I am grateful to be called upon to help keep the initiatives of Cal Performances at UC Berkeley moving and was struck by the recent editorial, entitled "Performing arts can facilitate peaceful dialogue and free speech", in The Daily Californian by Matías Tarnopolsky, Executive and Artistic Director of Cal Performances.

As often I do when reading about the arts, I replace the word "art" with "architecture" as I read. So in the case of this editorial I came to this parallel: In my second year of my architectural studies when I was still digesting a gap year spent embedded in Japan, it occurred to me that what we do as architects is interpret culture and translate it into form. With my cultural sensitivities heightened from experiences in Japan and ignited by my professors, I enjoy a continuous observation and interpretation of popular culture through the lens of what kind of places we can sculpt to be both a painter’s pallet and also the frame that puts the myriad audiences in the proper mindset.