What advice would you give your twenty-year- old self?

Ski more days

What valuable lesson did you learn from your parents?

Only take as much as you can actually eat.

What's the difference between art and design?

Art distills our sensed reality. Design synthesizes our learned ethics.

What's the most important part of your morning routine?

Brew an iced tea, read NYTimes.com, and water the vegetable garden.

What's your most powerful characteristic?

Curiosity about people and their motivations

Where would you take a month-long road trip?

Take a lap around the Adriatic coastline, clockwise.

In a parallel universe, what is your profession?

Patent examiner

What's the strangest place you've ever visited?

James Turrell's installation inside a small house (Naoshima, Japan)