While I was still in college, I’d intern at an architecture firm in Hawaii that was very similar to LGA in terms of company culture, creative coworkers, and that general sense of enjoyment everyone had about going to work everyday, something I’ve heard can be rare in our industry. We did a similar thing to Witty Wednesday at that firm, called Wassup Wednesday. The graphic for the event related emails even included a shaka, very Hawaii. These were in-office, lunchtime gatherings where people would take turns sharing something that interested them and could potentially inspire the group. At one of these Wassup Wednesdays, we watched a documentary called, Strange + Familiar: Architecture on Fogo Island. It’s about a local entrepreneur and a well-known architect’s collaboration on a hotel on a tiny island off the coast of Newfoundland. The island was facing the need to rethink their economic drivers as the fishing industry that the community had relied on for hundreds of years was fading away.
Something about this movie stuck with me all these years. My younger self thought it was just the cool architecture but I think it’s actually these more thought-provoking points:
- Being forced to redefine your place and purpose in the world can spark some of the best collaboration and creativity.
- Doing this ^^, while maintaining those centuries old traditions that make your community unique is the real trick.
I think Las Vegas, as well as many other cities around the world, are facing these challenges today. As much as I say “can we just go back to ~nOrMaL~???” The world’s current events are forcing our community to rethink and redefine our place and purpose. Can we bring new value to our community? How do we transition while maintaining those old traditions that make us unique? I, for one, am so curious to see how Vegas shakes out in the next 5-10 years.
Anyways, ramblings over. I highly recommend you take the 54 mins and $3.99 to rent the movie on Apple movies and watch it. Because that might have been a horrible movie summary, here’s the link.
I remember the movie sparking a lot of deep thought and profound discussion that would be fun to engage in if/when some of you watch it.
Kylie Kircher, Assoc AIA was born and raised in Las Vegas and grew up playing a variety of sports. Her acumen for competitive soccer secured her spot on the roster at University of Louisiana, Monroe. She returned to Las Vegas to pursue her passion in architecture and went on to graduate from UNLV with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture and a Master of Architecture degree. She believes that architecture should provide comfort, beauty, efficiency, and improve one’s quality of life. Kylie was drawn to LGA because of the mutual passion for spaces that connect to the environment, encourage health and well-being, and provide beautiful backdrops for human experiences. Her ultimate goal in any design is to create a better world, to bring communities together, and to create wellness through her design strategies.