URSULA CURRIE • Architect
About

I am an energetic, creative and inquisitive person who strives for excellence in my endeavors. Constantly challenging myself to expand, to evolve and to learn new things I will reinvent myself if my old habits no longer serve me. After 25 years of working as an architect in the private sector in California, in 2016 I realized a personal ambition to contribute towards development in Sub-Saharan Africa.
​
Fulfilling a 2-year contract as a United Nations Volunteer in Malawi exposed me to a culture that MUST innovate to survive. Poverty and inequality remain stubbornly high in Malawi so a sustainable approach to life is born out of necessity, not choice. With rationed electrification, a limited fresh water supply, seasonal food insecurity, an under-funded educational system and an extremely high pupil to classroom ratio, the challenges for development remain infinite. This experience inspired me to return to California to strive for a non-negotiable, ecological approach to our lifestyle and to our growth in the developed world.
​



​​
​
Strongly motivated to create delightful experiences for the building users and to place architecture appropriately on the terrain, I mentor design and engineering teams to ambitiously strive for innovative solutions on the projects we are tasked. I am honored to be of service in the design and construction environment.
​
I appreciate an appropriate blend of historical fabric, juxtaposed with contemporary interventions. My tendency is to ponder a solution that is borne out of consideration of the site and a sensitivity to the ancestral character of the context. I uphold the process of Sacred Reciprocity: if something has been taken away, give something back in return.
​​​
A FEW OF MY PERSONAL HEROES:
Greta Thunberg, Julia Butterfly Hill, and Woman Stands Shining, Pat McCabe