“Architecture is the most fragile of the media”, wrote Robert Venturi in 1993 soon after he learned about the changes that were about to take place to one of his most beloved early works. “The building was recently purchased by a CPA firm,” he writes, ”they have further renovated it without respect for the original quality of its design….” (Iconography and Electronics upon a Generic Architecture: A View from the Drafting Room (Robert Venturi 1998 MIT Press). This current research project is focused on the protection and eventual restoration of Robert Venturi’s first built work, the North Penn Visiting Nurses Association Headquarters Building (1961) to its pre-1993 design.

Ongoing, Image: VSBA

This current research project is about a little-known project by easily the most complex and controversial architect of the Twentieth Century, Le Corbusier. The project’s focus is on Le Corbusier’s 1936 proposal for a “people’s car” with aspirations of bringing the success of Henry Ford’s mass produced Model T to the European Continent. The project endeavors to build on previous research by asking, ” what if Le Corbusier had been successful in his venture into automobile design? What, within correct period design constraints might his proposed Voiture Minimum been like as the first editions rolled off the assembly line? And, how might it have appeared alongside contemporaries such as Ferdinand Porsche’s iconic Beetle or the Citroen 2CV?

Ongoing, Image: Fondation Le Corbusier

The project brief called for the creation of an AIA Pennsylvania Short Documentary Series established to celebrate the most significant and timeless architecture throughout the state no less than fifty years old. Shown here, the 2021 recognition of Horace Trumbauer’s, Philadelphia Museum of Art. Other documentaries include the Allegheny County Courthouse and Jail, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, finalist in the 2022 First Take Shorts Series Film Festival, Philadelphia Savings Fund Society Building (PSFS), the George Nakashima Studios, Fallingwater, the Alcoa Building, the Vanna Venturi House, and the Richards Medical Center.

Ongoing, Documentary Series Creator and Producer, Image: Off/White Media

The brief calls for a sustainably manufactured and situated Living Pod with modular plug-in and mobile docking capabilities for a variety of modular add-ons or RV types. The idea is to provide semi-permanent destination living accommodations for those with nomadic life-styles. The design features a modular dwelling unit capable of adaptation over a lifetime via interchangeable and exchangeable plug-in modules. This configuration shows the “Golden Years” configuration for long stays between travel ventures. The flexibility offers the possibility for a multitude of business models for development to accommodate the needs of future generations of active, sustainability minded and minimalist lifestyle dwellers.

Ongoing, Image: idee Designworks

This project brief called for complete brand design services, targeted brand development, trademark registrations, brand partner identification, and product development. The ongoing services have produced several highly successful collaborations most notably with Jet Blue, Saks 5th Avenue, the New York Yankees, AEG the world’s largest sports and live entertainment company; and, the collaboration illustrated here between Brooklyn Brewery and The Stonewall Inn, two iconic New York City brands. The project consisted of the design, production, and launch of a co-branded IPA currently distributed throughout 43 states and 15 countries. Proceeds from the project were designed to benefit The Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative, SIGBI, also an outcome of these strategic planning and design services) and the official charitable giving 501c3 of the Stonewall Inn, serving the needs of LGBTQ+ youth throughout the United States.

Services Ongoing, Image: Brooklyn Brewery.

The project brief calls for the re-imagining of a variety of common consumer medical and health related products. The objective is to address numerous stigmatizing, functional, and circular design shortcomings of cheap imported products dominating the marketplace today. Small projects such as a this simple pill case series, barely scratch the surface of the impact that thoughtful design can have on the daily lives of people while meeting new standards for environmental responsibility. In the 21st century, there is still much to be done to narrow the gap between good design and good design for disability in both the architectural design and product design worlds.

Ongoing, Image: idee Designworks

The Brief calls for product development, trademark registration, and major brand partner identification for the design and production of a Stonewall Inn® fragrance and line of personal care products. The timing of this project is at a moment when the fashion industry is focusing on broadening its appeal to a savvy new generation of consumers demanding sustainably produced and packaged products while rejecting gendered branding entirely. As in other projects, partial proceeds will benefit The Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative (SIGBI) serving the needs of LGBTQ+ youth throughout the United States.

Ongoing, Image: idee Designworks

Pro Bono Architectural design services for a collaboration between the Stonewall Inn, Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative (SIGBI), and a leading NYC nonprofit. The Brief called for the creation of a welcoming LGBTQ+ resource center, and a visitor center located adjacent to the historic Stonewall Inn, centerpiece of the Stonewall National Monument in New York City. The Center is designed to serve the local LGBTQ+ community as well as thousands of visitors from around the world annually by communicating the history of the LGBTQ+ rights movement through interactive displays, access online learning tools, and community talks. In addition, the project is to restore the iconic Stonewall Inn sign and other critical facade upgrades thus making the historic landmark whole again by returning it to its original 1969 footprint.

Ongoing, Construction, Completion June 2024