Hamilton Anderson Associates named Firm of the Year in Michigan

The award recognizes an organization of architects who have consistently produced distinguished architecture for at least 10 years.  The firm shall have great depth, breadth, be widely known for quality and its work shall be a product of a collaborative environment.

During its brief 13-years of existence, Detroit-based Hamilton Anderson has embodied a commitment to progressive design, personable service and community leadership. The firm is driven by ideas, and their dedication to the urban environment is equally evident in its award-winning projects and the diverse fabric of its people.  They have earned their design reputation for planning sustainable communities, reinventing old structures and weaving new buildings and spaces into delicate tapestries of urban infrastructure.  They have leveraged a broad range of talent and diverse approach to practice to expand the business to include 120+ staff and a second studio in Las Vegas.

Rainy Hamilton Jr., architect and native Detroiter, began R. Hamilton Associates in Detroit’s historic University District in 1993.   He earned his architecture degree from the University of Detroit-Mercy School of Architecture.   In 1994, Rainy was joined by former colleague and land landscape architect, Kent H. Anderson.

Anderson is focused on urban design and redevelopment and has played a key role in reshaping the city’s landscape.  He successfully led the multi-disciplinary firm to win numerous professional awards for outstanding design, including a recent honor as the inaugural recipient of the Firm of the Year award by the Michigan Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.  He lives in Northville.

Hamilton Anderson Associates has won a NOMA honor award for the past two years.  Mr. Hamilton is a long-time member and supporter of the organization.

5/1/08

Charles Grant Lewis, 1948-2007

By Sally Lehrman

Oakland Tribune

Charles Grant Lewis, an architect who helped shape many signature Bay Area buildings and had a hand in redesigning one of Oakland’s worst blocks into an improving neighborhood, died Sunday from a progressive brain tumor. He was 59.

Lewis also was known for a lifelong commitment to advancing opportunities for young black men, especially design professionals who still fight for an equal chance at both work and recognition.

Lewis contributed to the African American Library and Museum at Oakland; Thomas Berkley Square in Berkeley; the San Francisco International Airport, Pacific Bell Park and the Cecil Williams Glide Community House in San Francisco, among other buildings. “He was a very learned architect, a very talented architect,” said Harry Overstreet, principal in Gerson Overstreet Architects in Oakland, where Lewis worked for about five years in the late 1990s.

Colleagues said Lewis, who was born March 12, 1948, in Los Angeles, could generate ideas effortlessly and was a perfectionist in carrying them out. One of Lewis’ proudest achievements was the restoration of homes along 34th Street in Oakland. His designs transformed dilapidated hulks into proud Victorians with modern amenities. As each house enjoyed a facelift, the spirit of the neighborhood seemed to lift as well. “It’s been fantastic,” said Martin White, former executive director of the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America. “His vision was very valuable.” 

Before starting his own firm, Lewis managed projects for Michael Willis Architects in San Francisco. He was part of the team that built the African American Library, a project that preserved historic Beaux Arts architecture while integrating new elements. Managing principal Carlton Smith remembers Lewis not just for his reliability and knowledge, but his convivial spirit, which Smith called rare in the profession. “We work long hours, in stressful situations, and to be able to break the ice, it helps,” Smith said.

The various large projects such as subways and airports to which Lewis contributed had not always been available to black architects. Lewis, his colleagues said, was a key force in the struggle by minority professionals to win commissions for such jobs. As a young architect in Los Angeles working for a cousin’s firm, Edward C. Barker & Associates, Lewis presented to public agencies and helped put on forums to bring new talent into the field. An amateur historian of architecture and construction with amazing recall and an extensive network, Lewis could be very compelling, recalled his cousin and Edward’s son, Elliot Barker, who also worked at the firm. “We were able to convince some of the powers that be both in Los Angeles and outside that black architectural firms could perform as well as any other,” Barker said. “I think we made some strides during that time.”

While working at Barker & Associates Lewis and his cousin Elliot would debate strategies by which firms like theirs could get involved in the mainstream. Once they did win a piece of the 1984 Los Angeles airport construction management, though, Lewis found himself on the night shift, working midnight to 8 a.m. “He was a little mad about that, but he got through it,” Elliot Barker said.

Lewis had joined the National Organization of Minority Architects as its first student member while attending the University of Southern California. He remained devoted to the organization’s effort to combat racism, recalled Smith, who is the national president. Over the year before he became ill and in the months following Lewis served as Western Regional Vice President.

Lewis also dedicated much energy to his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, founded in 1906 to counter racially hostile college environments and support African American scholars. He would mentor young members and urge them to excel with pride. But he also didn’t overdo the fraternity’s serious side, becoming legendary for late night partying. “Everyone gravitated around him,” remembers Hyacinth C. Ahuruonye, president of the Gamma Chi Lambda chapter in San Francisco. “He was funny, witty, and wickedly charming.”

Always a snappy dresser, Lewis kept up with the times. Once, recalled his longtime friend and one-time roommate Rodger Kelly, he left for a visit to Houston in a dashiki and came back in bellbottoms, platform shoes, a shirt tied at his waist, bangles and a scarf. He also kept up with other trends, such as when he took up Swahili and changed his name to Kubusi Angaza.

As a teenager, Lewis always wore a shirt and tie, confounding his classmates at Dorsey High School. “We wanted to know what was up with him,” said Kelley. He played in the band, ran cross-country, and was a good student as well, especially in mathematics. There was still time, though, for the Volkswagen club, whose members would soup up their bugs with pipes, a donut steering wheel and special foot pedals. Members would “throw up a block” at intersections to let their cars parade through.

In college Lewis joined the Black Student Union and drove to Portland, Oregon, to help form the organization in 1967 at Reed College, where a year later students barricaded themselves into the president’s office for seven days and demanded a Black Studies Program. Lewis could handle difficult situations with aplomb, according to his friend. “He’s tall anyway, so he’s above all this stuff,” Kelley explained. “He’d just hold up his head and cruise on by.”

Lewis was 58 when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He confronted his illness with optimism and courage, and died Sunday in the historic home he had redesigned. Lewis is survived by his wife, Dori J. Maynard of Oakland; son, Ryan Xavier Lewis of Atlanta; siblings Stanley, Ronald, Kim and Kelly; mother, Josie Gaines of Las Vegas; and many other extended family members.

2007 Professional Design Award Winners Announced

NOMA would like to thank the winners and jury of the 2007 NOMA Design Awards

Recipients:

Honor Award

Hamilton Anderson for Southwest Public Safety Center, Detroit, MI

Honor Citation

Michael Willis Architects for Ozonation Building

Moody Nolan w/ Antoine Predock for Ohio State Athletic Facility

Shepley Bulfinch (Ralph T. Jackson Lead Design) for Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell University

A2S04 for the Douglass Pointe Lofts Project, Indianapolis, IN

Jury

Renee Kemp-Rotan, special assistant to the Mayor of Birmingham

Robert Theel, Chief Architect for GSA’s Midwest Region

Gary Martinez, principal / partner with the firm of Martinez and Johnson Architects

12/1/07

City of the Future: Submission Deadline Extended

City of the Future: A Design and Engineering Challenge
Deadline EXTENSION: November 16, 2007

The History Channel invites you to imagine the cities of Washington, DC, San Francisco, and  Atlanta 100 years from now! To apply, please visit www.history.com/cityofthefuture or email cityofthefuture08@joneskroloff.com. Please note, submissions are due on November 16th, 2007.

‘City of the Future’ National Juror Richard Meier will review models and provide feedback throughout the competition.   Design events will take place on the following dates:

11/8/07