This is the season when we take a gratifying moment to pause and reflect on the incredible amount of design recognition our firm, our people and our work garnered over the last year. From being named one of the 10 most innovative architecture firms in the world by Fast Company to winning more than a dozen AIA awards from chapters around the country, our work is making a significant impact on the future of the built environment through design excellence…and we couldn’t be more proud. In 2017, our teams took home 74 design awards for design excellence and innovation. To see the full list of awards, download this infographic. Download…

2016 was an outstanding year for design recognition — perhaps one of our best yet — as evidenced by the stunning work shown below. From our stellar No. 16 ranking for design excellence in the ARCHITECT 50 to an impressive 14 awards from the AIA, design teams across the firm contributed to our reputation as a powerhouse of creativity and innovation.

Key takeaways from the University of Kansas Architecture + Design Alumni Symposium Earlier this year, I was privileged to be given the opportunity to help organize the First Annual University of Kansas Architecture and Design Alumni Symposium (titled “The 12,000 that Innovate”), which took place October 13-15th. The day’s sessions all centered around a broad analysis of the Practice of Design – with the invited Symposium presenters narrating stories illustrating the day’s three major touchpoints: design culture, societal engagement, and emerging technologies. Presenters spanned a wide cross-section of fields, ranging from architecture to graphic design to public policy to user experience. The aim of the day’s discussions was to take…

The St. Louis office sent Allison Macon down the runway in a stunning dress made from 1500 pieces of glass tile. UnRavel is an event sponsored by the IIDA that occurs in St. Louis every 2 years.

As the Executive Director of Design Strategies, David is committed to ensuring design excellence influences everything we do as a firm. Read on to learn more about David’s perspective on design, and why he thinks 2016 was our firm’s best year yet.

One of the more fascinating events I’ve been able to take part in over the past year has been serving as a judge for the BuiltWorlds Obama Presidential Center crowdsourced design competition. If you’re unfamiliar, the Barack Obama Foundation announced it had narrowed its field of candidates to seven prominent architects who will compete to design the upcoming center and library on Chicago’s south side. For fun and creativity’s sake, BuiltWorlds decided to ask, “What sort of Presidential Library would the people design?” and invited all designers, from everywhere, to unlock their design talent and generate visionary architectural and urban design schemes for this extraordinary, one-time opportunity to shape our…

Native redbud trees beautify Pittsburgh When Frank Dawson, ASLA, was traveling back and forth from his hometown of Pittsburgh to New York City, he noticed the beautiful early blooms of the native redbud trees that are clustered at the ridgetops along the highway. He always admired redbuds trees, having a few in his own yard. “I wondered if my excitement and passion for these trees could translate to the landscape in Pittsburgh, to create a buzz for the coming of spring in the city,” said Frank. So, he set out to make his idea a reality. From planning to planting Frank sits on an advisory panel called Paris to Pittsburgh, a…

On March 24th, I gave a presentation on real-time rendering and virtual reality (VR) at Midwest University 2016. Coordinated by CAD Technology Center and sponsored by Autodesk, Midwest University is a regional AEC conference held annually in Minneapolis. Straying slightly from this year’s central theme of BIM process workflows, I presented an introductory course on VR as many architects are just starting to embrace it, but they either don’t know how to get started or don’t know how to present it to their clients. Also, recent advancements in headset technology along with new software created specifically for the design industries have made VR much more accessible and affordable. To define…

In a world full of underserved people, organizations and communities, design needs to be a tool to empower people and affect positive change.

In honor of National Engineers Week we are showcasing a few of the people behind the scenes of our world-class engineered solutions. Meet Haley Darst, an architectural engineer from our Boston office and learn why she loves engineering at CannonDesign. What type of engineer are you? I am an architectural engineer with a focus in Lighting Design –I have a Bachelor’s of Architectural Engineering (BAE) from Penn State University (2011). Why did you decide to become an engineer? I excelled in math and science courses in school, but also had a deep appreciation for architecture and wanted to somehow influence the built environment. Architectural engineering was a great major to pursue, as each…