AIA Nortwest Arkansas hosted “An Evening with Bart Shaw” last Friday evening. Presending a range of projects, Bart took a deep dive into the challenges and opportunity of small projects that reach for big ideals. Forging through the thicket of sole practionership, he learned to mine projects through research and exploration to find a core idea for each project. A thesis in form or experience that illuminates what is important about the project – the warm center at the heart of the effort. It answers the questions “How can the architecture represent or participate in the highest aspirations of the project?”. He discussed how these projects use craft and form to capture a sense of humanity that people can relate to, while never abandoning the pragmatic basis of construction and functional restraints.