Architecture taught me structure. PR taught me stories. This post explores how two seemingly different disciplines shaped the way I think, create, and communicate.

They seem like two very different worlds — architecture and public relations.

One is grounded in space, scale, and structure. The other? In language, perception, and people.
But having spent years navigating both, I’ve realized they speak the same language — just in different dialects.

And the more I move between the two, the more I see how deeply connected they are.

Designing Experience, Whether Spatial or Emotional

In architecture, you design experiences through form, light, flow, and proportion. You consider how people will move through a space.

In PR, you do the same — except your material isn’t concrete or glass. It’s narrative.

A good PR strategy designs how someone moves through a story: how they first notice it, what they feel, where their attention lingers, and what they take away.

Both disciplines ask the same questions:

• Who is this for?
• How will they experience it?
• And what will they remember?

Clarity is Everything — But So is Emotion

Architecture taught me that clarity matters. A confusing layout can make someone feel lost, overwhelmed, or even anxious. It taught me how a space can speak – and that what’s unsaid is just as powerful. 

Public Relations taught me to bring sensitivity into language. In PR, too, the message has to be clear. But that clarity can’t come at the cost of warmth or personality. Just like a sterile building, a sterile brand story is forgettable. 

What I’ve learned from both is this:
People don’t always remember the layout or the press release.
They remember how it made them feel.

Constraints Can Be Creative Catalysts

In architecture, you’re always working with constraints — site, budget, bylaws, climate. But these constraints don’t block creativity; they shape it.

Similarly, in communications, you often work within client limitations, brand guidelines, crisis scenarios, or tight timelines. These too, become creative prompts.

I’ve learned not to fear limitations. They’re often where the best ideas are born — in the challenge of doing more with less.

Sustainability Applies to Stories, Too

In architecture, there is a growing awareness of sustainability — not just in materials, but in the way we build for the future.

I believe stories need the same approach.
There’s a temptation in PR to go for the quick win: viral content, sensational hooks, flashy numbers. But just like unsustainable buildings, unsustainable stories collapse. They leave no impact.

I now approach storytelling with longevity in mind.
I ask: Will this message still matter in six months? In two years? What are we really saying?

Perspective is Everything — and Both Fields Taught Me That

Architecture taught me to zoom out and see the bigger picture — how small details fit into large systems. To step back and view the whole, from site context to structural flow.  It trained me to observe — to slow down and notice.

PR taught me to zoom in — to understand audiences, moments, and motives. To focus on language, nuance, sentiment, and cultural cues. It taught me how a small shift in language can completely change perception.

Now I toggle between those lenses every day:
Zoom in to empathize. Zoom out to strategize.

Where They Unite: The Human Core

At their heart, both fields are deeply human.

They’re about how people feel in a space. How they feel reading a line. How they feel seen, heard, or understood.

You can build the most functional space in the world, but if it feels cold, people won’t stay.
You can write the perfect copy, but if it lacks empathy, no one will care.

I carry this lesson with me into every piece of work — whether I’m designing a communications campaign or curating a visual brief.

Because whether it’s a building or a brand, it’s not about how it looks.
It’s about how it connects.

Why This Matters to Me

This overlap between architecture and communications is more than academic. It’s personal.

It’s how I think, how I work, and how I see the world.

Architecture taught me how to observe. PR taught me how to express.
One taught me structure. The other taught me voice.
One taught me to build. The other taught me to listen.

One grounded me. The other unblocked me.

Together, they help me design not just spaces or stories, but experiences that mean something. They’ve shaped how I think, create, and communicate — not just for work, but for myself.