Alan Ford (architect)
Encyclopedia
Alan B. Ford, AIA
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...

, (born December 20, 1952) is an architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 best known for his work on K-12 sustainable
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...

 schools.

A regular contributor to architectural
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

 journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...

, Ford is author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 of Designing the Sustainable School and co-author of A Sense of Entry: Designing the Welcoming School. In 2008, Ford was a member of the national AIA
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...

 Soloso (now Architect’s Knowledge Resource) Editorial Content Review Board and subject matter expert for the website’s design content. He has been published in such prominent journals as Architect Colorado and World Architecture News.

The best known works to which Ford has applied his architectural expertise are the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Center for Public Affairs is the presidential library and final resting place of Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th President of the United States. Designed by Hugh Stubbins and Associates, the library is located in Simi Valley, California, about northwest of...

 (Donovan and Green) in Simi Valley, California
Simi Valley, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Simi Valley had a population of 124,237. The population density was 2,940.8 people per square mile...

; the Walt Disney World Swan
Walt Disney World Swan
The Walt Disney World Swan is a resort hotel designed by architect Michael Graves located between Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios behind Disney's BoardWalk Resort and across from its sister resort, the Walt Disney World Dolphin...

 resort hotel (Michael Graves
Michael Graves
Michael Graves is an American architect. Identified as one of The New York Five, Graves has become a household name with his designs for domestic products sold at Target stores in the United States....

 with Alan Lapidus Architects) in Lake Buena Vista, Florida
Lake Buena Vista, Florida
Lake Buena Vista is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. It is mostly known for being home to the Walt Disney World Resort. It is one of two Florida municipalities controlled by The Walt Disney Company, the other being Bay Lake....

; and the Tycon Towers
Tycon Center
Tycon Center is a development in Vienna, VA, owned at the time of its inception by James T. Lewis Properties. It is also known as Tycon Towers 1. The original intent was to build three towers, curved in plan, with curved parking structures behind each one. The building was designed by John Burgee...

 development (John Burgee
John Burgee
__notoc__John Burgee is an American architect noted for his contributions to Postmodern architecture. He was a partner of Philip Johnson from 1967 to 1991, creating together the partnership firm Johnson/Burgee Architects. Their landmark collaborations together included Pennzoil Place in Houston...

 Architects with Philip Johnson
Philip Johnson
Philip Cortelyou Johnson was an influential American architect.In 1930, he founded the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and later , as a trustee, he was awarded an American Institute of Architects Gold Medal and the first Pritzker Architecture...

) in Vienna, Virginia
Vienna, Virginia
Vienna is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 15,687. Significantly more people live in zip codes with the Vienna postal addresses bordered approximately by Interstate 66 on the south, Interstate 495 on the east, Route 7 to...

.

Personal life

Alan Ford was born on the Travis Air Force Base
Travis Air Force Base
Travis Air Force Base is a United States Air Force air base under the operational control of the Air Mobility Command , located three miles east of the central business district of Fairfield, in Solano County, California, United States. The base is named for Brigadier General Robert F...

 in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, where his father was stationed at the time. While growing up, Ford and his family were relocated to Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

 and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

.

By age six Ford had discovered and sought to develop his own creative talent through music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

. He cycled through various instruments
Musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...

 and ultimately began playing guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

 at the age of fourteen, which he continued into his twenties. Inspired by the 1970 Atlanta Pop Festival in Byron, Georgia
Byron, Georgia
Byron is a city in Peach County, Georgia, United States. A small portion of the city extends into Houston County. The population was 2,887 at the 2000 census...

, Ford went on to form the band Nothing (later renamed Free Form). From 1970 to 1972, Alan performed as a professional musician with his band. He began as a rhythm guitarist, often providing backup vocals, but later assumed the role of lead guitarist with occasional spots as lead vocalist.

In 1973, Ford parted from his band and moved to Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...

 in pursuit of a career in the recording industry. However, upon an unsuccessful attempt at securing a job with a Boulder-based recording studio, he began working at a dental supply company to save money for college.

Ford earned a Bachelor of Environmental Design
Environmental design
Environmental design is the process of addressing surrounding environmental parameters when devising plans, programs, policies, buildings, or products...

 from the University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...

 in 1978 and a Master of Architecture
Master of Architecture
The Master of Architecture is a professional degree in architecture, qualifying the graduate to move through the various stages of professional accreditation that result in receiving a license.-Overview:...

 from the University of Colorado Denver
University of Colorado Denver
The University of Colorado Denver, shortened as CU Denver, UC Denver, or UCD, is a public university in the United States state of Colorado. It is one of three schools of the University of Colorado system. The university has two campuses — one in downtown Denver at the Auraria Campus, and the other...

 in 1980.

Alan Ford is now married with a wife and two kids. They live in an 1896-built Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...

 home in Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood. In 2000, Ford and his wife (also an architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

) designed their own remodel of the house, which consisted of an 1100 square feet (102.2 m²) addition that received widespread media acclaim. The renovation also earned a 2003 Architect’s Choice Award, sponsored by the Rocky Mountain News
Rocky Mountain News
The Rocky Mountain News was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. As of March 2006, the Monday-Friday circulation was 255,427...

, the American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...

’ Denver chapter and the city and county of Denver.

Career

Upon receiving his Master of Architecture
Master of Architecture
The Master of Architecture is a professional degree in architecture, qualifying the graduate to move through the various stages of professional accreditation that result in receiving a license.-Overview:...

 in 1980, Ford landed a job with W.C. Muchow and Partners Architects in Denver, where he remained for three years. In 1984, Ford moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 where he joined the office of John Burgee
John Burgee
__notoc__John Burgee is an American architect noted for his contributions to Postmodern architecture. He was a partner of Philip Johnson from 1967 to 1991, creating together the partnership firm Johnson/Burgee Architects. Their landmark collaborations together included Pennzoil Place in Houston...

 Architects and Philip Johnson
Philip Johnson
Philip Cortelyou Johnson was an influential American architect.In 1930, he founded the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and later , as a trustee, he was awarded an American Institute of Architects Gold Medal and the first Pritzker Architecture...

. He later went on to do work for Alan Lapidus/Michael Graves
Michael Graves
Michael Graves is an American architect. Identified as one of The New York Five, Graves has become a household name with his designs for domestic products sold at Target stores in the United States....

 in 1989, I. M. Pei
I. M. Pei
Ieoh Ming Pei , commonly known as I. M. Pei, is a Chinese American architect, often called a master of modern architecture. Born in Canton, China and raised in Hong Kong and Shanghai, Pei drew inspiration at an early age from the gardens at Suzhou...

 & Partners in 1990 and Kohn Pedersen Fox
Kohn Pedersen Fox
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates , an architectural firm responsible for several world-renowned buildings, provides architectural, interior and urban design as well as programming and master planning services for clients in both the public and private sectors...

 Associates in 1991. Alan attributes the cultivation of his fervor for architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

 – which ultimately materialized in the form of architectural journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...

 – to the inspiration he found in Philip Johnson
Philip Johnson
Philip Cortelyou Johnson was an influential American architect.In 1930, he founded the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and later , as a trustee, he was awarded an American Institute of Architects Gold Medal and the first Pritzker Architecture...

's passion for the profession.

In 1993, Ford co-founded Hutton Ford Architects P.C. with Paul Hutton, where he was a managing principal until 2007. On June 1, 2007, in a move to diversify his firm's range of services, Ford established Alan Ford Architects P.C.; however, both he and Hutton continue to collaborate on a number of joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...

s under the entity Hutton Ford Architects, LLC.

Alan Ford continues to practice as a licensed Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 and principal of Alan Ford Architects. He authored the book Designing the Sustainable School and co-authored A Sense of Entry: Designing the Welcoming School with former partner Paul Hutton. In addition to his interest in K-12 sustainable school design, Ford has a passion for masonry detailing, which is evidenced by his Park Hill residence and a significant number of past projects.

Ford has served on the editorial board of the award-winning AIA
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...

 magazine Architect Colorado, and as an honorarium
Honorarium
An honorarium is an ex gratia payment made to a person for their services in a volunteer capacity or for services for which fees are not traditionally required. This is used by groups such as schools or sporting clubs to pay coaches for their costs...

 professor and guest critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...

 at the University of Colorado
University of Colorado System
The University of Colorado system is a system of public universities in Colorado consisting of three universities in four campuses: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and University of Colorado Denver in downtown Denver and at the Anschutz Medical Campus in...

, School of Architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

. He is also the former subject matter expert/editor of design content for the national AIA
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...

 Soloso website (now the Architect’s Knowledge Resource), where he regularly contributed content promoting sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...

, design innovations and the architectural
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

 profession.

Alan Ford Architects P.C.

Alan Ford Architects P.C. is a Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 architecture firm based in the unique Taxi2 development within the River North Art District in Denver. The firm was founded in 2007 by Alan Ford, who previously was a design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...

 and managing partner with Hutton Ford Architects. Alan Ford Architects specializes in the design of high-performance, sustainable
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...

 K-12 schools, but also has extensive experience in a variety of additional project types including office
Office
An office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty. When used as an adjective, the...

, retail
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...

 and mixed-use development
Mixed-use development
Mixed-use development is the use of a building, set of buildings, or neighborhood for more than one purpose. Since the 1920s, zoning in some countries has required uses to be separated. However, when jobs, housing, and commercial activities are located close together, a community's transportation...

s; performing arts facilities
Performing arts center
Performing arts center, often abbreviated PAC, is used to refer to* A multi-use performance space that is intended for use by various types of the performing arts, including dance, music and theatre....

; single family and multifamily residential
Multi-family residential
Multi-family residential is a classification of housing where multiple separate housing units for residential inhabitants are contained within one building or several buildings within one complex. A common form is an apartment building...

; and sports and fitness centers
Sports and Fitness Center
Sports and Fitness Center is an indoor sporting arena located in Saint Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. The capacity of the arena is 3,500 people and is home to the University of the Virgin Islands Buccaneers. It hosts the United States Virgin Islands Paradise Jam, a pre-season college...

.

Professional Affiliations

  • American Institute of Architects (AIA
    American Institute of Architects
    The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...

    )
  • City Club of Denver Board of Directors 1999-2002
  • Council of Educational Facility Planners, International (CEFPI)
  • National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB
    National Council of Architectural Registration Boards
    The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards is a nonprofit corporation comprising the legally constituted architectural registration boards of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands as its members...

    )
  • State of Colorado
    Colorado
    Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

     Architect License

Notable Aspects of Career

  • Author: Designing the Sustainable School, The Images Publishing Group, 2007
  • Co-Author: A Sense of Entry: Designing the Welcoming School, The Images Publishing Group, 2007
  • Member: National AIA
    American Institute of Architects
    The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...

     Soloso (now Architect’s Knowledge Resource) Editorial Content Review Board; Subject Matter Expert for design content, 2008
  • AIA
    American Institute of Architects
    The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...

     Colorado, Design Conference Committee Member, 2003, 2006, 2007
  • Architect Colorado Editorial Board, 2005–2007
  • City Club Board Member, 2001–2002
  • Guest Lecturer, University of Colorado
    University of Colorado System
    The University of Colorado system is a system of public universities in Colorado consisting of three universities in four campuses: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and University of Colorado Denver in downtown Denver and at the Anschutz Medical Campus in...

    , 2007
  • Instructor, University of Colorado at Boulder
    University of Colorado at Boulder
    The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...

    , School of Architecture, 1997
  • Instructor, University of Colorado Denver
    University of Colorado Denver
    The University of Colorado Denver, shortened as CU Denver, UC Denver, or UCD, is a public university in the United States state of Colorado. It is one of three schools of the University of Colorado system. The university has two campuses — one in downtown Denver at the Auraria Campus, and the other...

    , School of Architecture, 1998–99
  • Juror, University of Colorado
    University of Colorado System
    The University of Colorado system is a system of public universities in Colorado consisting of three universities in four campuses: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and University of Colorado Denver in downtown Denver and at the Anschutz Medical Campus in...

    , College of Architecture and Planning, 1997

Significant Works

  • Mapleton Elementary School Conversion to Early Childhood Center
  • Robert E. Loup Jewish Community Center Master Plan
  • Staunton State Park Master Plan
  • Spruce Street Place Mixed-use Development
  • Cherokee Ranch Ethics Institute and Conference Facility
  • Fort Lupton
    Fort Lupton, Colorado
    The City of Fort Lupton is a Statutory City located in Weld County, Colorado, United States. The population was 6,787 as of the 2000 census.-Geography:Fort Lupton is located at ....

     School District 2001 Bond Issue
  • Lowry Office Building
  • Morgan Stanley
    Morgan Stanley
    Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City serving a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. Morgan Stanley also operates in 36 countries around the world, with over 600 offices and a workforce of over 60,000....

     Southwest Region Office and Conference Facility
  • Ault
    Ault, Colorado
    The Town of Ault is a Statutory Town located in Weld County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,432 at the U.S. Census 2000.-Geography:Ault is located at , at the intersection of U.S...

     Administrative Office and Conference Building, Weld County School
  • Ohio State University
    Ohio State University
    The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...

     Classroom Building (designer with Philip Johnson Architect)
  • Joliet Learning Center
  • 1055 Lincoln Green Office Building
  • Mead Middle School Gymnasium
  • Kent Denver Science and Technology Center
  • Alexander Dawson Performing Arts Center
  • Green Mountain High School
    Green Mountain High School
    Green Mountain High School is a high school in the western part of the city of Lakewood in Jefferson County, Colorado. It is administered by Jefferson County Public Schools. The student body numbers approximately 1600...

  • Drake Middle School
  • Tycon Center
    Tycon Center
    Tycon Center is a development in Vienna, VA, owned at the time of its inception by James T. Lewis Properties. It is also known as Tycon Towers 1. The original intent was to build three towers, curved in plan, with curved parking structures behind each one. The building was designed by John Burgee...

    , Fairfax County
    Fairfax County, Virginia
    Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...

    , Virginia
    Virginia
    The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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