Brenda Talks with an Architect at an Obama Rally

It was mid October. At the 10 day follow up appointment to the orthopedist, I see on CNN that Obama is going to be in Leesburg. I call Peggy and we go. The rally was very exciting, even if I do have to climb a fence with my broken arm to get in. On the way back to the car, we pass what appears to be a group of people waiting for the entourage. Peggy was disappointed that we hadn't gotten closer to Obama during the rally and wants to wait. I'm tired but game.

A man is sitting at the top of the hill a few feet from where the folks are lined up and I decide to go ahead and sit down beside him. He's very pleasant and within a few minutes he's telling me that he is the architect that designed this, Ida Lee park. I sincerely love the park and complement this nice man on how well designed the park is. I tell him that I did a 10K here last winter and especially appreciated the sufficient number of bathrooms in the building.

He describes what a wonderful experience designing the park was for him. He tells me a few more stories about other buildings, including the aquatic center at the University of Virginia. He especially enjoyed that job because the board that oversaw the design was composed of the deans of the various schools and he found them to be a brilliant group of people with wonderful cultural experiences which contributed to the design.

I asked him about whether or not he had any experience with courthouse design and discussed our project where we are examining the functions of justice and the physical requirements. He didn't have any specific experience with courthouses and we discussed the exteriors of the courthouses in Leesburg.

Then, he gave me very good advice. He reminded me not to be too hard on the architects as I embarked on this projectarchitects have to respond to the requests and desires of their clients. I reminded myself that most county courthouses are funded and constructed by the elected officials in the county-the county commissions. Wonderful insight. I spent the next thirty minutes with the architect sharing stories about our families, clients, and of course, the election.