As an architect and leader, Allison Ewing, FAIA has advanced sustainability through design, implementation and advocacy – both within and beyond the architectural profession — by modeling change in the building industry with solutions both visionary and practicable. Working on commercial, institutional, residential, and mixed-use projects at both large- and small-scale, Allison Ewing’s architectural experience spans twenty-five years and three continents. Ms. Ewing’s work seeks transformation – of site, of workplace, of living environment. She pursues design excellence at all scales, from site to building to detail – an approach which encompasses meeting client’s goals while arriving at elegant solutions that embody sustainable best practices.
Prior to forming her own firm HEDS with partner Chris Hays, Ms. Ewing was Partner at William McDonough + Partners, and design associate at the Italian firm of Renzo Piano Building Workshop. Her work experience also includes the offices of Cesar Pelli & Associates and Mitchell Giurgola Architects.
Ms Ewing has been a speaker at a number of national and international events related to sustainable design and her work has been published in EcoHome, USA Weekend, Dwell, Custom and the Washington Post Home. She has received many design awards, including “Custom Home of the Year Award” from Custom Home Magazine. The Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center of Virginia received the top Virginia AIA award in 2018.
Ms. Ewing received her Master’s in Architecture from Yale University Graduate School of Architecture. She was the recipient of a Monbusho Fellowship to Japan where she studied Japanese housing.
Where did you go to college?
Yale School of Architecture (MArch), Tokyo Institute of Technology (Monbusho Fellowship), University of Vermont (BA), L’Ecole du Louvre (DEUG)
What does it take to be an architect?
Architecture bridges art and building. It’s not pure creation, nor is it pure engineering. I enjoy the range of skills that span between art and engineering — the creative aspects, the problem solving, the attention to detail, the bringing together of many consultants toward a (hopefully) beautifully conceived and executed design. Each project is a new exploration of that ideal marriage of a building with its site to enrich people’s lives and advance sustainability.
Was there an architect that particularly inspired you?
I first met Tadao Ando in 1989 through a Yale internship at the construction company Takenaka in Osaka, Japan. Mr. Ando taught a studio at Yale the following year. Mr. Ando invited a few of us to travel in Japan at the end of his studio. During my fellowship in Tokyo in 1992, I was able to visit some of his projects. Through these experiences, I was able to study his use of light with concrete as his canvas. The buttery quality of his concrete makes the material dematerialize when hit with light — you see the light, not the concrete. It reminds me of what a friend said about the pianist Maurizio Pollini. You hear the music, not the pianist’s technique. This idea applies to Ando’s work – the architect’s technique is not what you see, it is light as it hits surfaces, water as it reflects the sky. In this sense, Ando is the most modest of architects.
What are you currently reading?
I am reading Elif Shafak’s 10 Minutes and 38 Seconds in This Strange World. The novel takes place in Istanbul. I enjoy foreign authors – their perspective takes me to new cultures in distant places.
What’s the best meal you’ve ever had?
I was doing a summer internship in Osaka, Japan, through Yale, with the construction company Takenaka. One of the Takanaka’s clients invited my colleague and me for dinner. We were told to arrive before sunset. The dinner was on a deck perched over the Kamo River. It was a hot day but we were cooled by the cool breeze from the river below our deck. The waitress wore the traditional Geisha kimono. The meal started with a broth over a burner. Over the course of the meal, the waitress brought out food that was added to the broth, vegetables, quail egg, shellfish, and on and on. It was many courses… As the evening progressed, the broth grew richer with every addition. The combination of the setting and dinner progression was astonishing.
Why do you volunteer with AIA?
I inherited a strong sense of civic duty from my father who was raised a Quaker. Volunteering with the AIA expands my engagement in the profession beyond that of building projects. The VSAIA Political Action Committee is a great opportunity to help to advance sustainability through legislation. I feel I am giving something back to my community with the skills I have acquired in the course of my career.