I am an architect and designer based in San Francisco, interested in things that make the planet more livable,
sustainable, and equitable. Things like housing accessibility, better building materials, and better labor
practices for example.
I am currently following these interests as an architect at
David Baker Architects,1 a co-publisher
and co-editor of
The Last Straw magazine,2 and a board
member of the
California Straw Building Association.3
I have collaboratively designed and built a supportive housing project at the
Auburn University Rural Studio,4 and
fabricated custom architectural features with the
DBA_Workshop.5
I believe that regenerative building (which to me includes: maintenance, repair, building less,
adaptive reuse, bioregional construction methods, a circular construction economy, biobased material
use, equitable supply chains, community land ownership, and environmental stewardship) is critical
for architects to successfully respond to both the housing and climate crises.
I am interested in the pursuit of regenerative building, in whole or in part, through practice or
policy, and particularly interested in its intersections with affordable and social housing work.
Housing is a human right, and I just want to see more of made available through the creative reuse of
existing urban space under community land ownership. Wouldn't that be nice!
1. ↗ David Baker Architects provides dignified
multi-family housing projects across income levels around the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. I'm
currently working on a 60 unit affordable apartment building in Oakland, and the nicest pro bono
garden shed you've ever seen. I have also worked on:
⚬ ⚬ La Avenida Apartments
↗ DBA
⚬ ⚬ The Villages at 995 East Santa Clara
↗ DBA
2. ↗ The Last Straw magazine was founded in 1993
as a way to distribute straw bale building methods during the natural building revival of that
period. The magazine was resurrected in 2022 by a small collective of architects to promote natural
and regenerative building methods more holistically and in a more approachable form.
⚬ ⚬ Buy our current issue, it's good!
↗ TLS
⚬ ⚬ The Last Straw Editorial Collective was interviewed on the
↗ Building Sustainability Podcast
3. The ↗ California Straw Building Association is
an advocacy and research organization promoting biobased building solutions through code adoption,
product development, and hands on instruction. The board manages goals and initiatives, and supports
the programming of the annual West Coast Natural Building Conference.
4. The ↗ Auburn University Rural Studio is an
internationally recognized design-build program within Auburn University in Alabama. With just three
of my fellow undergraduates, I designed and built three units of supportive housing for a local
community health non-profit. You can see it at:
⚬ ⚬ Horseshoe Farm Homes
↗ AURS
5. The ↗ DBA_Workshop is the
fabrication and prototyping arm of David Baker Architects. I was fortunate enough to spend six
months in the shop as a fabricator building custom furniture, doors, ceilings, and other
architectural features.
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