Davis Richardson, M.Arch '19

Why did you choose The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture?

At the time, I was really interested in some of the design-build, hands-on opportunities the SOA offered, and Austin seemed like the best place to live out of everywhere I was considering. The latter was certainly true, but as fate would have it, I never really ended up doing much design-build (though those offerings remain a great draw for the school). As I dug into my education at UTSOA, I discovered a passion for technology, theory, and representation – and though Wood Design and the Gulf Coast Design Lab would’ve been great to squeeze in, I loved every minute of my education at Texas. 

After going to a small school for undergrad, it was also pretty nice to get to experience a flagship state university with a big-time football program, as well. Hook ‘em!

Describe your current role and the work that you do. 

I’m a licensed architect at REX in New York City, where I’ve recently wrapped up construction administration for our just-opened Lindemann Performing Arts Center at Brown University, an exceptional new facility for the Brown Arts Institute whose main hall can reconfigure to accommodate different modes of performance – from a full orchestra, to a theatrical end stage, to immersive experimental media, and much more. 

As that project has wrapped up, I have transitioned into a project leader role for the design of our mixed-use towers at Elizabeth Quay in Perth, Western Australia. Construction has just begun on the first phase in the last few months, and I had the chance to visit the site back in July – not a short flight!

What’s something you’ve worked on recently? 

The LPAC has been my focus for the last year and a half. Personally, I’m also exhibiting an ongoing project I’ve been working on at Harding University, my undergraduate alma mater, as part of an alumni and faculty show for the college’s centennial celebration this fall. Titled “All That is Solid Melts Into Air” – a nod to Marx and Engels’ famous line and the commodification of American housing - the exhibit features a triptych of drawings that intervene upon readily available, stock builder-grade McMansion floor plans to reimagine them as forms of collective housing and to re-evaluate their architectural merit and potential. 

I’m also a contributing writer on the masthead at The Architect’s Newspaper and have written a few cover stories as a guest contributor for Texas Architect magazine, primarily focused on technology and AI in the discipline.

How did UTSOA prepare you for your career?

The school is so notable for producing great employees at firms across the country that it goes without saying; PRP is an amazing opportunity to get work experience while in school, which I absolutely benefitted from. But that was never an excuse to fall into pragmatism. I think what I learned was to not just settle for a job doing whatever, but to try to establish myself as a critical thinker and an innovative designer. That seems to always have value and has served me well I think as I’ve advanced early in my career. 

What is an important lesson you learned here that has stayed with you? 

One particular thing I’ve carried with me is something I think David Heymann lectured about in Site Design, of all classes, about the power of an architect saying “no,” or not necessarily accepting at face value the terms or restrictions they think they’re facing. I think we as architects often imagine we have more agency than we actually do, but we’re usually handed a program at the beginning of the project without getting much of a chance to determine what the project actually is or does. We often just determine what that project will look like. The lecture was on zoning variances, talking about how the Seagram Building in New York by Mies van der Rohe was so innovative not necessarily because of its modernist detailing (though that is also quite good), but because it was able to stretch the building envelope by giving public space, its notable Park Avenue-facing plaza, back to the city. Those opportunities to push back against expectation, against regulation, against program are often where we’re able to have the greatest impact on the built life of our designs. It’s just a great reminder to never take things for granted and to always ask “What if we did this differently?”

What were some of the more memorable classes or experiences from your time at the school?

I had a ton of amazing professors, advisors, and classmates at UTSOA - Kory Bieg, Igor Siddiqui, David Heymann, and many, many others; but I think the single most galvanizing class I took that continues to influence me to this day was the first Micropolitan America advanced studio that Kyriakos Kyriakou and Sofia Krimizi taught in 2019. Kyriakos and Sofia are incredible and remain mentors and friends to this day. And they taught me so much about the role of architecture as an act of critical thinking, imagination, and world-building. I don’t recommend all-nighters – get 8-10 hours of sleep, y’all! – but one of my favorite memories was an internal, informal desk crit that cohort of students had at like 1:00 a.m. in the Hal Box studio the week before final reviews. There wasn’t an ounce of competitiveness - the drawings and narratives that came out of that studio were just so incredible and sharing our work with each other and soliciting feedback only made us all better.