2007
Brett Roeth
"I am proud to have been a recipient of the Joseph P. Veasey Award and humbled to be associated with a young man like Joe. In the summer of 2006, I participated in a five-week workshop at Arcosanti, the experimental city of Paolo Soleri. Arcosanti is the physical embodiment of Soleri’s theory of Arcology, a more appropriate human relationship with nature created through density, frugality, and their consequence, efficiency. Since learning about Soleri and his work during this short workshop, I have had an intense desire to learn about urban and suburban conditions, especially in the United States. I began early in my academic career to seek experiences and coursework outside of the discipline of architecture, to better understand the relationship between society and the built environment. My leadership and service experiences, especially as a part of the American Institute of Architecture Students, have shown me that social norms are difficult to change, but accomplishing this change can be quite rewarding. I have given multiple presentations within the Department of Architecture and Interior Design at Miami University, and I wrote an article published in issue 64 of Crit, the Journal of the American Institute of Architecture Students. I am currently expanding this work into an Honors thesis project which further explores this social nature of American suburban environments. My goal is to create a design methodology that can aggressively address the American suburban pathology. Throughout my academic career, I have striven to transform and redefine my values through active intellectual leadership and community engagement. I have elected to take several courses outside of my major that have pushed my capacities and have made me a more interdisciplinary thinker. I have completed several experiences, both academic and otherwise, that have allowed me to explore architecture and urban planning from various perspectives. I am constantly looking for the next opportunity to expand my horizons, and I never wish to stop learning, for a learner – first and foremost – is what I desire to be."
