I've been out of grad school and working at a firm for just over 2 yrs and am beginning to look towards a smaller town to move to with my wife and child. I've already identified Charlottesville, VA as the home of Mc Donough and I'm on the prowl for any other like sized smaller towns or cities that do challenging work for an international client base. Minneapolis is also on my list with MS&R, HGA, vjaa, juliesnowarchitects, and loomstudio. I'd be keen to hear any recommendations. I know I'm not narrowing it down an awful lot, but we're early on in our planning stages and really open to the possibilities. Any advice is appreciated...
Pelli is located in New Haven, CT - pop. about 125,000.
Keep in mind - celebrated firms that pursue international work need convenient access to a big airport and a location attractive to other talented architects. those are strong reasons for such firms to locate in major population centers.
Saint Louis generally qualifies in most people's minds as a small town, though I generally think of it as a big town / small city kinda thing. It's a great place to raise kids and be a family. Low cost of living, free cultural attractions (zoo, art museum, hist museum, etc -- Forest Park), and a great collection of Catholic schools providing top-notch education (as well as some good public schools out in the wealthier burbs, ie, Clayton, Ladue).
nashville has been growing as of late, but is still a great small city and home to several well known firms (gs+p, lrk). also, all the free country music you could ever want.
if you get outside of our insular back-biting 'community' and pay attention to what laypeople know/appreciate, i think you'll find that, in fact, M. Graves is ... one of the highest-regarded architects in the world... for better or worse.
new orleans has eskew+ and trahan is just up the road in baton rouge. new orleans has always been a great architecture town but also has a lot of design energy circulating around it right now, for obvious reasons.
i've never met anyone who wanted to work for michael graves. then again, i was born in 1977.
i often ask the same question about where to practice. my shortlist is not so much determined by the "internationally regarded firms" in the area, but where i can most effectively start my own practice. proximity to academic institutions is important both as a possible source of supplemental income and as a way to attract top talent into the office. you also need a place with a progressive view of architecture, where can you find clients that appreciate "architecture." additionally you have to look at where you can raise a family and proximity to extended family and good friends. certainly not an easy mix to satisfy all your criteria. my shortlist: ann arbor, charlottesville, portland (or), birmingham (al), traverse city (mi) - just off the top of my head.
hamilton- if you a serious about freezing in Mpls, drop me a note - I think my office will be hiring soon. the twin cities are great for a midwestern metro. the only downside is the weather. ms+r seems to be a lull right now, but the corporate firms (with int'l projects) are quite busy.
I too don't think Rotterdam or Basel can be called 'small towns' ... Frisco and Philadelphia are internationally well-known cities...
I received an e-mail from W magazine last month, they were trying to contact RCR Architects -they have their website closed- and found a site about them I did... W are in New York and RCR Architects are in Olot, Catalonia, Europe, a town with 31,000 pop, almost at the other side of the planet....
so yeah, if you know how to sell your work you can make it from even a cave in the Ural Mountains I suppose
Moshe Safdie - Somerville, MA - pop. 77,500, on the fringe of Cambridge so not really a small town, but certainly headed out of town toward the suburbs.
The first ones that I've thought of were Zumthor in Haldenstein and Baumschlager-Eberle in Lochau. But I see that holz.box already covered that ones...
not sure if they are quite up to name recognition of those mentioned here so far but Burt Hill has its original and largest US office in butler, pa (pop. 15k+) about an hour north of pittsburgh, pa...they also have a 500 person office in dubai and a growing office in india as well as several US offices...projects are shared across US and international offices depending on staffing needs...
I think Portland, Maine (~60-70,000) has a pretty good architecture scene, as well as being a great small city that feels large due to its distance from Boston (about 2hrs), but still has train access, an airport, etc, as well as an art school and some colleges.
marion blackwell is in Fayetteville Arkansas...along with Walmart and Purdue Chicken along with the University of Arkansas. Marion was in the last issue of Architecture, for a golf course clubhouse building.
The architecture scene is a bit provincial - either small firms run by self-important and out of touch UT faculty or larger firms run by aging good ol' boys.
If you can tolerate that, the industry seems to be thriving and you have options ratio of salary to cost of living is quite good compared to the northeast and the west and Austin is a livable city.
What's most promising about Austin is that land is cheap and the city planning department has programs/incentives that make it feasible for you as an architect to develop your own projects. Perhaps there are other small cities that have similar programs - I'm not sure.
Can we all pleas try to replicate what they've got going in Switzerland: a series of small-town architects who do some of the best and most finely detailed work in the world?
In most small towns in America, you'll find one or two middle-of the road architects struggling to get by on kitchen remodels and the occasional storefront.
By the way, Bainbridge Island, WA is home to Jim Cutler, who does some beautiful work, and a few other small good firms. But please don't move there. It's overpopulated already.
I agree with Farwest....let's emulate the Swiss model!
It would be amazing if the US saw talent and serious architecture culture spread out into regions around the big cities instead of just the cities themselves.
The cost of living in major urban centers is an impediment for the best and brightest taking independent practice - at least in the smaller places you could afford to live and practice.
Does anyone think that places outside the major urban centers are receptive to design?
Also, we're not going to change the status of architects in small-town USA until we change the population's relationship to, and respect for, good design.
Which is exceptionally difficult in a country that has an historic fondness for cheapness in everything.
I agree, I don't think we're going to make headway in the smallest of towns, where economies are hurting, education is lacking, and building above WalMart standards is rejected as elite or extravagant.
Is there an in-between superstar cities and the sticks, where a culture of architecture could emerge (like Switzerland)?
I have been wondering if smaller blue cities in reddish states like Austin, Madison, Kansas City, Little Rock AR, Ann Arbor, Portland ME, etc - could be hospitable to good design?
A small town with a internationally regarded firm? Does such a place exist?
I've been out of grad school and working at a firm for just over 2 yrs and am beginning to look towards a smaller town to move to with my wife and child. I've already identified Charlottesville, VA as the home of Mc Donough and I'm on the prowl for any other like sized smaller towns or cities that do challenging work for an international client base. Minneapolis is also on my list with MS&R, HGA, vjaa, juliesnowarchitects, and loomstudio. I'd be keen to hear any recommendations. I know I'm not narrowing it down an awful lot, but we're early on in our planning stages and really open to the possibilities. Any advice is appreciated...
do basel and rotterdam count as small towns?
if you're looking for small american cities, definitely check out minneapolis, portland, milwaukee, san francisco, philadelphia, columbus.
or if you want smaller, i dunno. i think your only hope is college towns like charlottesville and ann arbor.
or maybe you can stumble across some small city that has a unknown but interesting and quirky architect?
or you could work for rural studio. or start your own version of it.
Pelli is located in New Haven, CT - pop. about 125,000.
Keep in mind - celebrated firms that pursue international work need convenient access to a big airport and a location attractive to other talented architects. those are strong reasons for such firms to locate in major population centers.
Saint Louis generally qualifies in most people's minds as a small town, though I generally think of it as a big town / small city kinda thing. It's a great place to raise kids and be a family. Low cost of living, free cultural attractions (zoo, art museum, hist museum, etc -- Forest Park), and a great collection of Catholic schools providing top-notch education (as well as some good public schools out in the wealthier burbs, ie, Clayton, Ladue).
Please come to Indianapolis. We need all the talent we can get.
relatively good quality of life and affordable
Princeton, NJ. We have some of the highest-regarded firms in the world right here in a great small-town environment.
RMJM Hillier
CHU2A
KSS
M. Graves
KVD
and the list goes on...
not sure if M. Graves is still, or ever, one of the highest-regarded architects in the world
I agree totally... he's just a famous name in the area...
what about austin? not my suggestion, im actually wondering myself
Austin is pretty happening despite all the sprawl. And there must be some good architects hanging around because UT is a good school.
nashville has been growing as of late, but is still a great small city and home to several well known firms (gs+p, lrk). also, all the free country music you could ever want.
if you get outside of our insular back-biting 'community' and pay attention to what laypeople know/appreciate, i think you'll find that, in fact, M. Graves is ... one of the highest-regarded architects in the world... for better or worse.
new orleans has eskew+ and trahan is just up the road in baton rouge. new orleans has always been a great architecture town but also has a lot of design energy circulating around it right now, for obvious reasons.
Albuquerque has Bart Prince and Antoine Predock.
I'm pretty sure Rotterdam - as the Netherlands' second largest city and Europe's biggest port - doesn't count as a small town...
very true oldenvirginia... on the same note, i'm pretty sure that philadelphia and san francisco are not small towns...
how 'bout marlon blackwell in fayetteville, arkansas...
i've never met anyone who wanted to work for michael graves. then again, i was born in 1977.
i often ask the same question about where to practice. my shortlist is not so much determined by the "internationally regarded firms" in the area, but where i can most effectively start my own practice. proximity to academic institutions is important both as a possible source of supplemental income and as a way to attract top talent into the office. you also need a place with a progressive view of architecture, where can you find clients that appreciate "architecture." additionally you have to look at where you can raise a family and proximity to extended family and good friends. certainly not an easy mix to satisfy all your criteria. my shortlist: ann arbor, charlottesville, portland (or), birmingham (al), traverse city (mi) - just off the top of my head.
hamilton- if you a serious about freezing in Mpls, drop me a note - I think my office will be hiring soon. the twin cities are great for a midwestern metro. the only downside is the weather. ms+r seems to be a lull right now, but the corporate firms (with int'l projects) are quite busy.
I too don't think Rotterdam or Basel can be called 'small towns' ... Frisco and Philadelphia are internationally well-known cities...
I received an e-mail from W magazine last month, they were trying to contact RCR Architects -they have their website closed- and found a site about them I did... W are in New York and RCR Architects are in Olot, Catalonia, Europe, a town with 31,000 pop, almost at the other side of the planet....
so yeah, if you know how to sell your work you can make it from even a cave in the Ural Mountains I suppose
haldenstein - zumthor
flims - olgiati
botta - lugano
baumschlager & eberle - lochau
bearth & deplazes - chur
dietrich|untertrifaller - bregenz
todd saunders - bergen
Moshe Safdie - Somerville, MA - pop. 77,500, on the fringe of Cambridge so not really a small town, but certainly headed out of town toward the suburbs.
ah, holz...i love switzerland
Tucson, AZ - Rick Joy
The first ones that I've thought of were Zumthor in Haldenstein and Baumschlager-Eberle in Lochau. But I see that holz.box already covered that ones...
Renzo Piano Building Workshop Genova, Italy.
I don't think Genova -620,000- counts as a 'small town', it's almost half of Barcelona and more or less like Amsterdam
in my mind, small is less than 200k...
Wandel Hoefer Lorch + Hirsch - Saarbrücken
bruckner + bruckner - Tirschenreuth
wespi + de meuron - caviano
marlon blackwell - fayettville
not sure if they are quite up to name recognition of those mentioned here so far but Burt Hill has its original and largest US office in butler, pa (pop. 15k+) about an hour north of pittsburgh, pa...they also have a 500 person office in dubai and a growing office in india as well as several US offices...projects are shared across US and international offices depending on staffing needs...
I think Portland, Maine (~60-70,000) has a pretty good architecture scene, as well as being a great small city that feels large due to its distance from Boston (about 2hrs), but still has train access, an airport, etc, as well as an art school and some colleges.
marion blackwell is in Fayetteville Arkansas...along with Walmart and Purdue Chicken along with the University of Arkansas. Marion was in the last issue of Architecture, for a golf course clubhouse building.
I'd add to the above comments about Austin.
The architecture scene is a bit provincial - either small firms run by self-important and out of touch UT faculty or larger firms run by aging good ol' boys.
If you can tolerate that, the industry seems to be thriving and you have options ratio of salary to cost of living is quite good compared to the northeast and the west and Austin is a livable city.
What's most promising about Austin is that land is cheap and the city planning department has programs/incentives that make it feasible for you as an architect to develop your own projects. Perhaps there are other small cities that have similar programs - I'm not sure.
What about Palm Springs? are there any noteworthy architects in that area?
i think Santa Fe
Can we all pleas try to replicate what they've got going in Switzerland: a series of small-town architects who do some of the best and most finely detailed work in the world?
In most small towns in America, you'll find one or two middle-of the road architects struggling to get by on kitchen remodels and the occasional storefront.
By the way, Bainbridge Island, WA is home to Jim Cutler, who does some beautiful work, and a few other small good firms. But please don't move there. It's overpopulated already.
I agree with Farwest....let's emulate the Swiss model!
It would be amazing if the US saw talent and serious architecture culture spread out into regions around the big cities instead of just the cities themselves.
The cost of living in major urban centers is an impediment for the best and brightest taking independent practice - at least in the smaller places you could afford to live and practice.
Does anyone think that places outside the major urban centers are receptive to design?
Also, we're not going to change the status of architects in small-town USA until we change the population's relationship to, and respect for, good design.
Which is exceptionally difficult in a country that has an historic fondness for cheapness in everything.
Interloop
(in) Houston, TX
I agree, I don't think we're going to make headway in the smallest of towns, where economies are hurting, education is lacking, and building above WalMart standards is rejected as elite or extravagant.
Is there an in-between superstar cities and the sticks, where a culture of architecture could emerge (like Switzerland)?
I have been wondering if smaller blue cities in reddish states like Austin, Madison, Kansas City, Little Rock AR, Ann Arbor, Portland ME, etc - could be hospitable to good design?
Cincinnati, OH
i don't think houston classifies as a small town.
that would be living the dream...
according to this blog, LA could pass as a small town- anything but NYC, London and Tokyo- haha
I mean..
Come on!
Shermer, Illinois: high ratio of hot girls to dorky guys.
david salmela in duluth
Good architecture often follows tons of regulation and high property values. Switzerland has both, American small towns have neither.
True, ether.
I was trying too hard to stretch towards the "internationally regarded."
I do believe it's run out of Wamble's house though.
peter zumthor is in Haldenstein. Population 894.
huff + gooden - charleston, sc?
w.g. clark, charlottesville?
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.