He became interested in architecture as a teenager when a friend took him to visit Reston, Virginia, a planned small town located in the northern part of the state near Washington, DC. The town was a mixed-use development including commercial, residential and offices with the urban core of the town located at the edge of a lake. He was inspired by the connection of the built environment to the nature around it and the power of deliberate and articulated design to improve the lives of those living in the small town. This lead him to research the fields of architectural design and planning and a decision to make architecture his life’s work.