Beyond the Ordinary

The world is full of extraordinary. Join me in exploring all that sparks creativity and change.

latest inspiration posts

Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II

This is great storytelling about winning WWII, American ingenuity, innovation, and how many of the great engineering and construction firms grew into the powerhouses they still are today. I wish this book would have been around when I started Clayco. “Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II” is written by author and history connoisseur (with a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins and five other historical works to his credit) Arthur Herman. This book is insightful in covering the history of the United States’ industrial mobilization for World War II.

March Inspiration of the Month: Lauren Underwood

My inspiration of the month is the really impressive Lauren Underwood. The Illinois Democrat Representative is a registered nurse from Chicago who set out to make a difference in the healthcare system. She’s also the first woman, the first person of color, and the first millennial to represent her community in Congress. “If you focus on the work, you find fulfillment,” she once said. Underwood was born in Naperville, Illinois. Even as a kid, she believed in public service. She was a Girl Scout, a volunteer for community service groups, and always working to help others. As a junior at Neuqua Valley, her first experience with politics was serving on the Naperville Fair Housing Advisory Commission, where she was exposed to injustice and discrimination. Her task was to report these to the Naperville City Council. That was when she began to build her leadership skills.

In Memory of Rafael Viñoly

I am deeply saddened to learn about the passing of one of the great architects and thinkers of our time, the renowned architect Rafael Viñoly. Rafael was an Uruguayan-born architect based in New York. He was born Montevideo, Uruguay in 1944, and his passion for architecture later led him to study at the University of Buenos Aires. He then continued his journey to the United States in 1978, and decided to make New York City his permanent home in 1979.

Deconstruction to Reveal What Lies Beneath with Derrick Adams

A person whose work I truly admire is Derrick Adams, a multidisciplinary New York-based artist. His installations include painting, collage, sculpture, performance, video, and sound. Through his art, he looks at how popular culture influences people’s views of themselves. Derrick has an MFA from Columbia University and a BFA from Pratt Institute. He is also an alumnus of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation Space Program.

February Architect of the Month: Daniel Libeskind

Bold, innovative designs often challenge traditional architectural conventions. Daniel Libeskind, known for his distinctive, avant-garde projects, is an architect, artist, and friend whose provocative work I have admired for many years. Daniel was born in Poland in 1946 to parents who were Holocaust survivors. The family moved to Israel in 1957 and then to New York in 1959 on an immigrant boat. His father worked at a print shop in Lower Manhattan, from where Daniel watched the construction of the World Trade Center in the late 1960s.

600 Canal Place Earns 2022 American Architecture Award

As someone heavily drawn to the “Art & Science of Building,” the work done for Dominion Energy is a remarkable structure to highlight. Like Clayco, Pickard Chilton connects a love for art to the spaces we design and develop – which is one of the reasons why 600 Canal Place was recently awarded a 2022 American Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies. Developed by Clayco and Hourigan Construction as a design-build project, Dominion Energy’s new 20-story office tower at 600 Canal Place in downtown Richmond, Virginia, was designed by Pickard Chilton, Kendall Heaton Associates, and OJB Landscape Architecture. The design team created a next-generation workplace that fosters collaboration and sustainability that will help Dominion Energy recruit and retain top talent.

ARCHITECHT SPOTLIGHT

Jean Nouveau’s Dynamic Vision

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Beyond Book Club

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The Legacies of Two Great American Heroes

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Inspiration

I have always had an insatiable curiosity

What causes me to get out of bed every morning is driven by inspiration. Ever since I was a little boy, I was inspired by my insatiable curiosity, which caused me to be a reader, a thinker, and a dreamer.

I can remember being inspired by seeing Bobby Kennedy on TV and watching videotapes of Martin Luther King Jr., and being deeply saddened by their assassination even though I was only 10 years old when I experienced all of this.

As a little boy, rocket flight was a big thing. I remember being fascinated by the moon and the stars and the astronauts exploring them.As humans we are achieving remarkable things that only a handful of years before were just in the imagination.