Building Passion Nicholas Malone

Throughout my life, my eyes have been drawn to the sky. When I was a child I would look up in speckled black night and gaze at constellations, unable to comprehend the extent of the universe, wondering if it ever ended. By day I would look to the sky again; jets flying high in Earth's atmosphere enthralled me. With my head constantly in the clouds it was only a short time before I noticed buildings, those massive edifices that seemed to yearn for the sky as I did. In my adolescent state of mind, sheer size impressed me more than anything else -- the bigger, the better I thought.

Now that I have moved beyond Legos, my admiration for buildings is no longer founded solely on height. My gaze has shifted from the heavens to the horizon, and I now appreciate structures for their more meaningful qualities, evaluating them as architects' distinguished contributions to nature, society, and posterity. With my eyes leveled, I now mainly look to houses for inspiration -- structures incredibly diversified in appearance to satisfy natural surroundings, architectural expression, and individual preferences, though universally united in the purpose of providing individuals with shelter, identity, and a sense of home. My changed...