This week BUILD is heading down to sunny Phoenix Arizona to speak at the Hanley Wood Reinvention 2011 Symposium. Thursday morning we’ll be delivering a talk on design-build and later that afternoon we’ll be presenting on social media for architects and designers. We’re thrilled to be invited on stage for this event and dang honored be in the company of some stellar individuals and firms; the roster of speakers is chock-full of sharp-shooters that should be on your radar. Today’s post is a hats-off to some folks we have great admiration for; and if you’re design conscious, it’s a great primer on some top-notch architects. Enjoy
First off, a big kudos to Hanley Wood for staking out the Arizona Biltmore hotel for the symposium. The Biltmore was constructed in 1929 by brothers Albert, Charles and Warren McArthur; Frank Lloyd Wright also served as the consulting architect. It’s one of the only existing hotels in the world influenced by FLW and it’s got his masterful brushstrokes all over it. It’s Classy with a capital ‘C’ and we’re looking forward to getting our design eyes on it in person.
Rick Joy, AIA Rick Joy Architects, Ltd.
Tuscon AZ
[Image Credit: plusmood.com]
Rick Joy Architects is a 12 person innovative architecture and planning firm established in 1993. The primary projects involve private residences in the U.S. desert regions, allowing Joy to implement rammed earth construction. In his own words, Joy has described the desert as, “a fantastic place in the most correct meaning of the word; it is at times a dreamlike fantasy of a landscape. . . . the desert’s beauty extends beyond objects and things to an atmosphere of place that is defined by quality of light and other sensory kinds of input.”
[Image Credit: walkerart.org]
[Image Credit: re-nest.com]
Will Bruder will bruder+PARTNERS LTD
Phoenix AZ
[Image Credit: hardisondowney.com]
As a self-trained architect, Bruder has no formal university training in architecture, but rather studied a range of topics including art, engineering, philosophy, and urban planning. Following up on his academic training, Bruder apprenticed under Paolo Soleri and Gunnar Birkerts, and in 1974 started his own firm. The practice at will bruder+PARTNERS made its mark by consistently striking the intellectual and emotional chords of the human experience as it relates to the built environment.
[Image Credit: modernphoenix.net]
[Image Credit: facebook.com/taxicommunity]
Marlon Blackwell, FAIA and Meryati Johari Blackwell, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP
Marlon Blackwell Architect
Fayetteville AR
[Image Credit: marlonblackwell.com]
Marlon Blackwell Architect is an 8 person critical practice involved in a variety of commercial, residential, and public projects. From its beginnings in 1990, the aim was to prove that serious architecture can happen anywhere, and Blackwell has succeeded in this endeavor. And along the way has learned the value of permanence, “to make observations that allow you to be more transformative rather than flying in and dropping something down.”
[Image Credit: residentialarchitect.com]
[Image Credit: marlonblackwell.com]
David Dowell, AIA and Douglas Stockman el dorado inc
Kansas City MO
[Image Credit: eldo.us]
The practice at el dorado inc consists of a collaborative group of 17 people immersed in explorations of design, craft, and scale. The added element of architect-led design-build capabilities enables the firm to control both cost and schedule, resulting in an achievable level of exceptional craft in each project. Project types include commercial, residential, industrial, civic/institutional, public art, and planning.
Josh Shelton, Douglas Stockman, David Dowell, Dan Maginn [Image Credit: architecturenewsplus.com]
[Image Credit: eldo.us]
Jared Della Valle, AIA Alloy Development
Brooklyn NY
[Image Credit: alloyllc.com]
Alloy Development uses the simple strategy of a strong, patient investment capacity coupled with an aversion for the broad middle. They, instead, gravitate toward the edges, where exceptional design expresses itself in added value for a project while allowing Alloy to maintain the appropriate balance of project diversity. Della Valle’s experience has involved both the architecture and real estate sectors and he currently teaches at Columbia and Syracuse.
[Image Credit: nytimes.com]
[Image Credit: alloyllc.com]
Lise de Vito, Assoc. AIA and Jim Zack, AIA Zack | de Vito Architecture Construction
San Francisco CA
[Image Credit: zackdevito.com]
Zack | de Vito Architecture, a multi-disciplinary architecture, construction, and interior design office founded in 1991, works primarily on custom residence, restaurant, and winery projects. Select projects undergo a single-source design-build service, which allows them to provide a fully streamlined process to their clients. The team at Zack | de Vito consists of architects who value and utilize their collective expertise in the craft of making and express diligence in the follow-through. Though the emphasis is heavy on design at Zack | de Vito, the ultimate goal is that all projects are designed to be buildable.
[Image Credit: architecturenewsplus.com]
[Image Credit: zackdevito.com]
Elizabeth P. Gray, AIA and Alan Organschi Gray Organschi Architecture
New Haven CT
[Image Credit: grayorganschi.com]
Part design firm, part workshop, Gray Organschi is a 9 person practice with a dedication to broad exploration and focused development towards resolving each unique design challenge. Projects range from the scale of hand-held hardware to full-sized buildings. The diligence and discipline in navigating this range has informed their philosophy “that the technical, physical and economic demands of a project give force and clarity to the language of its architecture.”
[Image Credit: archinect.com]
[Image Credit: grayorganschi.com]
Ted Flato, FAIA and Bill Aylor Lake|Flato
San Antonio TX
[Image Credit: lakeflato.com]
Since 1984, the San Antonio practice of Lake|Flato has garnered a respected reputation for their regional and responsive architecture. The drive towards a modern aesthetic with artful authenticity comes through in the tactility of object and environment. With full awareness of their responsibility as both stewards of natural and client resources, the design process at Lake|Flato is intrinsically routed towards a true model of sustainability.
Bill Aylor, David Lake, Ted Flato [Image Credit: residentialarchitect.com]
[Image Credit: lakeflato.com]
Andy Byrnes, AIA Construction Zone
Phoenix AZ
[Image Credit: czphx.com]
The Construction Zone, Ltd. consists of a team of architects, designers, and craftsmen dedicated to the highest quality of contemporary architecture. The range of services offered by Construction Zone includes full design and construction deliverables, allowing for opportunities to team with outside architects and contractors in various capacities. The unwavering dedication to the finest detail in project execution expresses itself in the beauty of form and the simplicity of their goal to “construct architecture that is worthy of the effort expended during the process.”
[Image Credit: czphx.com]
[Image Credit: czphx.com]
Wendell Burnette, AIA Wendell Burnette Architects
Phoenix AZ
[Image Credit: archithings.com]
As a self-studied architect, Burnette was academically trained at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture for three years, after which he apprenticed under Will Bruder for the next eleven. In 1996, Wendell Burnette Architects was formed, and remains a practice which rigorously responds to site, client, and community-specific needs. A well-traveled architect residing in the desert climate of Phoenix, Burnette’s designs communicate the inspirations of global exploration and the warmth of regional intimacy.
[Image Credit: newyorksocialdiary.com]
[Image Credit: design-milk.com]
Eddie Jones, AIA and Neal Jones, AIA LEED AP Jones Studio
Phoenix AZ
[Image Credit: chi-athenaeum.org]
The projects out of Jones Studio work within the grain of the natural realm. The 14 person firm is run by brothers Eddie and Neal Jones in the desert setting of the Southwest. The uniquely beautiful and equally harsh climate of the desert has inspired their work, driving the direction of design towards responsive and responsible sustainability.
[Image Credit: architecturaldigest.com]
[Image Credit: archidir.com]
For those of you attending, you might check out some past design guides to Phoenix here, here and here. And if you’re at the event, track us down and say hello -we’ll be in the bar tipping back Manhattans.
Cheers from team BUILD