Maverick for the Built Environment: A Biography of John Paul Eberhard
Maverick for the Built Environment is a biography of my father. A trained architect, he felt that architecture, indeed all engineering disciplines, should not ignore the human factor and that new ways of thinking were needed to improve the built environment. “This generation of students and young professionals,” he testified before Congress in 1973, “feels the need to deal with issues which reflect a socially responsible position by the profession…they want to have some confidence that their design decisions make a positive contribution to the quality of the environment.” Not content to teach architecture the way it had always been taught, Eberhard argued, “It is no longer sensible to talk about one body of men called architects as though they were the only ones involved in architecture…environmental designers must operate as a team lead by men trained as generalists.” Also before his time, Dad saw architecture as a clinical science to promote health and increase worker productivity. “This could be a whole new field of science,” he said.
“I would describe myself, in short, as an organizational entrepreneur. That ranges from starting a new school of architecture in Buffalo to starting a new Institute for Applied Technology at the National Bureau of Standards and from creating a research program at the Sheraton Hotel Corporation to the most recent events that include working with the San Diego Chapter of the AIA and establishing the new Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture.”
John Paul Eberhard was not a traditional architect in any sense of the word. He was a maverick. For the built environment.
Rich People's Problems: The Story of Raggedy Ann and Andy
Anna Miller has been giving selflessly of her time and money for years, anonymously. She's lucky enough to be wealthy enough to give back. Having grown up poor giving back is important to her. She wants no acclaim or accolades for her generosity.
Until an investigative reporter from a major newspaper decides to figure out who this unknown benefactor is. He reveals Anna's identity to the world, thinking he's just doing his job.
The revelation throws Anna's world into chaos. Suddenly, she's bombarded with interview requests and can't go anywhere without someone following her - usually Gavin Newman.
She escapes to Colorado, to her childhood home. There, she asks for help from the one man she hoped never to meet again - Andrew Mitchell. Andrew grew up rich and has been in the public eye his whole life. He’s the only famous person Anna knows.
From Andrew, Anna hopes to learn how to cope with her newfound, and unwanted, fame.