• Design Spotlight,  Featured,  Print Edition

    Crafted legacy

    Despite the rise of industrialization in the 19th century and the technological revolution of the late 20th century, craftsmanship has endured. It is an art and craft of making; bridging the gap of alienation between maker and material left in the wake of growing assembly lines, mass-scale production, consumer culture, and an age of digital landscapes. Even as machines replaced…

  • Design Spotlight,  Featured,  Print Edition

    Re-framing the view

    In 1823, a Baltimore-based businessman ran an advertisement for the sale of a Wire and Wheat Fan Establishment in the “The American Farmer: containing Original Essays and Selections on Rural Economy and Internal Improvement with Illustrative Engravings and the Prices Current of Country Produce, Vol. IV.” In it, J. Grafflin listed the sale of wheat fans, rolling screens, and “assorted…

  • Architecture,  Design Spotlight,  Featured,  Print Edition

    Ted Lott, AIA, LEED AP

      Lott3Metz Architecture LLC Owner, Principal Grand Rapids, Michigan There is a moment in good design when a bell tone rings out pure and true as the nuanced elements of form, function, and context come together to make a project truly sing. It is in this instance, which may not happen every day or in every project, that Ted Lott,…

  • Architecture,  Design Spotlight,  Featured,  Form,  Print Edition,  Spotlight

    James D. Nordlie, AIA

    Archiventure Group PC Architects President Harbor Springs, Michigan | Denver, Colorado “The first line is never sacred. Design is a process and it is fighting the battle of mediocrity, insensitivity, and laziness. Design is the challenge of overcoming all of those obstacles for an inspirational and positive result,” said James D. Nordlie, AIA, president of Archiventure Group PC in Denver,…

  • Architecture,  Design Spotlight,  Featured,  Form,  Print Edition

    Dennis Reckley, RA

    SVB + Reckley Architects Architect, Chief Executive Officer Holland, Michigan Dennis Reckley, RA, architect and chief executive officer of SVB + Reckley Architects in Holland, Michigan realized his passion for design amid the ice cliffs and island mountains of Anvers Island near the Antarctic Peninsula while stationed at the South Pole as a Navy Seabee in the United States’ Navy…

  • Architecture,  Design Spotlight,  Featured,  Print Edition

    John F. Spalding, RA, AIA, NCARB

    Spalding Design Group LLC Architect, Partner Mishawaka, Indiana | Tequesta, Florida To John F. Spalding, architect and partner at Spalding Design Group, LLC, design is a collaborative effort that involves client and architect, as well as a host of talented and trusted designers and trade professionals who contribute insightful input to the multi-faceted design build process. This philosophy is the…

  • Design Spotlight,  Featured,  Print Edition

    Offshore

    In the redevelopment of a historic and lakefront treasure on the western edge of Lake Michigan, Navy Pier Inc. unveiled a bold, comprehensive plan that repositioned Chicago’s Navy Pier as an ever-evolving “People’s Pier” for the 21st century and re-envisioned the landmark as an iconic destination and vibrant civic space. It called for the renovation and enhancement of existing structures…

  • dSPACE Studio LLC - Architects feature - Great Lakes By Design
    Design Spotlight,  Featured,  Print Edition

    Kevin Toukoumidis, AIA

    dSPACE Studio Ltd. LEED Founding Principal Chicago, Illinois | Saugatuck, Michigan There is power in architecture. It is rooted in its innate ability to reflect connections between the human experience and the built landscape, as well as its surrounding environment. It is in this intentional and deft combination of art and science that design can tell a compelling story, and…

  • GLBD - Private Residence | Seven Generations Architecture and Engineering LLC
    Design Spotlight,  Featured,  Print Edition

    Designed for generations

    From a collaborative, interactive design approach transforming architecture at the speed of ideas, to its status as a Tribally-Owned, 8(a) and HUBZone certified, and Small Disadvantaged Business, Seven Generations Architecture and Engineering LLC is a unique business in its small hometown of Kalamazoo and state of Michigan. The firm was founded in 2012 by Mno-Bmadsen, the independent, non-gaming investment arm…