by Our guest today was Luke Gates. Luke is an architect who practices in Paris, France. He
graduated from the University of Virginia in 2014 with a BS in Architecture. Luke
wanted to try working in France so he applied to a French firm and ended up moving to
Paris for his first job. He now resides permanently in France.
“Everyone has preconceived notions about what architecture should be like,” Luke said. “School is where all those ideas get challenged.” He had us look around the Auditorium to focus on its features and on what makes it a beautiful and useful space.
Luke told us that architects spend the majority of their time behind the computer but sometimes they draw or build models. Architects communicate their vision in three ways: blueprints, sections, and elevations. Luke really enjoys his job because his firm does a lot of historic preservation and restoration.
“It’s an exciting time to be an architect,” Luke said. He has been using a new technology called PointCloud which is very powerful and cool. PointCloud is a laser meter that can measure and recreate 3D objects and spaces in a computer file.
Finally, Luke shared some of his current projects. His firm is renovating the Mame Pavilions by a famous French architect, Jean Prouvé (Prouvé is known for using moveable metal panels). Luke is also working on a turning a downtown parking garage into a commercial space while preserving the existing structure, such as the sloping floors. His firm recently won a nationwide competition to renovate the Tartarêts Heat Plant. The beautiful industrial structure was abandoned for many years but now will become a library and community center. Its main feature, a huge smokestack, will be redeployed as a solar chimney to keep the building cool without air conditioning.
We thank Luke for his visit and look forward to hearing about how all his projects turn out.
The Georgetown School 
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