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Overview

  • 151 references 117 Confirmed & Positive
  • Fluent in English; learning French, German, Spanish
  • 39, Male
  • Member since 2012
  • Architect
  • Undergraduate, Masters and Professional Degrees in Archit...
  • From London, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  • Profile 100% complete

About Me

I'm Andrew, an architect from Manchester in the United Kingdom. I recently returned to Europe after a couple of years living in and exploring Australasia and the Pacific North West. When I left Vancouver I road tripped the entire way from Vancouver to Patagonia through North, Central and South America. I am currently hoping to embark on an adventure through India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

I'm passionate about architecture and over the course of the past 10 years it really has become my life, the past couple of years have been incredible and I've been able to work as an architect in London, New York, Los Angeles, Singapore, Sydney and in Melbourne I set up a local chapter of the international charity Architecture for Humanity. [http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewkgreen] I am also a professor of architecture and it has become my passion to inspire and empower future generations.

I devote a lot of energy into remaining productive and in a constant state of personal growth. I tend to take freelance architect roles that challenge me, or push me out of my comfort zone or expose me to a new context or building typologies. I recently started teaching architecture and it's been incredibly rewarding, this has exponentially grown in popularity through the Covid-19 pandemic and I currently have around 10-15 students at any one time.

I’m inspired by diverse locations, nature, culture and people and aspire to live and work in as many of the worlds greatest cities as possible during my life. It is my dream to build my own kinetic tiny house 🏡. I'm informally training to be a beekeeper and thinking to open a small business like a brewery, hotel retreat or eatery.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

CS really did change my life. The concept that you can go anywhere in the world and you’ll have a local friend there. The sociocultural exchange inspires and encourages me to travel more. If generic hotels, gringo filled hostels and sterile airbnb’s were my only option I wouldn’t have been to half as many places on earth 🌍 🌎.

I love the authenticity of CS, to really feel what it’s like to live somewhere as a local. When surfing I appreciate that I no longer have any judgement or expectations, shanty towns or private jets, you never know what to expect and I love the element of surprise )) When hosting it is a pleasure to express true hospitality and bring the spirit and positive energy of travel and freedom into your home 🏡

I love meeting new positive people from different backgrounds and cultures. When I moved to Melbourne in 2013 I met the majority of my new friends from over 20 different countries through CS. I hosted every now and again, regularly attended meetups in the city and really felt part of the community. I contribute by organising events and often conduct tours (predominantly graffiti or architecture related). Have until now found it a struggle to host, whether it being that I’m constantly on the move, or mainly that I house share with individuals that are unable to understand the concept of ‘having random people in the house’… I'm hoping to find a house share with other couchsurfers or a least a house that is open to me hosting every now and again. I was introduced to couchsurfing by a colleague in late 2012, now I'm totally hooked!. In 2012-2014 I surfed my way across the USA, Canada, Australia, South East Asia and Europe and met some incredible people on the way, just recently embarked on my most ambitious trip from Vancouver BC, North America, all the way south through Central and South America to Santiago de Chile, hope to meet and possibly travel with lots of new surfers and hosts along the way! When I left my small town in the UK with plans to independently adventure and see the world, I felt so alone with my aspiration, but meeting so many CS'rs all over the world made me realise there are thousands of people like me, that don't stand for the norm, travel, open their minds and expect more from life. It might sound soppy, but I hold CS responsible for a total revolution in my life. It changed attitude towards travel and has significantly transformed my outlook on life, enabling me to become completely open, free of judgement, accepting of all people and added to the altruistic and optimistic facets of my character. This revised attitude has subsequently brought so many wonderful, authentic, people and so much joy and positivity into my life. Enabling me to grow, love and become genuinely happy.

-EUROPE; Austria (Vienna, Innsbruck) Croatia (Zagreb, Plitvice, Zadar, Split, Brac, Dubrovnik) Cyprus (Limassol, Larnaca), Denmark (Copenhagen, Odense, Aarhus, Billund. Vjele, Rønde), England (Manchester, London, Oxford, Bristol, Cambridge, Birmingham, Nottingham, Bath, so on), Estonia (Tallinn), Finland (Helsinki), France (Lyon, Paris, Nice, Marseille, Aix en Provence, Montpellier), Germany (Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Wolfsburg, Wiesbaden, Leipzig, Essen, Dresden, Frankfurt, Munich, Kassel, Alt Rosentaal), Greece (Athens, Thessaloniki, Evia, Meteora, Rhodes), Hungary (Budapest), Iceland (Reykjavík), Italy (Como, Milan, Naples, Rome, Vatican City, Venice) Latvia (Riga), Lithuania (Vilnius, Kaunas, Alytus), Norway (Oslo, Kristiansand, Bergen, Stavanger, Preikestolen, Trolltunga, Alesund, Kristiansund), Poland (Warsaw, Krakow, Wroclaw, Poznan, Gdansk, Szczecin), Scotland (Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee, Skye), Sweden (Stockholm, Malmo), Switzerland (Zurich, Basel, Lausanne, Geneva, St Gallen, Anzere).

-BALKANS; Montenegro (Herceg Novi, Perast, Kotor, Tivat, Budva, Bar, Podgorica, Niksic, Zabljak), Albania (Shkodër, Durres, Tirana, Vlore, Himare, Vuno, Sarande, Gjirokaster, Berat), North Macedonia (Skopje, Bitola, Krushevo, Prilep, Lake Ohrid, Mavrovo), Kosovo (Prishtina, Prizren), Bulgaria (Sofia,Plovdiv)

-MIDDLE EAST; Armenia (Yerevan), Turkiye (Istanbul, Ankara, Bodrum, Kusadasi, Izmir, Marmaris, Altinkum, Cappadocia, Izmir, Datça, Mesudiya),

-AFRICA; Morocco (Marrakesh, Casablanca),

-AUSTRALIA; VIC: Melbourne, WA: Perth, QLD: Adelaide, TAS: Hobart.

-ASIA; Singapore, Malaysia (KL, Penang), Laos (Vientiene), Thailand (Bangkok, Chang Mai), China (Hong Kong).

-NORTH AMERICA; USA; New York (Brooklyn, Manhattan), Boston, Detroit, Chicago, LA (Hollywood, Downtown, Silverlake, Venice), San Francisco, Reno, Las Vegas, Seattle, Portland, San Diego.
Canada (Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver)

CENTRAL AMERICA: Mexico (CDMX, Guanajuato, Lyon, San Luis Potosi, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Yucatan, Quintana Roo), Belize, Guatemala (Guatemala City, , Honduras (San Pedro Sula, Utila, Peña Blanca, Tegucigalpa), Nicaragua (Managua, Ganada, Masaya), Costa Rica (San Jose), Panama (Panama City, San Blas).

-SOUTH AMERICA: Columbia (Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Pasto), Ecuador, Peru (Mancora, Lima, Cusco, Ica, Arequipa), Bolivia (La Paz, Uyuni), Chile (San pedro Atacama, Santiago, Patagonia), Argentina (Mendoza, Córdoba, Buenos Aires), Uruguay (Colonia, Montevideo), Paraguay, Brazil (Florianapolis, Sao Paulo, Rio).

🇬🇧 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 🇧🇪 🇳🇱 🇩🇪 🇪🇸 🇵🇹 🇦🇹 🇮🇹🇨🇭🇻🇦
🇩🇰 🇳🇴 🇸🇪 🇫🇮 🇮🇸
🇸🇰 🇸🇮 🇭🇺 🇭🇷
🇪🇪 🇱🇹 🇱🇻
🇬🇷 🇨🇾 🇹🇷 🇦🇲
🇨🇳 🇯🇵 🇸🇬 🇲🇾 🇹🇭 🇱🇦 🇰🇭
🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇲🇽
🇬🇹 🇧🇿 🇭🇳 🇳🇮 🇨🇷 🇵🇦
🇨🇴 🇪🇨 🇵🇪 🇧🇴 🇨🇱 🇦🇷 🇧🇷
🇦🇺
🇲🇦

🇭🇷🇷🇸🇧🇦🇲🇪🇽🇰🇲🇰🇦🇱🇧🇬

Interests

Art, design, architecture, photography, sport and travelling are at the core of all my interests, although I have a massive appetite and am a pretty decent chef.

I'm an chartered architect but consider myself a multidisciplinary designer, [https://instagram.com/agreenarchitect] I try to devote time to my art practice and have recently sold works on 4 continents via the Saatchi gallery in London. [http://www.saatchionline.com/andrewkgreen]

I have quite severe dyslexia, am extremely visual and have a tendency to read peoples facial expressions more than what they say. I also have quite generous sprinklings of ADD, so please don't be surprised if I voice my inner monologue, or offended if I get distracted by the most banal, irrelevant things..

I'm big into FOOD, permaculture, health and wellbeing. Personally, I follow a relatively strict paleo (caveman) diet, meaning I restrict consumption of processed or preserved foods, wheat, dairy, sugar or chemicals, (which are in most foods!)... I eat fresh seasonal organic fruit and veg, free range meat and eggs, nuts, seeds and some grains [https://instagram.com/aakgron]. So please don't be offended if I don't eat your cake!) I do however love artisanal craft beer (especially porter/ipa) and its one of my ambitions to start a microbrewery!

During summer I am pretty active, but tend to hibernate during winter months.. I like trying new things like slacklining, bouldering, bikram, and ultimate frisbee. Although my favourite sport is HIIT / CrossFit / circuit training / bootcamps paired with different yoga subtypes, It's my ambition to formally learn how to teach traditional yoga in India. When I moved to BC, Canada, I got really into nature and hiking 🥾!

  • animals
  • pets
  • arts
  • culture
  • architecture
  • design
  • graphic design
  • street art
  • photography
  • burningman
  • festivals
  • dining
  • cooking
  • beer
  • mexican food
  • raw food
  • vegetarian
  • paleo diet
  • fitness
  • running
  • working out
  • crossfit
  • traveling
  • music
  • hiking
  • sports
  • entrepreneurship
  • tourism
  • visual arts
  • volunteering
  • solo travel
  • working visa
  • travel
  • food
  • nature
  • slackline
  • sustainability
  • permaculture
  • plants
  • craft beer
  • bees
  • graffiti
  • off-grid living
  • slacklining
  • community
  • brewing
  • beer brewing
  • beekeeping
  • breweries
  • dogs and cats

Music, Movies, and Books

LCD Soundsystem, Alt-J, Jose Gonzalez, the XX, Foals, Ben Howard, Rufus, Disclosure, Amy Winehouse, Portishead, Moloko, Alpines, SBTRKT, Caribou, TEED, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, MGMT, Pantha Du Prince, London Grammar, Ludovico Einaudi /
Parasite, Fight Club, Training Day, Napoleon Dynamite, Anchorman, Aliens, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Pulp Fiction, Drive, Airplane, Spaceballs, Blue is the Warmest Colour, Back to the Future, Sword in the Stone, Happy Go Lucky, This is England /
Fleabag, The Office, Alan Partridge, David Attenborough, The Mighty Boosh, Killing Eve, Peep Show, Summer Heights High, Curb your Enthusiasm, Black Mirror, Fleabag /
Rich Dad Poor Dad, Sapiens, Diving Bell and Butterfly, Trainspotting, The Secret, Fantastic Mr Fox, The Twits, Georges Marvellous Medicine, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, S,M,L,XL.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

-Working internationally as an architect within twelve different cities across six continents.
-Travelling for 1 year over 300,000 km on land throughout every country in the Americas (British Colombia - Patagonia).
-Lived in NYC (Brooklyn) during Hurricane Sandy
-Hiked 35km to Panorama ridge in one day! at Lake Garibalidi BC, Canada
-Built art projects at Burning Man; NV, USA
-2 week long silent vipassana meditation monastery in Pai, Thailand.
-Trekked for 3 days to Matcha Piccu, Peru in the monsoon rain...

Other favourites include:
-Ankor Watt; Cambodia
-1000 islands (Don Det); Laos
-Crater Lake; OR, USA
-Mount Rainier; WA, USA
-Huacachina dessert oasis; Peru
-Salar de Uyuni (Salt Flats); Bolivia
-Iguazu falls; Brazil/Argentina
-Plitvice Lake; Croatia
-Bobotov Kuk; Montenegro
-Meteora; Macedonia, Greece

Teach, Learn, Share

I particularly love skillsharing: my absolute number #1 passion being cooking 👨🏼‍🍳 🥘 But also: Brewing/fermenting 🍺🍷🍾 Preserving/pickling 🥬 🥕🥒 Soapmaking 🧼🧴 Beekeeping 🐝 🍯 Gardening/Permaculture 🌱 Yoga and Workouts 🧘🏼‍♂️🧘🏽‍♀️ Architectural Design 🛖🏘🏢🌆🏙 Building Construction 🦺 🔨 Art 🎨 🖼 Savings and Investments 💸💰 F.I.R.E 🔥

Think I could share a thing or two about, multidisciplinary design, architecture, gastronomy and entrepreneurship. I am totally open and enthusiastic to share anecdotal experiences of international travel and encourage cultural exchange. I am fascinated to hear about peoples unique lives and am happy to discuss what it’s like to grow up in Great Britain and what I have experienced living and working in Australasia and North America.

Street art, graphic design and typography have always and remain to have abstract influence on my lifestyle and work. I have an ongoing stencil graffiti project which references (and sometimes adapts) quotations from music, film and literature. I’m happy to take you on an alternative tour of the local graffiti sites in each respective city and maybe we can even cut and (covertly) spray a stencil or make a unique T-shirt print from a manhole cover in an urban context of your choice!

Although it’s generally connected to the architectural charity I’m involved with, I spend a lot of time volunteering at a community workshop project in Brixton. If your free on a Thursday evening or Saturday afternoon, your welcome to join me upcycle innovative furniture from recycled waste!

What I Can Share with Hosts

There are not many things in this life more important to me than food and I love to cook for my hosts. I've been cooking since I was around 5 years old (mainly because my parents couldn't!), I've taken a few specialised courses, acquired knowledge and built up skills from meeting new international friends over the past few years. I like generous rustic (sometimes experimental) food, and I'm experienced in paleo, vegetarian and raw cooking, as well as; English, German, French, Hungarian, Greek, Japanese, Indian, Korean, Mexican, Peruvian, Venezuelan, Thai, Malay and Laotian cuisines. [https://instagram.com/aakgron] favourite dishes include: Bibimbap, Moqueqa, Mennamen, Kleftico, Fesenjoon, Ceviche, Bourguignon, Ramen, Som tam, Pad Thai, Pho, Schnitzel, Sunday roast!

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guernsey, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Kosovo, Laos, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Northern Ireland, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City State, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Old School Badges

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