My name is Dan Nguyen, but I go by Nuge, which is pronounced like “NOOJ”. That nickname was dubbed by friends who have mispronounced my last name “Nguyen,” but it has grown to be a name of familiarity.

I studied architecture at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island and graduated with my master in Architecture. After several years in the field, I found the working experience to be sharply different from the intensive, creative process of my architectural studies. The work required me to be strapped down to a computer, drawing construction documents and rearranging condominium layouts. Whereas in architecture school, I had a license to be as wild and imaginative as possible.