experiences that have helped to shape my interest in detail and design. For instance, my interest in Origami and the meticulous attention that is needed to follow such directions, was sparked by my first teacher; Learning about the tools of Adobe Photoshop in high school enabled me to more accurately express ideas I had about images in general. My more formal study of architecture began when my junior high teacher took the class on an architectural tour of the business district of Chicago. This interest was further developed when I partook of an introductory architecture class at the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio. These were all things that I was able to latch on to and run with.

My experience at the FLW Home and Studio was astounding. Learning about his methods and their reflection of his self just clicked with me. The idea of trying to reflect nature’s ornate simplicity, beauty and utility in design, made me smile. Aristotle put it simply enough when he said, “Nature does nothing uselessly.” I just could not imagine a better philosophy to recognize. “Form follows function - that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union,” (FLW). These ideas are simply – beautiful.

It is philosophies such as these, instilled in me by my parents and reflected to me in the mirror of my choices, which have guided and will continue to guide me through my life. As I pursue my interests in environmental design, it’s implications on society and how I can help to shape a better world through it; I wonder what I will want to do post graduation. Whether it is directly in design of structures and cities or more indirectly in the design of my own children and how they affect society, I want to make a difference.

In the years between Elementary school and now, I have taken on many projects in design. Whether utilizing skills I learned on the computer to express an an idea, earning recognition for my attention to detail in tech drawing and architectural classes or being a leader in the design and implementation of institutional philosophical advancement, it all started with the lessons I learned at home. The amazing amount of nurturing I received as a child is what has guided me to guide myself. Frank Lloyd Wright once stated “A great architect is not made by way of a brain nearly so much as he is made by way of a cultivated, enriched heart.” This is a heart I feel I have and strive to keep.