interview by Jess McCuan . photo by Matt Rose

Name: Laurie Miller

Occupation: architect at Glazer Architecture

Age: 60

Lives in: Asheville

How long have you been working as an architect here? 11 years

And what’s your favorite building? I’m not a person who has favorites. I just can’t pick a favorite this or a favorite that. I do like City Hall, the Hotel Indigo and Pack Square Park. The park isn’t a building, but architecture is also about space and light.

What are you reading right now? I’m reading Paris: A Century of Change, by Norma Evenson. A friend asked me to be her tour guide around the city. I’m really starting to intensify my studying and re-learn French. I studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris for a year.

Paris tour guide sounds fun. French is such a beautiful language. I love their expression bon courage—good courage. It can mean something like “good luck,” but it’s deeper than that.

Deeper how? It’s so full. It’s a phrase that, to me, fills people with life.

What else do you like about France? It’s like any travel. It broadens your perspective and shows you that people all around the world are just like us.