2024-05-05T17:37:32-04:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/149993165/duvall-decker-architects-combine-greater-agency-and-public-outreach-to-benefit-mississippi-and-the-profession-at-large Julia Ingalls 2017-02-21T18:12:00-05:00 >2021-02-19T18:59:00-05:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/oh/oha4js2k8v0r3hw6.jpeg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>Since they founded Duvall Decker nearly 20 years ago, the Deckers, as they&rsquo;re known, have focused mostly on neglected corners in and around Jackson, Mississippi&rsquo;s capital. To pay the bills, the two have redefined for themselves the ambit of a small architectural practice. They have become developers and even branched into building maintenance: a soup-to-nuts strategy that has allowed them more than just financial breathing room.</p></em><br /><br /><p>Helping impoverished Mississippi communities? Check. Making money while creating a business model that empowers you with the decision-making powers of developers? Check. Being notable and effective enough to earn your own profile in <em>The New York Times</em> by Michael Kimmelman? Done, done, and done for Duvall Decker Architects, which also was named one of <a href="http://archinect.com/news/article/149988668/the-emerging-voices-winners-for-2017" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">2017's Emerging Voices</a> by the Architectural League of New York. What's especially enheartening about this profile is how by virtue of increasing the quality of their own professional lives, the architects have also vastly increased the well-being of their community. &nbsp;</p>