Rusty is drawn to the spaces between conventions. Rather than accepting established ways of thinking, he looks for the hidden assumptions beneath them, asking who they serve, who they exclude, and how architecture can create something more generous in their place.

Influenced by the counterculture ethos of punk rock, skateboarding, and the creative worlds that orbit them, Rusty’s approach is distinct in its empathic interpretation of space, and its faith in a building’s ability to shape belonging. For example, he doesn’t design schools for the A student, because that student will likely succeed anywhere. Instead, he designs for the student struggling to connect, the one who feels marginalized, or the one who can’t seem to focus.

At Holabird & Root, Rusty has helped guide the firm's design direction with the belief that architecture is a practice of making rather than a product to be delivered. His approach centers on the idea that architecture is shaped through artifacts of thought: sketches, models, systems, conversations, and iterations that evolve into increasingly complex frameworks for building. For him, the building is not the singular goal, but the consequence of deeply investing in the act of creating itself.

That mindset has helped Rusty lead some of the firm's most ambitious work while broadening the reach of its design culture. In recent years, he has played a key role in establishing Holabird & Root's India office, creating new pathways for collaboration and the exchange of ideas across continents.

But for Rusty, all of that is in service of something simple: beauty. Not necessarily as an object, but as an experience. Something familiar. Something that improves everyday life, often so seamlessly it goes unnoticed. To be trusted to create that, and to use that trust responsibly, remains the deepest responsibility and reward of his practice.