Architect Jim Cappuccino, partner at Hutker Architects, gave a lecture titled, “A Career Shaped by Place,” as part of the Cummings Schools of Architecture Events Series at his alma mater, Roger Williams University. We invited him into the Boiler Room to talk about this lecture. Jim discovered the inevitability of his career trajectory, while putting together that presentation. What became apparent was that he became a residential architect ”mostly through observation of these historic homes that I was surrounded by while growing up.” He adds that his parents “pushed him in that direction.” But like so many, Jim had to leave home in order to rediscover it anew. This led to years of practice in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, before returning to New England.

As always, we asked Jim about his boombox story. It begins with weekends with Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 and a cassette tape, along with WHJY, known on-air as 94HJY, Providence, Rhode Island.