Episode 2 of 3 in our Education Series

In the second episode of this three-part conversation with Paul Monson, Director of Architecture at Utah Valley University, we move from the foundation of education to the deeper question of why traditional architecture matters at all.Paul and I talk about the origins of the UVU architecture program and why it was intentionally built around craft, practicality, and time-tested principles rather than purely conceptual theory. From there, the conversation widens into the cultural, environmental, and moral implications of how we build.To explain it, we begin with a simple idea: sustainability is not about novelty or technology alone, but about durability, repairability, and stewardship. From throwaway buildings to throwaway materials, Paul makes the case that much of what we call “progress” has quietly eroded our built environment and our sense of place.From there, we explore:

• why traditional architecture is a teachable and learnable language
• how modernism became the default way of building in the twentieth century
• what true sustainability looks like when you consider an entire building’s life cycle
• why local materials and local identity matter more than global sameness
• how tradition can produce diversity rather than imitation
• why the accusation that traditional design is “just copying” misses the point
• and why architects and designers cannot be neutral in shaping the civic realm

We also discuss processed materials, authenticity, modern construction constraints, and how designers can work toward something better even when budgets and systems are imperfect.This episode asks a difficult but necessary question: Are the places we are building today making life better or worse for the people who inhabit them?If you have ever felt uneasy about the way modern buildings age, or why so much of the built world feels disposable and placeless, this conversation puts language to that intuition and explains why the past still has something to teach us.