James Wesala, AIA

AIA

James Wesala, AIA, had two significant events that led him to architecture. First, his engineering father introduced him to the art of drawing, instilling a lifelong devotion and teaching him that the essence of drawing is a tool for communication that can evoke emotion or direct knowledge. The second was being brought to construction job sites as a young boy. The flurry of activity and the orchestrated chaos, resulting in a finished project, enthralled him and later sent him to pursue architecture at Arizona State University.  During college, he was educated that design is an inherent reaction to necessity in the form of creation, and a critical perspective is vital to discovering multiple possibilities. He was taught to analyze a design, to imbue an object with life, to open perceptions to potential, and to perceive through the visible layers to their core. As a young architect, sharing and learning about our craft fascinates James, and a vast repository of knowledge exists in our community and industry. His perspective is that this repository should be tapped for all to learn from – not only the listener but also the storyteller – which led him to Tracing Architecture.