"The students I'm seeing at Penn are not growing up in traditional small cities and towns," the architect explained.

First, the architect explained, the top story of the two-story dining hall would be demolished.

WITH this system, the architect explained, it was easier to change things as the job went along.

To hear the architects explain it, though, what they did was more like un-design.

"The point was to make this a very open space that really had the feeling of a country house," explains the architect.

The architect later explained his thinking to design school students:

The architect explains his reasoning and says he thinks the tenant might enjoy the privacy.

"I made it wider and replaced the rush seat," the architect explained.

"We press the buttons when we want to change the view," the architect explained.

The architect explained that the current design would allow for future vertical expansion.