PROfiles

>>> meet the designers behind projects featured in this issue

Jack DeBartolo, Jr., FAIA

Jack DeBartolo, Jr., principal emeritus of DeBartolo Architects in Phoenix, has spent his entire career steeped in modernism. He studied architecture at the University of Houston and at Columbia University in New York, two institutions that espoused international style, then went to Europe on the William Kinne Traveling Fellowship. DeBartolo spent his early career with modernists Caudill Rowlett Scott in Houston, before packing up and moving to Tucson, where he started Anderson DeBartolo Pan in 1975, and sold to Fluor Daniel in 1995. “By that time, I was ready to have a small, hands-on, creative firm,” says DeBartolo. He founded DeBartolo Architects shortly thereafter, now run by his son, Jack DeBartolo 3, AIA; and continued his philosophy of spare, elegant design for everything from residences and educational facilities to churches. More recently, when DeBartolo’s pastor approached him about doing some new buildings for the church campus in Phoenix, DeBartolo replied, “I only speak one language, and that’s modernism.” Even though the church’s previous buildings had been decidedly Southwestern, the pastor gave DeBartolo free creative space. “He trusted me with the project,”DeBartolo explains, “and I took it very seriously. Because it’s my church, it’s a little like working for family.” DeBartolo’s newest church building for that campus, the Prayer Pavilion of Light, is featured in this issue.

Roy Burson, AIA

Yes, architect Roy Burson does see the irony in the fact that he does a lot of church projects in the heart of Sin City. But for Burson, a partner and principal architect with JVC Architects in Las Vegas, “Sin City” doesn’t figure much. “The Strip is such a small part of this town,” says Burson, a Las Vegas native who did his undergraduate work at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. “To me, Las Vegas is home, a real city with houses, businesses and churches.” Burson, who also received a master’s in architecture from the University of New Mexico, joined JVC in 1994 as founder Jim Van Compernolle’s first employee. “Jim started the firm in 1991,” Burson explains, “and his first project was a church and masterplanning for the Catholic diocese of Las Vegas.” Since then, about 40 percent of JVC’s work is religious architecture, along with public works, education, medical and commercial projects. “It’s very rewarding to do religious architecture,” Burson reflects. One of JVC Architects’ most recent rewarding (and award-winning) projects, the Salvation Army Hope Chapel, is featured in this issue.

Eric Logan, AIA

When we caught up with architect Eric Logan, he spent time updating us on the happenings at Carney Architects in Jackson, Wyoming, where he is a partner along with Kevin Burke, AIA, LEED AP; and founder John Carney, FAIA. “We just topped out the Four Seasons Hotel in Denver, which we designed,” notes Logan, “with HKS, Inc. as executive architect. We’ve also got a project going in Utah, to name just a few.” The firm is also reaping local, regional and national design awards for recent projects such as the interpretive center for the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve, a library addition and a residential wine silo, all in Wyoming. “We have a good collaborative group here,” says Logan of the 15-member firm, which he joined in 1996. “We’re surviving in this economic climate, and the phones are ringing because we’re fortunate enough to have a serious architectural practice here in an outpost of the West.” One of Logan’s newest designs, a residence that melds modernism with a traditional silhouette, is featured in this issue.