Knit’s Newest Architect, Danny McGinnis, AIA, LEED AP

It’s official!  I recently passed the Architect Registration Examination (ARE) and have joined my fellow architect peers as: “Danny McGinnis, AIA.”  In my opinion, a  momentous accomplishment, and worthy of a reflection on the journey that got me here. Architecture has been a passion of mine since childhood, when building cardboard appliance box houses in the backyard with my brothers was the highlight of my week.  Fast forward a few years and I received my degree in architecture.  I was fulfilling my childhood dream and was now a real life architect, right?  Not so fast – I learned that the journey had just begun.  I, and probably many of my peers, have lost count of the number of times friends and family members have commented “I thought you were already an Architect.” Yes, I have a degree in architecture, but that’s only the beginning of a long journey that got me to where I am today.  I have many memories (good and bad, of course) of all-nighters in the studio creating avant-garde designs (that likely could not be built),  seemingly endless amounts spent at the bookstore for model building supplies, those grueling presentation critiques that make you almost want to quit, logging real-world experience and countless hours spent studying for the ARE.  In my mind, it was all worth it!
 
Today, having worked in the profession for more than 10 years, my passion for the profession remains steadfast.  The title of “Architect” represents a highlight of my journey, and there’s no other club that I could be prouder to be a part of.  Everyday I continue to learn, grow, and face new challenges.   As the accomplished architect, Daniel Libeskind said “In a strange way, architecture is really an unfinished thing, because even through the building is finished, it takes on a new life.  It becomes part of a new dynamic: how people will occupy it, use it, think about it”.