In 2023, I got to build what I call a math teacher’s geometric dream house. It’s in the form of a rhombic triacontahedron, a form that my 8th grade students might recognize from the geometry block in which we study Platonic and Archimedean solids. I teach math using a a discovery-oriented approach based on the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. My goal is to promote creativity and critical thinking in my students. The Waldorf geometry curriculum is one of the many ways that we develop young people's imagination. The 8th grade geometry curriculum allows the students (through working with both paper and clay) to experience the metamorphosis of form. 

In the 8th grade geometry block I taught for many years, wide-eyed students would observe as I pulled one wondrous, colorful geometric shape after another out of my black, somewhat battered, old-fashioned trunk. I felt like a magician lining up his props for prestidigitation. The students and I named each shape and described its qualities. Eventually, we arrived at my favorite, the rhombic triacontahedron.  At that point, I would declare my desire to someday build a house with this form; it would be such a feat, to create this work of architectural work of art, that to my knowledge, no-one had ever accomplished before. The Phi House™ sits on five stilts, its three oversized rhombic windows look out on a nearby mountain range, and its skylights invite cosmic observation at night.

In life, it is quite something when we can manifest a dream. For me, the construction process brought me the greatest joy; it was more about the journey than the destination, although the finished result is rather spectacular, especially when its metallic “Dragon Armor” clad exterior glints varying colors depending on the vantage point from which it is viewed. The Good Design award 2024 I received in the category of environment and structure, was an unexpected delight.  The ceremony in April 2025, in Athens, Greece, a fantastically surreal experience at a five-star hotel across from the Acropolis, sharing the limelight with elite corporate engineering and design teams from around the world. Truly magical and humbling.