From Blair Kamin’s Cityscapes:
“There’s a blurring of boundaries between architects, designers, developers and contractor. Just like we see public-private partnerships developing around the world, I think we’re going to see more professionals collaborating to do some important things in the future.”
– James Cramer, former chief executive of the American Institute of Architects, on news that Chicago architects David Brininstool, Thomas Kerwin, and Brad Lynch have started a new firm called (you guessed it) Brininstool, Kerwin and Lynch, and have entered into a “innovative strategic alliance” with Magellan Development involving projects in China, South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Brininstool and Lynch designed several recent condo high-rises, including R+D659, 1720 South Michigan, and 550 St Clair. Magellan, of course, is the prime mover behind the Lakeshore East properties on the New East Side.
We’ve seen a lot of brokerages merge in the past two years — is a new wave of architectural and development mergers on the way, too?