Why do it that way?

When Jim was invited to participate in the 2016 TEDx Foggy Bottom event, “Think Next,” the students who invited him specifically asked him to speak about the design of the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. They invited him to speak about the building because they “basically live there during finals” and “just love the building,” so they wanted to hear from the architect behind it all. Their comments and passion for the building made it clear that when we say “buildings are for people,” and then truly design for those people, they will own the space and bring it to life.

In his talk, “Why do it that way?” Jim used the design of GW’s School of Public Health as a way to encourage the audience to push against convention and ask “Why?” He encouraged the audience to be courageous and have ambition when it comes to problem solving.

“We don’t need simpler problems, we need more elegant solutions to complex problems.”

While Jim advocated for elegant, courageous, smart and unusual solutions, he also articulated what’s at the heart of architecture; the people we design for. “The building is all about you, the people who use it.” After sharing the design process behind the School of Public Health – how we dealt with the tight site, the city limits on height and the desired square footage for the building – he asked the audience to go out into the city and look around. He suggested the audience look for buildings that look alive. And to think critically about whether a building was simply “a beautiful suit on a well-tailored mannequin” or something more.

Spaces, like @GWpublichealth, should be designed in a way that is both beautiful and accessible. @JimCollinsFAIA pic.twitter.com/zkCpdopfjP

— TEDxFoggyBottom (@TEDxFoggyBottom) April 23, 2016

.@JimCollinsFAIA takes his own path to architecture to make inclusive, inspiring places #ThinkNext #FoBo16 pic.twitter.com/ZIunp4mWeZ

— TEDxFoggyBottom (@TEDxFoggyBottom) April 23, 2016

Thank you to TEDx Foggy Bottom for including us in your festivities and for organizing such an inspiring event filled with diverse speakers, performers and thinkers. #ThinkNext.

After Jim spoke about our building, I asked him to take a picture in front of it. He obliged.

Related Links
An Atrium with Unexpected Intimacy
Building as Metaphor: Milken Institute School of Public Health at GW
Washington, D.C. — Enliven the Street