Hi, I'm Pat. Welcome to my crib.

This website is a blog for my work and anything I collaborate on. You’ll find things like architecture, design, scripting, fabrication methods, video, and sometimes even music on here.

A Brief History

I was born in Chicago. Now I'm 24. I still live here. It’s great.

I like design, computers, sailing, and videos.

Sometimes I run.

A History

I’m a city kid. I grew up in the neighborhood of Lakeview in Chicago in the 90’s and early 2000’s. I’m nostalgic for Batman comics, SSX Tricky, Star Gate, Star Trek, and The Road to El Dorado. Around this time I had a pet bat, his name was Batty. I also have a younger brother, his name is Tom.

I spent a non-trivial percentage of my life on the water. When I was a kid, I learned to sail. It’s not "athletic" ability, but it is complemented by some mild beach volleyball skills. During one summer of my life I spent more hours on the water than on land; unfortunately we don’t live in waterworld, so those skills aren’t so practical.

I went to St. Clement for primary school. (1999-2009) We were a part of the parish and church there, because it was a few blocks from my house. When my mom got sick, they helped us in ways I’ll never forget. It’s an amazing community.

I’m a Loyola Academy (2009-2013) high school alumni, in Wilmetee, IL. I still lived in Lakeview (Chicago) at that point, so I spent minimum three hours on the train every day during High school. Being on the CTA is second nature to me.

The high school had architecture classes. I was instructed in drafting, computer modeling, and the basics of gestalt design. I was also a part of the after school Architecture club while occasionally meeting with the Junior Engineering Club and Science Olympiad clubs.

Loyola was also home to the largest high school sailing club in the country at the time. I think before this point, I was abnormally bad at being social - participating in the sailing club really helped round me out at a person. I wouldn’t be who I am today without them.

Zac Hernandez ran (and still runs) the sailing team and is the director of Sheridan Shore Sailing School. I worked for him as an instructor for the several summers, and it will remain the best job I have ever had. I was paid to teach sailing and played beach volleyball every day. (2012-2015)

I attended the University of Kansas (2013-2018) to pursue a 5-year Master's Degree in Architecture. Additionally, I was a part of greek life on campus, and had 70 room-mates for all four years of undergrad. Looking back, I don't know why I was allowed to move in, I was nothing like them and didn't fit in super well. I joined the sailing team, and wrapped up my first year of college in the spring of 2014.

Somewhere along the way in the fall of 2014, I picked up a job in the Marvin Hall Woodshop, where I learned to be a CNC, Laser Cutter, and 3D printing technician. All of this added up to serious some technical knowledge and a background in digital fabrication and traditional hand-tools.

In the spring of 2014 convinced eight other students to roll with me while I tried to start my own studio class, and replace the program’s curriculum. I was super naive, and only a year and a half into the program. Around this time, I also became the president of the KU sailing team, and I was the Treasurer for the fraternity. That was spring 2015.

I may not be the best at coordinating people, but I've had to do it a lot. 

I went home for the summer of 2015 and worked at the sailing school. When I returned, for the Fall, I worked with Kapila Silva on a project called the “Museum of Agnotology” which earned me an award from AIA Dallas and KU’s undergrad research program.

Following this, Spring 2016, I worked with the Dirt Works Studio to build the Sensory Pavilion, which earned an ArchDaily Award, and an Architect’s Newspaper Award. Around this time, the shop was donated two KUKA 6-Axis robotic arms and I also learned to use those. I also became pretty good at scripting algorithms.

(... it’s actually crazy the next two years worked out like they did)

My knowledge with the robots earned me an internship at Zahner in Kansas City in the research and development department during the Summer of 2016. I constantly felt stupid because all of the people there were bonafide MIT geniuses. I wasn’t in the best position to be useful to them given how much I knew at the time. It was a tough summer, and my first away from home.

The following fall (2016) I instructed the digital fabrication course at KU, and flew down to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to study climate change and sea-level rise. I flew from Florida to be a speaker at a conference in Dallas, Texas that the AIA had selected me for. I spoke about architecture as a catalyst for learning - something that could have a pedagogy.

Winter 2016/2017 I spent a month studying abroad in Asia. I traveled through Singapore for new years, and then spent a few weeks in Japan. I returned to Kansas in February 2017.

In the spring of 2017 I was enrolled in 32 credit hours, worked part time in a woodshoop, lived in a fraternity, completed comprehensive studio, did research with robots, and had no time to sleep. Somehow I also I took a trip to Austin Texas at some point. I was one class short of straigh A’s, which I’ve never had in my life. I’m still bitter. I skipped one assignment.

The conference I spoke at in the fall landed me a job for the summer of 2017 at HKS Dallas with an internship in the Healthcare division. While I was there, I worked on design development and master planning for large-scale healthcare facilities. I automated a tool that made site plans and exported info for presentations to excel.

The internship wrapped up for the summer, and I had been selected for a co-op at Gensler in Chicago for the fall of 2017. I worked four days of the week, and the fifth day I conducted research on how automation might play a role in changing how we interact with our cities. I also worked on 333 Green - an office tower in Chicago, and several competitions.

I went back to Kansas for the winter and spring of 2018 to wrap up my thesis. During that time I also made a four episode web-show about architecture school. Gensler sent me an offer, and I accepted. After graduation, and a roadtrip to california, I started full time at Gensler Chicago in July of 2018.  

(... deep breath)

When I started full-time at Gensler, I was immediately placed on a high profile facility master-planning project for one of the premier healthcare systems in the country. I was working with two people. One who had been brought into Gensler as a strategic hire for their connections and experience as an independent consultant. Another had been hired from another big architecture firm and had a strong grasp on design strategy.

Over the course of 18 Months (2018-2019) I helped develop, drive consensus, and reinforce a master plan for a two billion dollar roll-out of a next generation community hospital. I analyzed the existing facility. I forecasted demographics and case rates. I tested design and phasing solutions for the site. I programmed and cost estimated these solutions. And I presented this information to the board of a hospital such that they could align on spatial, fiscal, and operations-related decisions to move forward.

I was an architectural consultant. I learned business strategy, not buildings. I helped them win work. I made videos and pitch decks to help develop their practice in healthcare.

In October 2019, frustrated with my role and looking for further development, I started taking math and physics courses at the University of Chicago. I was working full time planning renovations for hospitals and taking 20 hours of classes. The classes were during the day, so I worked a mildly adjusted schedule.

In spring of 2020, I transferred onto the Fermi Lab proton accelerator project. This was a result of my requests to work on detailing buildings rather than planning them. I wanted to be licensed. I was still taking classes, and on-boarding to a new project when covid-19 hit.

In April of 2020 I was laid off; it was circumstantial, but clearly I have a history of spreading myself too thin.

Now I’m wrapping up my classes, and looking for work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Who is your hero and why?
A: My Mom. Aside from being a saint and all-around super human, she's dealt with some serious stuff and I hope that someday I'll find the strength she has.

Q: Who is the smartest person you know.
A: My Dad thinks he is... He’s probably right.

Q: You were just given a yacht. What would you name it?
A: 'i just don't give a ship'
A: ‘ship-faced’

Q: Where does your design inspiration come from?
A: I enjoy looking at natural patterns and structures and trying to re-engineer them. Also - Sailing and being on the water.

Q: If you were hosting a dinner party and could invite any five people, living or dead, who would you pick?
A1: My enemies - The dinner would be poisoned. 
A2: Five living people, dead people sound like a smelly dinner.

Q: Who are some people that inspire you?
A: Elon Musk, Neri Oxman, Tom Sachs, Brittany Howard, Buzz Aldrin, Kevin Smith, Adam Savage, Joe Rogan, Anthony Kedis, Jack Dorsey, & Neil deGrasse Tyson; in no particular order.

Q: If you had one extra hour of free time a day, how would you use it?
A: on amazon, buying more books I won't have time to read. 

Q: Who was your first celebrity crush?
A: the yellow snake from Britney Spears' "slave 4u" music video. 

Q: If you were stranded on a deserted island, what could you not live without?
A: My dog, and he'd be easier to talk to than a volleyball.