Curtis & Ginsberg on Growing a Firm During a Pandemic, Tue, Sep 15 '20

New York City-based Curtis + Ginsberg Architects have a long track record of delivering a wide range of project types for public and private sector clients, particularly within the realm of affordable housing design. Founded in 1990 by Darby Curtis, AIA, and Mark Ginsberg, FAIA, the ...

Architectural Licensure at a Crossroads: An Interview with NCARB President Robert M. Calvani and President-Elect Alfred Vidaurri , Wed, Aug 5 '20

With growing criticism over how lengthy, expensive, and exclusive getting licensed can be, and a rising cohort of unlicensed practicing designers reshaping what it means to work in architecture, architectural licensure finds itself in a moment of relative crisis. Will the long-standing arrangement ...

How will Senior Living Facilities Change After COVID-19?, Thu, Jul 23 '20

Senior living facilities and nursing homes have become a critical vector during the COVID-19 pandemic and have contributed to a large number of deaths from the disease, both within the United States and around the world.  This typology, along with shopping malls, offices, schools, airports ...

"Screen Time Has Gone up 1,000%," Charlap Hyman & Herrero Reflect on Their New Workflow, Thu, Jul 16 '20

Charlap Hyman & Herrero is a Los Angeles and New York City-based practice with an eclectic portfolio of visually stimulating and tightly composed projects that blend architecture, furniture design, and art in order to fill gallery spaces, performance stages, and remote sites with a maximalist ...

Oza Sabbeth Architects on Working Through the Pandemic, Wed, Jul 15 '20

Oza Sabbeth Architects is a Long Island, New York-based architecture and construction practice founded in 2014 by architect Nilay Oza and artist Peter Sabbeth. The pair runs a 10-person design-build office that focuses almost exclusively on high-end residential projects in the Long Island area ...

Brooklyn and New Orleans-based ALAO on Engendering Humanist Design With a Dispersed Team, Fri, Jul 10 '20

Operating as a networked outfit with offices in Brooklyn, New Orleans, and the Philippines, ALAO-founders Aya Maceda and James Carse and their team strive to create architecture that goes beyond four walls and a roof. Creating generous spaces filled with light as well as buildings that often ...

Mónica Ponce de León on the Future of Architectural Licensure, Mon, Jun 29 '20

As schools of architecture around the country continue to focus on how they can make architecture more diverse and equitable, Princeton University School of Architecture Dean Mónica Ponce de León is on a mission to rethink the nature of architectural licensure as it exists in the ...

HUSH on the Future of Experiential Design, Mon, Jun 22 '20

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to upend and disrupt everyday life around the world, it has become clear that how we use buildings is also due to radically change, at least for the near-term. The door handles we touch, how close people wait in line, and when and how we occupy work spaces ...

WRNS Studio: A Practice Guided by Practical Necessities and Placemaking, Fri, May 29 '20

WRNS Studio partners Sam Nunes, Bryan Shiles, and Pauline Souza have run their 203-person firm since 2005, operating offices in San Francisco, Honolulu, New York, and Seattle. Over the last 15 years, the sprawling team has created an array of tech offices, university buildings, and other ...

The American War Memorials of Paul Philippe Cret, Mon, May 25 '20

Architects have long created memorials to commemorate dead from wars and other mass casualty events. In America, these structures, from the Washington Memorial to lesser known monuments located across the country commemorating the Union victories of the Civil War, play an important role in shaping ...

Update for May 15th: Archinect's Guide to 2020's Economy & Business, Fri, May 15 '20

With America's re-opening continuing apace, design energy has turned toward figuring out which and how everyday spaces like offices, schools, and restaurants are set to change. Taking a typological approach, designers and researchers are investigating how the existing built environment might be ...

LA-Más Applies Design and Project Management Skills Toward “Co-Mutual, Co-Beneficial Support” in the Face of COVID-19, Thu, Apr 23 '20

As traditional architecture and design firms struggle to cope with the social and economic fall out of the COVID-19 crisis, Los Angeles-based urban design nonprofit LA-Más has been able to put their project management, design, and community engagement skills to work by ...

Architecture Firm Owners Share Their PPP Woes, Tue, Apr 21 '20

“Tiring,” “Mismanaged and not communicative,” “Disappointing, but not surprising,” “Time consuming, anxiety riddled, frustrating,” “Horrendous.” These are some of the words that architecture firm leaders have used to describe their experiences, via Archinect’s COVID ...

Creating "an Architecture Out of Constraints, Ordering Systems, and Rules" with WOJR, Fri, Apr 10 '20

WOJR: Organization for Architecture is a six-person "organization of designers" based in Cambridge, Massachusetts led by William O'Brien, Jr. that works holistically across projects, research, and workflows to conceptualize the practice of architecture as "a form of cultural production." O'Brien ...

UPenn Weitzman School of Design Architecture Chair Winka Dubbeldam on Architectural Education for the Future, Mon, Apr 6 '20

Archinect's Deans List is an interview series with the leaders of architecture schools, worldwide. The series profiles the school’s programs, pedagogical approaches, and academic goals, as defined by the dean–giving an invaluable perspective into the institution’s unique ...

Earning an M.Arch Online: Learning from Karen Nelson, Dean of Boston Architectural College, Thu, Mar 26 '20

Archinect's Deans List is an interview series with the leaders of architecture schools, worldwide. The series profiles the school’s programs, pedagogical approaches, and academic goals, as defined by the dean–giving an invaluable perspective into the institution’s unique ...

Bridging Between Locations and Modes of Practice with Miami-based Cúre & Penabad, Wed, Mar 11 '20

Adib Cúre and Carie Penabad are two Miami-based architects who work nimbly across project types and between practice and academia. Their firm, Cúre & Penabad Architecture and Urban Design, is responsible for a collection of sensitive and pragmatic projects that are infused with color ...

"They Should Have a Sense of Agency and Be Able to Speak Truth to Power": Barbara Bestor on What She Looks for in New Hires, Wed, Mar 4 '20

Since Barbara Bestor started her eponymous practice, Bestor Architecture, in 1995 she has worked to extend the boundaries of contemporary architecture and landscape architecture by focusing her multi-disciplinary staff on a variety of refined and innovative projects. The firm has steadily grown ...

Public Architects: Ric Abramson, Urban Design and Architecture Studio Manager for the City of West Hollywood, Mon, Mar 2 '20

We hear quite a bit about corporate and boutique architecture practices, but what about the public sector?  Although the vast majority of the architectural work that takes place in the United States happens through private sector practices, there exists a strong and vibrant group of public ...

Architecture Critics Shrug Over Trump's Classicizing Executive Order, Thu, Feb 20 '20

Over the last week, critics from across the country have begun weighing in on the proposed “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again” executive order, an initiative crafted by the National Civic Art Society for President Donald Trump that would impose a “classical architectural style” on ...

Searching for the Elemental and Straight-Forward With Oppenheim Architecture, Fri, Feb 14 '20

Oppenheim Architecture is a Miami-based architecture, interior design, and planning firm that maintains a second office in Basel, Switzerland. The 40-employee practice works across residential, luxury hotel, office, and retail project types within a variety of international contexts and brings a ...

AIA|LA's Carlo Caccavale on Setting the Tone For Architectural Practice in Los Angeles, Tue, Feb 4 '20

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) was founded in 1857 by a group of architects in New York City led by Richard Upjohn. In the more than 160 years since, the organization has grown to over 90,000 members and now represents the interests of professional architects across the country ...

Smith-Clementi on Starting a New Practice Three Decades Into Their Career, Wed, Jan 15 '20

Architects Julie Smith-Clementi and Frank Clementi recently launched Smith-Clementi, a new multidisciplinary design practice that aims to operate at the intersection of architecture, product, and urban design. The creation of this new firm follows a 28-year run for the pair at Rios Clementi Hale ...

Porch, Atrium, Terrace: A Deeper Look At Lake | Flato's Austin Central Library, Wed, Jan 8 '20

In recent years, public libraries have taken on a renewed prominence in American cities as vital community spaces that provide access to a growing array of necessary amenities and services, including internet and other technologies, air conditioning, continuing education opportunities and so much ...

Deans List: Stephen Phillips on Complementing Architectural Practice With Academic Discourse and Vice Versa, Mon, Jan 6 '20

Archinect's Deans List is an interview series with the leaders of architecture schools, worldwide. The series profiles the school’s programs, pedagogical approaches, and academic goals, as defined by the dean–giving an invaluable perspective into the institution’s unique ...

Studio Visits: Bestor Architecture, Wed, Dec 18 '19

Since 1995, Bestor Architecture has upended architecture and design by infusing their projects with a bold use of pattern, color, and graphics. The steadily growing practice is almost single-handedly responsible for generating California’s now-ubiquitous “Bohemian Modern” style that blends ...

Neil Denari On Balancing Practice, Teaching, and Experimental Design, Sat, Dec 14 '19

In 2019, Neil M. Denari was awarded the 2019 Educator of the Year award by the American Institute of Architects Los Angeles chapter, an award that caps a three-decade long career situated at the intersection of practice and teaching.  In light of the award, Archinect caught up with Denari to ...

Deans List: Sarah Whiting on Taking The Helm of Harvard's Graduate School of Design, Tue, Dec 10 '19

Deans List is an interview series with the leaders of architecture schools, worldwide. The series profiles the school’s programs, pedagogical approaches, and academic goals, as defined by the dean–giving an invaluable perspective into the institution’s unique curriculum, faculty, and ...

"Even Sound Changes in Darkness," PSU's Jeff Schnabel on Seizing Opportunity Where It Exists, Mon, Dec 2 '19

Deans List is an interview series with the leaders of architecture schools, worldwide. The series profiles the school’s programs, pedagogical approaches, and academic goals, as defined by the dean–giving an invaluable perspective into the institution’s unique curriculum, faculty, and ...

"Decolonization Is a Gift"—CCNY's Lesley Lokko on Questioning Architecture's Inherited Futures, Mon, Nov 25 '19

Deans List is an interview series with the leaders of architecture schools, worldwide. The series profiles the school’s programs, pedagogical approaches, and academic goals, as defined by the dean–giving an invaluable perspective into the institution’s unique curriculum, faculty, and ...

Pursuing Authenticity and Place With Graham Baba, Wed, Nov 20 '19

Seattle-based Graham Baba Architects started in 2006 by Jim Graham and Brett Baba, two architects who met while working at what is now Olson Kundig (back then, the firm was named Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen). The pair embarked on their own to found a practice that "creates places that tell a ...

A Deep Dive Into the Salaries of NYC Architects, Mon, Nov 18 '19

Defining what constitutes fair compensation represents perhaps one of the most contentious and divisive workplace issues roiling the architectural profession in the contemporary era. Whether it’s the spirited conversations surrounding unpaid and underpaid internship culture, the fight for equal ...

Exploring the Future of Narrative in Architecture with Natasha Sandmeier and Nathan Su of UCLA's IDEAS Entertainment Studio, Thu, Nov 14 '19

Narrative, drama, and fiction have always played a key role in the production of architecture. During the 19th Century, for example, architects like Louis Sullivan and McKim Mead & White mixed organic and formal languages to tell stories about the activities that took place within the buildings ...

Alloy Development: "We get to define the program, priorities, and the principles of how we engage", Fri, Nov 8 '19

Alloy Development is a New York City-based architecture, development, and building management practice with over $1.6 billion in projects under its belt. The 17-person firm pursues an integrated and collaborative approach to practice that unifies design, finance, and construction to pursue a ...

How SHoP is Re-thinking Skyscraper Design and Transforming New York’s Skyline in the Process, Wed, Oct 30 '19

One doesn’t need to visit New York City in order to understand that the city’s skyline is undergoing drastic change, both within and—increasingly—outside of Manhattan.  In an attempt to better understand the micro- and macro-forces at play shaping the city’s skyline, we’re ...

Peterson Rich Office: Rethinking The Value (and Values) of a Small Architecture Practice, Thu, Oct 24 '19

Peterson Rich Office (PRO) is a New York City-based architecture and design practice that pursues cultural and residential projects with an inventive and joyful spirit.  The young firm, founded by Miriam Peterson and Nathan Rich in Brooklyn in 2012, was awarded a New Practice New ...

Re-Imagining Housing Design with Marissa Kasdan, Director of KTGY’s R+D Studio, Thu, Oct 17 '19

With a rapidly aging population, an inward flux of new urban residents, and developmental pressures forcing displacement and homelessness on growing numbers of people, housing design finds itself at a critical nexus in the United States.  And while many architecture firms are surely working ...

Deans List: Berkeley's Vishaan Chakrabarti on Rejecting the False Choices Embodied by Recent Architectural Pedagogies, Wed, Oct 9 '19

The Deans List is an interview series with the leaders of architecture schools, worldwide. The series profiles the school’s programs, pedagogical approaches, and academic goals, as defined by the dean–giving an invaluable perspective into the institution’s unique curriculum ...

Architect Deanna Van Buren on Designing Beautiful Spaces That "Amplify Self-Care, Love, Restoration, and Respect", Tue, Oct 8 '19

Designing Justice + Designing Spaces (DJDS) is an Oakland, California-based architecture and real estate development non-profit that is working to end mass incarceration by "building infrastructure that attacks its root causes: poverty, racism, unequal access to resources, and the criminal justice ...

Yesomi Umolu on The "Unraveling of Our Received Language of Looking and Being in the World", Mon, Oct 7 '19

Programming an international architecture biennial is no easy task, much less so when the goal is to create a program that seeks to recast prevailing narratives surrounding lived experiences of the built environment. For the 2019 run of the Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB), artistic director ...

SITELAB on Building an Uncompromising Practice That Embraces a “Both-And” Perspective, Fri, Sep 27 '19

SITELAB urban studio  is a multi-disciplinary urban design team based in San Francisco. The 16-person firm tackles a wide-ranging set of concerns through their work, which bridges between urban design, landscape architecture, community engagement, and placemaking focuses. Viewed simply ...

Studio One Eleven On "Creating a Community-Driven Architectural Practice Keenly Focused on Revitalizing Cities", Tue, Sep 17 '19

In a word, the work of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California-based Studio One Eleven focuses on cities. Throughout a range of scales running from tiny parklets to community master plans, the growing office thrives by "using design to create better outcomes for the communities we serve," according ...

Archinect's Biographical Reading List, Thu, Sep 12 '19

While the work of an architect often stands in for the life of the architect itself, there is much to be learned about the lived experience of history's most notable designers.  And while monographs that tally up and showcase the work of individual designers and firms are a dime a dozen ...

KoningEizenberg on Designing with the Sun, Mon, Sep 2 '19

KoningEizenberg Architecture (KEA) was recently awarded the Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medal for 2019, the country’s highest architectural honor. The Santa Monica, California-based office has a nearly four-decade-long track record of fusing thoughtful programming with ...

Striving for Clarity in all Aspects of Design with Waechter Architecture, Wed, Aug 28 '19

The work of Portland, Oregon-based Waechter Architecture is focused, in a word, on clarity.  Spatial clarity, compositional clarity, material clarity, systems clarity, experiential clarity—All play a guiding role in shaping the firm's eclectic output. The goal of this clarity, according ...

Soapbox: Tatiana Bilbao, Mon, Aug 26 '19

Soapbox is a series delivering a curated set of lectures, talks, and symposia concerning contemporary themes explored through the archives of the past and present.  This week, we highlight the words, projects, and ideas of Tatiana Bilbao, principal and founder of Tatiana Bilbao Estudio ...

In Praise of César Pelli's Quirky Corners, Fri, Aug 16 '19

César Pelli has a reputation for designing some of the world’s tallest and most elegant buildings.  And though the architect's facilities with glass skin buildings reached their highest stages late in his career, Pelli's earlier skyscrapers also showcase a deftly skilled artist at work. In ...

Soapbox: Shohei Shigematsu, Tue, Aug 13 '19

Soapbox is a series delivering a curated set of lectures, talks, and symposia concerning contemporary themes explored through the archives of lectures past and present.  This week, we focus on the words and ideas of Shohei Shigematsu, a rising partner at the Office for Metropolitan ...

Fellow Fellows: Brittany Utting, Mon, Aug 12 '19

Fellow Fellows is a series that focuses on the increasingly important role fellowships play in architecture academia today. These prestigious academic positions can bring forth a fantastic blend of practice, research, and pedagogical cross-pollination, often within a tight time ...

David Baker Architects on Growing a Team-Based, Family-Friendly Practice , Wed, Aug 7 '19

San Francisco's David Baker Architects is a leading office in the realm of affordable housing design. Founded in 1982 by University of California, Berkeley-trained architect David Baker, the firm has designed over 8,000 units of affordable housing across the San Francisco Bay Area, and ...

"We urgently need to change the way in which we are inhabiting the planet," an interview with Tulane University's new dean, Iñaki Alday, Mon, Aug 5 '19

The Deans List is an interview series with the leaders of architecture schools, worldwide. The series profiles the school’s programming, as defined by the dean–giving an invaluable perspective into the institution’s unique curriculum, faculty and academic environment. For this ...

Lessons in Monochromatic Composition from Arthur Elrod, Sat, Jul 27 '19

Arthur Elrod, the noted Mid-Century Modern interior designer, is widely known for his eye-popping, colorful, and groovy designs, but what can we learn from his monochromatic works? Stylistically eclectic, formally complex, and materially decadent, these works hold valuable lessons that, upon ...

Fellow Fellows: Destabilizing Context with James Leng, Thu, Jul 18 '19

Fellow Fellows is a series that focuses on the current eruption and trend of fellowships in academia today. These positions within the academic realm produce a fantastic blend of practice, research and design influence and traditionally within a tight time frame. Fellow Fellows sits ...

Wasted Space: Comparing Horton Plaza and The Vessel, Tue, Jul 16 '19

One is brand new, the other, at the end of its life. One is a place for shopping, the other a place for selling oneself. One, a facsimile of the city, the other, a rejection of it. However unalike they might seem, Jon Jerde’s soon-to-be-demolished Horton Plaza in San Diego and Thomas ...

Deans List: UW's Renée Cheng on How Comprehensive Design Can Engender Inclusivity, Thu, Jul 11 '19

The Deans List is an interview series with the leaders of architecture schools, worldwide. The series profiles the school’s programming, as defined by the dean — giving an invaluable perspective into the institution’s unique curriculum, faculty and academic environment. For ...

The Story of Horace King, Slave-Turned-Architect, Thu, Jun 20 '19

For over 250 years, African Americans in the United States endured the bondage of slavery, a cultural, political, and economic regime that exploited their forced labor in order to clear land, harvest crops, and build America’s cities and towns. Under these conditions, human beings were viewed as ...

Rex’s Brown University Performing Arts Center Shape-Shifts to Fill a Campus Void, Fri, Jun 14 '19

The tradition of architects experimenting with new typologies and forms on college campuses is one that goes way back. Whether considering Frank Lloyd Wright’s 10-building collection of Usonian structures at Florida Southern College, Venturi-Scott Brown’s technological-contextual works at ...