Garrick Landsberg, AIA, LEED AP, senior architect at Quinn Evans Architects in Detroit, Michigan, had a prolific and inspired, if not circuitous, path into the field of architecture and historic preservation. As a licensed architect, planner, and urban designer, Landsberg has an affinity for urban history and historic architecture—particularly that of Detroit, Michigan—and yet it was a passion courted slowly throughout his personal and professional life.
“[Design] is searching for ways to make the world better. It’s the practice of trained practitioners across various disciplines—architecture being one of them—that seeks to employ an approach, skill, and knowledge to identify problems, propose solutions, and really move things into the future,” Landsberg said.
“It is one of the reasons I am so fascinated by the challenges of existing cities: they provide a set of constraints that are often a huge factor in design. Good design often comes out of struggling with and understanding constraints,” Landsberg added.
From joining the United States Marine Corps, studying historic preservation, and spending time as an Astronomy Educator at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, to entering the architectural field in higher education and healthcare; Landsberg’s interest in Detroit’s historic fabric of neighborhoods and architecture ultimately led him to Quinn Evans Architects in 2017.
Landsberg also noted one of the challenges—and opportunities—for the industry is architects explaining and publicizing their real value when it comes to managing projects. While some clients or large public agencies will hire and architect, often public infrastructure has an engineer leading the project rather than bringing in the skillset of an architect.
Full text available in our print edition, Great Lakes By Design, Volume 2, Issue 6: Architectonics available to purchase now or with your subscription.
To learn more about Landsberg visit their site, quinnevans.com
