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SHOWING THE WAY
“For the neighborhood I think it’s nice, but as architecture it’s kind of poor,” the architect said. “I love it,” countered the 16-year-old. “It’s cool ideas,” the older one conceded. “But I think they need better details to make it look cleaner.” “Yeah,” the boy shrugged. “It’s missing something there.” For Eric Cheng, son of hard-working Chinese immigrants from Catherine Street, and Preeti Sriratana, mentor, surrogate big brother, and architect at prestigious Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, such casual banter is a grand achievement—and the product of a remarkable bond. Four years ago, at age 12, Eric was spiraling toward a troubled adolescence, with lackluster grades, bad behavior in school and the kinds of friends that didn’t help. His father, a delivery driver, spoke little English and his mother, a school aide, wanted to go to college. (Last month, after 11 years, Wei Cheng earned a master’s degree in special education.) Recognizing the need for guidance, Wei took Eric to APEX (Asian Professional Exchange, Inc.), an organization that pairs Asian American youth with adult role models. “All he wanted to do was play basketball,” recalled Preeti, 30, a Murray Street resident and SOM senior designer whom the organization paired with Eric. “I was just hoping I could get him to finish high school.” Preeti, whose parents are doctors and immigrants from Thailand, grew up in rural Illinois with the close-knit family and support that made him feel privileged and grateful. “I thought, all those opportunities I had, I want to extend to someone from this generation,” he said.
“Yo, Preeti, I want to know what you think about this sh--,” the architect recalled Eric saying soon after enrolling in the school. “I want to know if you think the Lever House is the perfect example of the International Style.” He is now a junior, his grades in math, science and history are straight A. Preeti stays on top of his progress toward college admission and a scholarship. Preeti even stands in for Eric’s mother at parent–teacher conferences. “When he went to my school, many people thought he was my brother,” said Eric. “And yeah, he is!” Last month, Preeti stopped by the school for a design seminar showing student work. Among them was Eric’s model of the Air Force Academy Chapel in Colorado Springs. “It’s not final yet, but I just wanted to let you see the whole concept of the interior,” Eric said to Preeti. “You see the triangles sticking out?” Preeti bent down to look inside an arched structure made of cardboard that had been intricately scored and folded into repeating angles. “Is this folded from one piece?” he asked. “Yeah, one paper. Origami. I turned a weak paper into a strong structure.” Preeti looked amazed. “Wow. How’d you figure out how to do this?” Lately, the mentoring has gone beyond advice on architecture and schoolwork. Eric has started dating. For a first date recently Preeti mapped out an architecture tour—lecture included—around Columbus Circle, down to the very corner where the couple were to gaze at a construction site near Lincoln Center. At that point the plan called for Eric to dazzle the girl with a rendering of the finished building. It worked. Now as the schoolroom emptied, Preeti sat down to sketch out a map for Eric’s Valentine’s Day date, from the restaurant to the dessert place to the New Museum for a romantic top-floor vista. As he wrote, Eric confided to his mentor about his date the day before. “You know what happened yesterday? A little kiss action,” Eric said. “It was beautiful, man. You shoulda been there.” “What time did you get home?” Preeti replied. “You still did your homework, right?” Andrea Appleton contributed reporting for this article.
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