Brendan Gibbons

Brendan Gibbons

Chief Prototype Developer Brendan Gibbons heads AS+GG's in-house model shop, supporting all stages of design development with analog 3D modeling in a variety of media. Brendan's primary concern is to enable the firm's architects to visualize their projects, and the design process itself, with a series of physical models, rather than relying entirely on digital imaging.

Before joining AS+GG in 2007, Brendan headed the model shop at the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, where he created models for a wide variety of high-profile projects. These included several designed by Adrian Smith and/or Gordon Gill at SOM, including the Trump International Hotel & Tower and Pearl River Tower.

Brendan's interest in architectural models grew out of his lifelong fascination with model-making of all kinds, from forts and cars to ships and aircraft. As an undergraduate art student, he spent a semester as an apprentice to artist Philip Pearlstein. Brendan continues to paint and has exhibited his work in several group shows at Chicago galleries.

Education

Master's degree in Painting and Art History, Ohio University, 1998
Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts, Albion College, Albion, Michigan, 1992

Presentations + Publications

Exhibit of Pearl River Tower model at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, 2006
Exhibit of Infinity Tower model at the Art Institute of Chicago, 2007 and 2009

Major projects at Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture:

Brendan works on all AS+GG projects

At SOM:

Various projects, including Trump International Hotel & Tower and Pearl River Tower

Brendan Gibbons on…

…design
My job isn't to design; it's to take the designers' work out of two dimensions and put it into three, whether it's on a piece of paper or in a computer. It's about communicating with the design process and helping the architects visualize it. We have an office full of people who work mostly with renderings, but that still is all too abstract. Which is why we want to see actual, 3D, physical models. Expressing materials, surfaces, casting shadows, etc.—there's nothing abstract about that. And in the broadest view, if we're building spaces for people to live and work in, and we're using all these resources, this latest green revolution is so incredibly important. That's the main reason I wanted to work here: to be involved in what I consider to be relevant space. We know how to stack up boxes aesthetically forever, but whoop-de-doo. It needs to perform. It has to address our energy needs.

…where he finds inspiration
One of my favorite artists is Richard Serra. I think his big steel sheets engage painting, engage sculpture, engage architecture, public space; it's many disciplines in one. Another is Edward Hopper. That is an architecture of light. He builds geometry, and makes space with light, in a way that a lot of the best architects do. He doesn't paint objects; he makes you aware of all of the space around them. And a course a lot of things come down to craftsmanship. I get fired up when I see something that's really well made: models, furniture, sculpture, painting. And colors. Paul Klee. Gerhard Richter.

…his favorite "moment" in architecture
My most recent favorite moment is when the architects come to me and say, "This is what we want. How should we do this?" It's really kind of myopic curse they're under. And I get help them build an idea, first by just building it. And it's like, ding! As soon as you have something physical and tangible like a model, instead of being trapped in your computer forever, the thinking gets so much easier.

…his favorite city architecturally
Paris. I like how old it is. And there's that great sense of ensemble in the buildings, and the human scale. It doesn't overwhelm you; you're not supposed to stand back in awe—which, in turn, makes social interaction more important.

…his favorite thing about a collaborative design process
Because of the fact that it is collaborative, it can change direction and go places that you are not capable to going at all by yourself. You can end up somewhere, because of collaboration, that you know you could never find on your own.

…what he'd be if he weren't an architect
A real live earning-my-living painter.

…what he does when he's not designing
I play a lot of hockey. Read, paint, exercise, cook. Cooking is the same as making art and making cool buildings, you know. There's an art to it.