Jen Kriegel
aia, LEED AP BD+C

I love stories. Reading them, listening to them, and finding them in the wild among the stones of old buildings. Studying historic buildings is like reading a book; so many lives are inscribed in the walls of our built environment, whether it’s a prehistoric settlement or a modern home.

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Architecture, above all, tells stories; the preservation of buildings is essential to preserving the lessons and narratives of human history. Without our historic buildings to look back on as reminders of where we came from, we would lose much of our culture, and often the very foundations of our society. 

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Historic buildings add color and texture to our lives. They enrich our understanding of the world, and remind us that things were not always this way, and we, too, will change. It is because of this that I consider historic preservation one of the most important ways we can protect our history and maintain the storylines of humanity. However, I also understand that many historic buildings can only be saved by finding a new use, and must be adapted. It is in the adaptive reuse of buildings that I find storytelling at its finest.

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I believe that buildings tell stories, and we can often protect them by adding another chapter. I find that the most successful adaptive reuse projects do not destroy the old stories a building may tell, but instead to add to them, as if appending an additional chapter to another author’s book.

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The challenge of storytelling - of finding the old stories, and adding new ones - is my favorite part of my work. I strive to always create stories that are interesting as well as accessible. I believe that good architecture serves its users, and that when designing a building, whether new or reused, it should serve its purpose and its people. When designing, adapting or preserving buildings, they must be made ready for the present, resilient for the future, and welcoming for all people in it.