Southern Home (SH): In the past, you’ve shared that you designed your first house when you were five, so you obviously discovered your calling at a tender age. We’re curious—if you hadn’t become an architect, what do you think you would have been?
Bobby McAlpine (BMc): I’ve really never even entertained that thought. I’ve been asked before what I’d like to come back as in my next life, and my very quick answer is I’d want to come back briefly as a tornado. And after that, perhaps a singer-songwriter.
SH: That’s an intriguing answer, given you’re a creative rather than destructive person!
I’m not, but I think of a tornado as being a giant electric eraser, and I’d be able to remove so much ugly stuff—with no loss of life, of course—and restore the universe for a moment. Tornados are subjective in the way they jump over one house
