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Name: George Luis Cumella
Job Title: Project Manager
Company Name: Mojo Stumer Associates
How has your working environment changed over the last year?
It’s gone from working in a space with less light and air to one where there is a greater connection to nature. I’ve been able to have lunch near the Long Island Sound and enjoy the tranquility of looking at the water and all its wonderful reflections. It’s been a great time of re-evaluation and transformation and ultimately a benefit to my overall quality of life.
What was the biggest lesson you learned while working during the pandemic?
The pandemic was a time to reconsider professional paths. As architects and society at large, we witnessed the vulnerabilities of high-density cities, in particular those with great dependencies on mass transit. The pandemic prompted great opportunities for architects to work in areas of lesser density. In my case, I made the transition from working in Manhattan to Long Island. On Long Island there are developing areas planning sustainable communities that have a greater degree of self-sufficiency but that are not as vulnerable to the difficulties that come along with pandemics. An increase in multifamily housing development is enabling the creation of hubs as described in Ebenezer Howard’s vision for Garden Cities. An internodal series of self-sufficient sustainable communities allows for cultural, retail, residential uses to coexist with the ultimate purpose of decongesting highly urbanized areas. The positive side effects being the reduction on the dependence of the automobile and overcrowded public transit and consequently the possibility of people living within bicycle distance from their homes to their work. This is an exciting time of transition where new opportunities exist for architects, urban planners, landscape architects, and many other design professionals.
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