A beloved figure in Chicago’s architecture community is being mourned this week after the news that Brininstool + Lynch founder Brad Lynch passed away on Monday at the age of 64.

Lynch was known as the designer of seminal works throughout the Midwest region, including the Racine Art Museum, award-winning BARDAVID at the University of Chicago’s new David Rubenstein Forum, and multiple residential projects across his adopted home city.

“I got to know Brad when he joined Archinect's ski trip in 2020, right before the pandemic hit. I had long been a fan of his design work, and quickly became a fan of him as a person,” Archinect founder Paul Petrunia remembered. “He was so kind and gracious with the group. He exuded excitement whenever talking about architecture and art, and was eager to show us the stunning Malibu residential project each time he came for a site visit. Chicago, and the architecture community at large, will cherish the contributions he made to the industry.”

Born in Wisconsin, Lynch said he was driven to the city and his eventual profession after a childhood visit to see Pablo Picasso’s then-new sculptural commission in Daley Plaza. From there, he went on to study Art, Art History and Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After graduating, he began his career working on restoration projects that included Frank Lloyd Wright’s first Usonian Herbert Jacobs House, among several others.

He would eventually found his own eponymous firm along with fellow Pappageorge Haymes staffer David Brininstool in Chicago in 1989, and together the pair would go on to earn more than 50 major design awards in the following decades along with recognition from some of the industry’s leading publications.

I’m very sorry to report that Chicago architect Brad Lynch, co-founder of Brininstool + Lynch, has died. A distinguished practitioner, critic + teacher, Brad graced Chicago with strong ideas + the buildings that grew from them. He’ll be missed. Full bio: https://t.co/GMfu5LCQrk pic.twitter.com/SbBeBseRws

— Blair Kamin (@BlairKamin) September 27, 2022

Lynch was equally prolific as an educator, 20 different universities throughout his career. Among them, his alma mater, Syracuse University, the erstwhile School of Architecture at Taliesin, and the IIT were significant stops. Lynch supplemented his academic career with mater planning efforts for the Brazilian city of Paranapiacaba, Chicago’s West Side Corridor, and a new transportation hub in the city’s Chinatown neighborhood. He was also noted for service as a National Peer Professional for the U.S. General Services Administration Design Excellence program and involvement in Toronto's Sister Cities committee.

Lynch is survived by two children and leaves behind a design legacy of "rich beauty and quiet grace," according to his firm. In a statement to Chicago Sun-Times critic Lee Bey, IIT College of Architecture dean Reed Kroloff called his creations "elegant and wholly original" before commenting that Lynch created simply “some of the best built in this city over the last 30 years."