Jurij Leshchyshyn

Look up “architecture” in the dictionary and you are likely to find this definition: The art or practice of designing and building structures. For Jurij Leshchyshyn, however, this doesn’t go quite far enough. “Architecture can do so much more,” he says. “We shouldn’t limit ourselves.”

Leshchyshyn views architecture as the intellectual structure behind everything—an idea that he speaks to at international conferences and with his students. More than designing the built environment, he believes that architects should be involved in other fields, specifically public policy roles that influence government, the economy and society at large, all of which, Leshchyshyn says, could benefit from an architectural perspective.

This perspective includes a future-thinking approach, technical expertise, concern for the environment and the people who live within it, as well as the ability to grapple with complexity. An architect’s aptitude for design remains essential, of course. But it’s the pivot in its application that intrigues and inspires Leshchyshyn. “Public policy is the most powerful form of design there is.”