David Schwarz is a prolific architect based in Washington, DC. He has tackled challenges like the Dallas Mavericks basketball arena, a major children’s hospital, and a downtown maximum-security jail. All the while he has leaned heavily on historical traditions in architecture to make those places visually rich. He currently serves as Chairman of the Yale School of Architecture Dean’s Council. He is a recent recipient of the Driehaus Prize for Classical Architecture.

Having been schooled in the modernist architectural approach, he later became convinced that that approach lacked emotional insight. In our chat we discuss what those reasons were and what effect they have had on his career and designs. Along the way, we pick up the thread of several discussions I’ve had in previous interviews. This was a fantastic conversation about classical architecture and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!