by Heather Livingston
Contributing Editor

Summary: John Cary is the 2007–2008 recipient of the Rolland Rome Prize in design from the American Academy in Rome. He is currently the executive director of Public Architecture and was a cofounder of ArchVoices, the licensure and emerging professionals’ advocacy organization. Over the past two years, Public Architecture’s flagship “1% Solution” program has mobilized over 60,000 hours of pro bono service by more than 140 leading architecture firms, totaling an estimated $6,000,000 annually. In 2006, Cary—then 29 years old— became the youngest person to be designated a senior fellow of the Design Futures Council. Cary will be in residence at the American Academy in Rome from February to July 2008.

Education: Bachelor of arts in architecture, summa cum laude, from the University of Minnesota; MArch from the University of California, Berkeley.

Following a non-traditional path: I co-founded ArchVoices while still an undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota. That was always more about extracurricular advocacy work than it was my professional practice. It was right after my MArch that I came to Public Architecture, but I did ArchVoices throughout grad school and then even for the first year and a half or so that I was with Public Architecture. In September 2005, we very deliberately put ArchVoices to bed. The Web site is still active and ArchVoicess till has some presence, but the weekly newsletter that we were best known for ended in September ’05. We ended it in conjunction with the 2005 internship conference that was put on by the AIA and NCARB. The ball is back in their court to continue a critical assessment of IDP and the licensure process. We devoted seven years of our lives to doing that every Thursday night for people to read about on Friday, and we really think that it belongs in their court.

I don’t consider what I’m doing now to be alternative at all. I’m practicing architecture on a daily basis, and I work within a traditional architecture firm. We’re hosted by John Peterson’s firm, Peterson Architects, so I’m surrounded by a traditional practice on a daily basis. The practice that I operate just serves a different type of client, so, if anything, it’s an alternative client practice. I might add that I’m the son of a 25-year nonprofit executive director, and while I never expected to go down this road, it just became a very logical one once I put all of my skills and interests together.

Identifying Public Architecture’s clients: Some clients do come to us and in that sense we have a fairly traditional fee-based structure. We’re on our third fee-based client. To identify clients, we effectively walk outside and look for social issues that we think design could affect. The more significant thing we do is encourage other architects and architecture firms to do the same thing. Architects are trained to be problem solvers, at least that’s how we like to think of ourselves. We’re really encouraging architects to move into the position of being problem identifiers, not just problem solvers. That’s a focus that John Peterson has set from day one as the founder of Public Architecture.

Applying for the Rome Prize: I applied for it after being nominated by a couple of Public Architecture’s board members who are past fellows. It’s the kind of thing that many architecture students and architects dream about, but not the kind of thing you could ever plan for. I applied because I believe that the type of practice that we’ve built here at Public Architecture is in a position to go head-to-head with the much more design-centric architects and offices that typically win the Rome Prize. This is a real milestone for us as an organization and for me personally.

Studies in Rome: The title of my proposal is Activist Architecture | Attivismo architettonico, and it is intended to be an exploration of activist architecture and design in Italy, specifically in Rome, from the mid-to-late 1960s to the present. In the late ‘60s, there was a significant event called the Battle of Valle Giulia, which was an uprising at the Valle Giulia School of Architecture at the University of Rome. It was one of the first times that educated middle class students rose up and fought back against police, and it coincided with the student movements at Berkeley and in Paris. I’m going to look from that event forward. There was another major revolution in 1977 and then again in 1990, and all three of those were spearheaded by architecture students.

In Italy, the title architect has a very different meaning. It’s a much more inclusive term and it’s more prestigious. I’m interested in understanding that dynamic because I see the way that our national organizations govern the profession and I think that there is at least another, if not a better, model out there.

Role models: There are a number of people. I think first and foremost of John Peterson. He’s an architect first and an activist or social entrepreneur second, and I would put myself in that same category. I have favorite architects who for one reason or another have challenged the establishment, and they range from Thom Mayne to Tom Fisher and other people like Mockbee, Steve Badanes, Bryan Bell, and Sergio Palleroni. From an awareness standpoint, I think Cameron Sinclair and Architecture for Humanity have done more for our movement than just about anyone else.

I should add that in my travels to some of the most traditional of architecture firms in the country, I see young people and more seasoned professionals doing extremely interesting pro bono and public interest design work. I’m increasingly inspired by the everyday practitioners who are going about their work but also finding time for these projects that could end up being some of the most significant in their portfolios.

Leisure time: I am a competitive runner, and I’m always looking to spend time with my wife, who’s just finishing her PhD at Berkeley in Italian Studies. She and I travel extensively. I also am an information junkie. I devour Web sites and magazines and read a few books from time to time.

Current read: I just finished Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, and also The Google Story by David Vise [and Mark Malseed]. That coincided with a tour of the Googleplex that I got a couple of weeks ago, which was a real treat. I’m just starting to read One Day, All Children, by Wendy Kopp, the founder of Teach for America.

Definitely, my favorite magazine at the moment is one called GOOD. Interestingly, it just named its top 51 most significant magazines of all time, and Architectural Record was one of them.

Advice for young architects: I’d just encourage young architects never to settle for the slightest bit less than they think they’re worth in terms of salary and benefits as well as clients and projects. Never settle for this current system that we have for licensure, and pursue things like LEED accreditation and other certifications that can begin to pinpoint their skill set and knowledge base.

I would also encourage people to take some risks and start something new. It’s much, much easier than one might think to start a nonprofit or start the kind of practice that we have done, for example. The final thing that I could say is that Public Architecture, Architecture for Humanity, Design Corps, and these other related design organizations would love to have some additional company and real competition. I think that new practices would find themselves rewarded handsomely.