Monica Pascatore: Think differently, ask questions and empower communities

After growing up in Western New York, she has spent almost her entire professional career in Baltimore, creating spaces – community centers, nature centers, parks, memorials, sports venues – that bring people together for the greater good.

Monica is sitting in her childhood home when we connect for this chat. It’s an ideal setting for the conversation, which traverses her childhood, career arc, personal passions, and beyond. She’s essentially immersed in the origins of her story.

It’s not easy for everyone to talk about their personal journeys, but Monica seems ready. “This will be fun,” we agree. And then, as part of CannonDesign’s ongoing My Voice series, Monica shares her story...

People deserve to know they are valued, and one of the simplest ways you can express that is by asking them about their lives.

How are you doing? What matters to you? Start there and you’ll be surprised how much you learn from people.

I don’t think of myself as a community-focused architect per se. I’m an architect and our work is to design responses to relationships, needs and people. I don’t know how you do that and deliver successful architecture without a passion for community.

Ask questions. Never stop asking questions.

Cahill Recreation Center in Baltimore is one of the projects I’m most proud to have designed. The community was told their community center was to be closed, and they fought for years to keep it open.

At the first community meeting, a man stood up and said that he didn’t want us telling the community what it needed. In that moment, he had no faith in the project.

I went over to that man after the meeting and told him I’d be designing the building. I wanted to hear what he had to say. I asked him questions...

He didn’t trust me in that moment. But three community meetings later, he was our biggest advocate.

Barbie introduced me to architecture. I’d get one or two dolls a year as gifts, and I’d imagine their stories. Then, I’d draw and build spaces where their lives could happen.

I’ve been imagining people in all different spaces for as long as I can remember.

My parents had modest means, but they created an incredible canvas for my childhood.

I’m the youngest of four and my brothers and sister and I spent so much of our youth outdoors: swimming, bonfires, hiking, exploring.

I was just four when we learned my 11-year-old brother had a brain tumor. The doctor gave him one year to live.

My parents took him all over for appointments and surgeries, and they had our family go all-in on macrobiotics: a plant-heavy, holistic lifestyle approach that is rooted heavily in traditional Japanese healing philosophies.

Eight years later the tumor was gone, and my brother lived to be 54.

Self-reliance is a good thing. You are in charge of your own destiny. Those are a few lessons I take from my brother’s experience.

I had such kind friends. I’d bring all-natural veggie sushi to lunch, and they’d be eating cookies and Fruit Roll-Ups. They never made jokes.

I’m still very close with my four main girlfriends from kindergarten. I’ve always assumed the friends you had in school stayed part of your life forever.

Drawing is so important to me. I grew up drawing mansions for my Barbies. Then, I ended up double majoring in studio art and pre-architecture in college.

For my senior thesis, I had to draw a single object for 30+ weeks. I picked shoes. I went to the local Goodwill and bought all sorts of cool, vintage footwear.

At first, you see the shoes, but the drawings make them increasingly more abstract. The shoes become spaces, they become landscapes... at least that’s how I see them.

Phillia and Ted are two people who were pivotal to my life and artistic development while I was at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. They are still married and led the school’s art and architecture programs, respectively, when I was a student.

Phillia introduced me to charcoal drawing. I used to do art shows with my charcoal drawings in Baltimore and have sold several pieces.

I love the process of charcoal drawing.

Ted always had unique prompts in his classes. He’d ask us to bring in an object and turn it into something entirely different. I converted a long-sleeve shirt into a backpack.

Don’t just see things for what they are, see them for what they could be. That was Phillia and Ted’s ethos. They always pushed me to think differently.

Architecture school also taught me there are always three solutions to any given problem. You may not like all of them, but there are always three.

Why three? I think architects should inherently conceive multiple responses to any design opportunity. And there’s magic in number three. It’s a comprehensible number of choices without overwhelming.

Robinson Nature Center is another project where I was intimately involved in every aspect of the design from beginning to end. It’s a three-story building sited in a tree canopy so that it appears as a single story.

It’s gentle in the landscape despite being a big building. I really love that one.

We’ve designed a series of neighborhood pools for Baltimore City Recreation and Parks that are about to open for the summer. They are positively closing an equity gap around swimming access in Baltimore. It’s a model other US cities should follow.

Multiple projects in Baltimore, yes. It’s where I live and work now. I love that I’m here and I’m proud to be part of the community.

Train stations are fascinating and I would love to design one someday. So many people come in and out of them all the time. They are moving, living pieces of architecture.

I actually started designing a train station for one of my college theses.  I envisioned the station as an art museum. It would connect so many people with different forms of art.

Instead of looking at your phone while you wait for the train, you could enjoy beautiful drawings, paintings, sculptures...

I’ve seen my share of train stations. I’ve been fortunate to travel to 17 countries in my life. I love connecting with all different people and their stories.

My favorite place I’ve been to? I’ll go with Denmark. Next place I want to go? New Zealand.

I have two children and I talk to them about what they want to do with their lives. I want them to chase their passions; I tell them they should do something that makes the world a better place.

Architects? Maybe they’ll work in design. But it can be hard. Design leaders are constantly putting their ideas into the world for judgement.

You need healthy outlets, too. I love group fitness.

I teach an MMA Body Combat class three days a week here in Baltimore. There are people of every age and fitness level. There is music, laughter, big smiles, and letting go. They are like fitness parties.

Smiles can have the same impact as questions. They help people feel seen and valued.

I’ve always believed you could make someone’s day just by smiling at them.