How I became an Architect

This subject came roaring at me last Wednesday, while I was killing time in a Barnes & Noble. I had finished cruising for books and made my normal last stop in the magazines. I started in Current events, moved toward music and movie magazines, parked at graphic arts and finally ended at the auto magazines at the north end. There in front of me was a glossy picture of the "Ala Kart" a custom car from the 60's.

From 10 years old to college I was a car crazy kid. My oldest brother was into cars and always had the coolest car in Haskell. He also bought a lot of Hod Rod magazines. I was somewhat into Model airplanes, but one day he brought home a model car that had options as to how it could be made to look. That small bit of creative control captured me. I like to draw also but drawings focused on "how something looked" not how could it be changed.

The same was true for model planes. You made them look as exact to the real item as possible.

Model cars allowed you to paint them any color, choose the wheels, etc. In short time I went from following directions to building 5 different cars out of four kits. Every dime I made from mowing lawns went to my habit. AMT was the main supplier of Model car kits and somehow I obtained an address and began ordering "parts" of kits from them and then building my own car designs.

George Barris, a California custom car designer created the "Ala Kart" and it made the rounds to the car shows including Tulsa. I was able to vist it and it was perfect. Soon AMT made a model of it and I bought over time about three kits plus ordering extra parts. My bedroom had a table that was my first design studio and I had shelves all over the room like a gallery and displayed about 80 models (Many of which have become dust in my attic!) I advanced to the point of using thread to wire the engines, clear coat and metal flake paint, etc.

This experience made me want to find a job doing something creative that involved models, drawing and the chance to change things. I first thought of designing cars, but that involved moving to LA, Detroit, Germany or Italy (the Japanese weren't on the radar then).

Then one day I found something called Architecture, and I haven't worked a day since. As Jimmy Buffet says, "I've grown older but not up!"