ABOUT


I Nomad, Therefore I Am!

First and forever, I am an architect and builder. Second, I am a lover of all things real and beautiful...my God, my wife, my children, architecture, music, painting, sculpture and nature. I am also a fanatic lover of great food and wine. Uncharacteristically for people of my ilk, I am also a rabid college football fan - always loyal to The Florida State Seminoles. I am a contrarian by nature and do not, generally, know when to shut up. As a practicing architect for thirty plus years, I have designed some pretty good buildings, many of which have never been built, usually the result of a lack of money or less than visionary clients. I love the serendipitous pleasure of traveling to places both familiar and unfamiliar. 

During my travels, I have been inspired and appalled by cultures, ancient and modern. I tend to be a perfectionist when it comes to design. I become obsessed with the most mundane details in a building, which leads to fits of apoplectic hand wringing for client and architect alike.  This obsession with detail informs my travel planning and search for the small, hidden hotel that delights or the bistro that serves real food for the Nomad in need of  nourishment for body and soul. To give some insight into what traveling with an architect is like please check out a great article written by an architect's wife on the travails of travel with one such as myself - Traveling With An Architect - Check Out The Doorknob. It really is quite funny and my better half can attest to its accuracy. 


So What is a Nomad Architect exactly?
Have you ever been someplace and wished you could stay forever? It could be a country retreat, a courtyard in the middle of a bustling city, a place on the ocean, a cabin in the mountains or any one of a million places that you have imagined.  All Nomads yearn for a place to drop anchor. As an architect, I place a very high premium on the built environment. This blog is about the obsessive search for places that have cultural and architectural meaning. Places that grab your soul and won't let go. Finding those special places is not an easy task. It takes work, creativity and a spirit of adventure. There is nothing quite like the experience of finding a place that changes you, that gives you insight into the larger world as well as yourself.  

If you like the main drag or want to just "go on vacation", then this blog is probably not for you. But if you're willing to take the side road and boldly go where practically no one has gone before, then get out the maps and the walking sticks, pack your bags and begin your search for your Walden's Pond with Room Service.

Ciao

DLS
The Nomad Architect