The profession of architecture is a sacred trust. Architects create the buildings and cities where we live our lives. They design the places where we dwell, raise families, play, work, dream, and relate to one another. These environments are the settings, the containers for the transactions, rituals, events, and celebrations of individuals, families, groups, societies. The built environment affects our health, safety, mood, productivity, our sense of belonging, well-being, and personal value. Furniture, rooms, buildings, campuses, plazas, streets, and neighborhoods give us clues about how to behave, relate, conduct our day. They shape the ways we live each occasion, each day of our life.

All this is about designing and building environments for human habitation. Architects are privileged to work at that magic point where human dreams and needs are transformed into concrete designs and ideas, visions of built shapes in real materials. Well-planned environments enhance our quality of life, facilitate communication, promote convenience and productivity, nurture our spirit, and delight our senses. They enable, empower us to live well and do our best work. Successful architecture is kind to the earth, responding sensitively to nature and ecological systems. A good building is a good neighbor and a good steward. It uses resources mindfully and contributes positively to its site and adjacent properties. The well-built building is technically sound, constructed to last and hold value over the long term