Founder, CEO Pure Architects | Grand Rapids and Detroit, Michigan When Zachary Verhulst, AIA, NCARB, NOMA, founded Pure Architects in 2020, it was with a powerful purpose to create spaces and places that uplift communities, positively impact the environment, and inspire people through inclusive and healthy design. To Verhulst, architecture is a vehicle and a platform in which to…
-
-
More than architecture
For Jennifer Park, AIA, NCARB, founding principal of ParkFowler Plus in Chicago, Illinois, architecture is as much an abstract exploration of the philosophies and theories that have shaped its long history, as it is a practical delivery in which iteration, collaboration, and inclusive practices can inform the built landscape for the future. To Park, design is a way of thinking…
-
Mezkla
Tucked into the brick façade of downtown Holland, Michigan’s W. 8th Street, where Late Victorian architecture meets contemporary, mixed-use development inspired by the style, Mezkla Taqueria & Fruteria is bringing a fresh, bold flavor to the vernacular palate. While modest in footprint, the brick-and-mortar storefront is just one chapter of a much larger story for Founder and Owner Patricia Vasquez,…
-
At the exchange of ideas
The exchange of ideas is a powerful thing. It has driven innovation and disruption, inspired revolution and change, and galvanized communities and movements. It has taken on many forms over the centuries, from spoken and written word to transcontinental rail and digital platform, as time has welcomed new eras in communication and in the movement of people, ideas, and things.…
-
Pine Bluff
Built high above the coastal waters of southern Lake Michigan, this Pine Bluff Residence is set deep into its lakefront site in a region known for its rugged coastlines, towering dunes, wooded bluffs, and often-brutal marine climate. Realized by the long-time collaborative team of Lucid Architecture of Zeeland, Michigan and Zahn Builders Inc. of Holland, Michigan, this home is a…
-
Into the Woods
Designing modern architecture wasn’t always on the agenda for Celeste Robbins, principal architect of the award-winning, Winnetka, Illinois architecture firm of Robbins Architecture Inc. There could be a historical misconception about modern architecture—that it is cold or even clinical. Its resurgence in the early 2000s was partially motivated by a society appreciative of decluttered, clean forms and minimalism. Robbins was…
-
Visual-tactile design
In 2010, Hansel Bauman, award-winning architect, and pioneer in multi-sensory design methodologies, shared a vision for a building informed by visual-tactile design principles with Jeff Luker, AIA, LEED AP, principal at Quinn Evans in Washington, D.C. It was a vision that challenged standard architectural practices at the time, and arguably to this day, addressing major points of intersection between the…
-
Dan Iacovoni, RA
Associate Partner, Project Architect Cornerstone Architects Inc. | Grand Rapids, Michigan | Traverse City, Michigan Dan Iacovoni, RA, has an affinity for the technical side of architecture, where cantilevered steel designed in a specific manner can redefine what is possible and individual foundations integrated into floors and walls can mitigate sound vibration for performance spaces. It is in the…
-
Ben Franceschi, AIA
Principal Mathison | Mathison Architects | Grand Rapids, Michigan To Ben Franceschi, AIA, architecture is a fundamental tool for making decisions that can impact the lives of those who inhabit designed spaces. It is in the details, the poetic moments, and appreciation of site that can lead to thoughtful solutions that inspire—and it is the social architectural element, or…
