On October 16-18, I attended the 22nd Monterey Design Conference. The Monterey Design Conference is held every 2 years at the Asilomar Conference Grounds. I had the privilege to listen to presentations from international architects and designers...

It was a great opportunity to learn about different approaches in architecture & design. It amazes me that there are so many routes that one can take in the field of architecture. 

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Of all of the presentations, I really looked forward to hearing from Chris Downey. Chris is a blind architect from San Francisco  and he spoke about designing for the senses and creating multi-sensory experiences. When you design with the blind in mind, you focus on the qualities of the space. Acoustics become very important along with the choice of materials. If you design for the blind, you design for everyone. 

Rand Elliott's use of words drew me in from the beginning! I loved how he described his inspirations and then showed how they applied in his designs.  

Each of the presenters taught me something different. The conference helped me to think about new things and it also helped me learn more about myself. I think it's important for architects and designers to attend this conference because it helps us to open our mind and think about new ideas and approaches. Sometimes we can get caught up in our daily work that we lose sight of why we do what we do, and I think the Conference is a good opportunity to retreat and touch base with what inspires and why we do what we do.

-Diane Zoura

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