THE WALK
‘We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.’
- Winston Churchill
Our built environment results from hundreds of strictures, laws, aspirations, common practices, and complicated systems. At the deepest level, these all express a set of values, a system of beliefs made three-dimensional. Everyone deserves sunlight. Sidewalks matter. Moving through the city should be safe. From the radius of a curb and the depth of a setback, to door heights and tree canopy, this ‘real-world matrix’ is hiding in plain sight.
However:
Over time, our shared beliefs shift. They come into conflict. They’re skewed by economics. Within just a few short blocks, Christopher tells a complex story – of what we’ve built, and of who we are.
THE EXPERT
A Reynoldstonian for over two decades, a gifted architect and prolific builder, Christopher Leerssen has also headed up the neighborhood zoning committee, and served many terms on the RCIL Board. His two small-scale developments – Mattie Branch and R-town Lane – are models of sensitive and attuned intervention. Christopher lives right here in Reynoldstown, amidst dozens of homes he’s built, renovated, and/or designed, and where he and his wife Christina have raised three proud young Reynoldstonians. From zoning and building codes, to infrastructure and architecture, he knows Reynoldstown up one side and down the other.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
“If every neighborhood had a builder/neighbor as thoughtful and humane as Christopher, the world would be a better place.”