Meet Allan Horton

We were lucky to catch up with Allan Horton recently and have shared our conversation below.

Allan, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

My sense of resilience comes from an ability to adapt to constant change through consistent training and a desire for continual improvement. For the better part of my twenty plus year career as an architect, manager, and practice leader at leading firms in New York City, I’ve witnessed colossal changes within the global AEC community. My martial arts practice, Alpaca Wing Tsun, is my secret engine, providing a greater sense of purpose on a personal level through a partnership with the City Wing Tsun Athletic Association. My experience learning and teaching Wing Tsun (Southern Chinese Kung Fu) over the course of the last fourteen years, and our resulting community, has been pivotal in what I’d call a very organic journey. Inspiring growth and wellness in individuals, as well as organizations, has been and remains my ultimate aim.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I attended the Pratt Institute’s MArch I program, graduating in 2005. The program emphasized digital intelligence and 3D fluency around a distinctively dynamic, digital architecture and its non-digital history- reflecting perhaps a precocious prediction or precursor for what we consider to be some of the most sophisticated or “smart” buildings delivered today. Since I graduated, I’ve had the opportunity to work with some of the best firms in the world on many “first-of-kind” projects across sectors. It has been a tremendous learning experience for which I am eternally grateful.
Prior to Pratt, I taught writing at a community college in Portland, OR while making large-scale, high-precision, glass installation sculptures with a team of artist-engineers, for Henry Hillman Jr. Close friend and artist Sean Healy, along with Henry himself (who conveyed limitless optimism as inventors and philanthropists often do) inspired me to pursue architecture as a career. Parallel to architecture, my interest in the craft of writing, perhaps my highest form of expression, would continue to evolve.

In Portland, I learned to synthesize interests in art and community through the teaching of college level essay writing and the collective product of my students’ work. Public Art and teaching collaborations with Sean and sociologist, author and educator Randy Blazak, further supported my desire to go to Pratt- known for producing well-known and often controversial yet impactful Creatives. Pratt’s program was visionary- led at the time by Dr. Catherine Ingraham, an extremely transdisciplinary thinker ahead of her time. It was post-911 in the city- everything needed rethinking. Creative impact through teaching, writing and built form remains the focus- private martial arts coaching, a nourishing supplement.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Adaptability, optimism and empathy have shaped the way I navigate professionally. Enthusiasm and a desire to motivate transformation and trigger impact keep my work meaningful.

For those early in their journey, I’d say: follow what genuinely interests you beyond what simply appears impressive. Practice patience. Try to remain generous and know that stronger relationships will carry you further than any single achievement. Focus on learning- the path has a way of unfolding.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

I’ve been fortunate to have a strong circle around me. My life partner has been my anchor- someone who reminds me of who I am when the path is unclear. My Wing Tsun Sifu, Alex Richter, and training partners, have helped shape my capacity for discipline, humility, work ethic and calm under pressure. Close friends and family have shown up consistently, often believing in me before I believed in myself. Any progress I’ve made comes from that shared support and an array of professional mentors- it has never been a solitary journey.

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Image Credits

Torin Olsen

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