| AMERICAN CITIZEN |

Patti Kanter of Tandus Floors and I were honored to witness the naturalization swearing in ceremony of Karen Shakman on the 23rd of November, 2010.  If you have never been to one of these events, make it a point. As native citizens we take our freedom for granted. Watching these people from all walks of life and every nationality wave the Red, White, and Blue and to hear them sing the American Iconic songs was  inspiring.

Imagine, leaving your homeland, family and friends behind to move to a new world where the culture and language are different and where no one is going to demand anything of you, except of course to pay those taxes! Daunting it must be to have the world at your feet and begin making decisions for a new life with boundless opportunities and unimaginable freedom.  It is not an easy journey on many levels.

Karen has made  some astounding personal and professional choices since living in the United States. She is a registered architect, taking the nine part test, using the Portuguese dictionary to translate into English, as she did not speak our language at the time. She is presently studying for her MBA at ASU in Health-care and Healing Environments.  She moved her son the states when he was the tender age of sixteen, to afford him the same opportunities she knew awaited her. And a smart and handsome man asked her to be his wife about three years ago.

Fearless in the face of the weakest economy in our lifetime, Karen and I launched Iconic Architecture and Design this past January.  We have never looked back.

So in closing,  congratulations to Karen and her family for her bravery, persistence, and eager desire to persevere and succeed. She is the essence of America!

Our mission is your Success.

| VETERAN’S DAY – THANK YOU! |

Karen and I just had the pleasure of greeting our incredible Veterans while watching the inspiring Veteran’s Day Parade. We had curb side seats, even though we did not sit much. It was such an honor to wave and thank each and every person who has sacrificed for us. Patriotic music, American Flags, Military people, and the list of  the men and women who have given so much to protect us and provide for our freedom goes on.

We saw Pearl Harbor, 9/11, Koren, Gulf War, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, soldiers and survivors. Cute
children running around with little American flags, learning about the greatness of our country and it’s people, made my goofy patriotic heart soar.

Nurse Betty

The very best part of the day was to watch my business partner Karen Shakman, Architect extraordinaire,  squeal with delight as she embraced the American pride and recognized the greatness of what our country has accomplished. Coming from the country of Brazil, Karen has a rich history steeped in the traditions of her country.  And while she loves her homeland of Brazil and all it’s beautiful culture, she has decided to become an American Citizen and has recently passed her history and civic test. Well that just makes me so happy.

The naturalization ceremony is one of amazement to me. To consider one from another country, speaking a foreign language with completely different customs, will assimilate under the red white and blue umbrella of all Americans and cook a turkey on Thanksgiving, or wave a flag on the fourth of July. This is an amazing place. And the really cool thing is we embrace Karen’s Brazilian traditions and culture with respect and interest, because Brazil created Karen Shakman;  a talented force with which to be reckoned and soon to be Proud American Citizen.

God Bless our Great County and all the brave men and women who serve  everyday. Dang I love this place!

And as always, Our mission is your Success.

| EVIDENCE-BASED DESIGN IS REAL |

We have been chosen to work with a well known kidney research | clinic institute on a twelve thousand square foot reconfigure of the existing facility. Research and clinic will be merging into the corporate headquarters. The design possibilities are ripe and the restrictions are plenty, a challenge for certain.

Iconic Architecture and Design is working with our client on two fronts; 1) to provide architectural and design services and 2) to deliver evidence-based design research in an effort to measure the positive or negative environmental impact of the current and new design on the patients and employees. All parties involved are  interviewed to glean the required information to deliver concise EBD results.

What most people don’t realize is evidence-based design is real.  A palatable result occurs when EBD principals are utilized in a facility;  i.e. optimal patient outcomes, employee retention improvement, less down time, enhanced work flow, more reliable employee attendance,  increased morale, and decreased medical errors among a myriad of other benefits. The ultimate results in adhering to EBD principals is a healthier bottom line. I don’t know about you, but I like my bottom line healthy. I know there’s a joke in there somewhere.

A default by-product of EBD is improved aesthetics. I am pretty sure common sense kicks in here. Wouldn’t one prefer to reside in an environment that is organized, clean, calming, and introduces the beauty of nature? Wouldn’t one benefit from proper lighting, soft, adequate, and mood inducing?   Put on your thinking cap. Wouldn’t you prefer to sit on a veranda with a nice cool breeze and have the sun warm your skin as opposed to a neutral room, with harsh lighting and unkempt dirty surroundings?  Did I say common sense?

We absolutely love what we do. Our efforts to help CEOs, facility directors and physicians create a better environment for the healing process is just about the most satisfying task Karen and I can do. Believe it or not, we don’t just pick pretty colors and create cool architectural elements. But hey, that’s the subject for the next blog.

In closing, a big shout out to all the brave men and women who protect our freedom everyday. Veterans Day is for you. Thank you for all your hard work. God Bless You and God Bless America!

Simply put….Our mission is your success

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| Last Quarter | First Anniversary |

Under Construction

It’s hard to believe we are in the last quarter of 2010 and just three short months away from Iconic Architecture and Design’s One Year Anniversary.

Our office is being remodeled with new finishes, new technology, new furniture and continuing education.  It will be a relief to have the space organized and fresh. 

Karen and I are taking Revit classes in conjunction with Saemisch DiBella Architects, and are very excited about providing our clients better design and documents for the purpose of construction. We meet every Firday morning for about four hours to learn this worthy program. We agree, even for small jobs, the Revit technology provides insight and documentation that will deliver a more concise product.

We’ve teamed Iconic Architecture and Design and Saemisch DiBella Architects to work on several projects to provide our clients the expertise and manpower we desire resulting in the very best service at principal level, to our clients. I’ve done business with Vince DiBella, Architect and Principal at Saemisch DiBella, and trust me, they don’t come any better.

The new year holds promise for Iconic Architecture and Design and we are excited about some new projects we have on the horizon. We believe the opportunity to really hone in on a project requiring evidence-based design and LEED design principals will begin in the next few weeks. Iconic Architecture and Design has the power to prosper.

So in closing, the best time of the year is approaching, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and this year I have the added excitement of attending my son’s wedding. We would also like to thank Arizona Women Networking for their stellar support this year. Excuse me, while I put on my Foster Grants. The future is so bright.

Just a reminder….Our Mission is your Success.

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| Health Care Floor Covering

Karen and I were pleased to be invited to tour the Tandus Flooring Mill in Dalton Georgia, by our talented account representative, Patti Kanter. We were also fortunate to have Korey Sims, Director of Facilities of Paradise Valley hospital join us. Korey is pure delight. He is one of the most informed and well educated facilities director with which I’ve had the pleasure to work. He is knowledgeable about the manufacturing process, and the pitfalls which lie therein, as well as product knowledge that would rival his reps.

We visited the Tandus showroom in Atlanta and spent a day learning about one of the best products for Health Care flooring I’ve seen in a long time, Powerbond.

The showroom was pure eye candy. The design was slick, clean and implemented some really nice sustainability practices. It is a LEED Silver project and is marvelous. The building was an old meat packing facility. The brick is old, weathered and absolutely stunning.

I digress – Back to Powerbond. Tandus uses about seventy five per cent Invista Yarn system, which as we all know, is probably the best fiber on the market today. In addition Tandus extrudes it’s own nylon known as Dynex which has a modified ratio of 2.0.  For those of you who do not know, this a very good and affordable fiber and fits many applications for successful performance and appearance retention. Many other self extruding mills manufacturer a fiber that has a much higher modified ratio. This  higher number delivers a weak fiber resulting in failure of performance and appearance retention. It is important to know what the fiber in your flooring product is.

The really cool thing about this hybrid flooring, known as Powerbond, is there is a lifetime warranty for edge ravel and  delamination. The bottom side of the product acts a a moisture barrier, preventing any liquid from penetrating thru the backing and into the sub-floor. With other soft flooring products, the porousness is a real issue, as spills penetrating into the slab cause the growth of mold, mildew, and bacteria, creating odors. If you keep seeing recurring stains, you have purchased the wrong product.  Given the features and benefits, Tandus Powerbond is a perfect solution for Assisted Living and other Health Care Facilities. And here’s the really good news. We saw a Powerbond installation on some stairs right off an entrance to one of the manufacturing facilities. It looked brand new…and it was a solid light blue color! Powerbond has a twenty-five to thirty year life. Now that’s sustainability!

Iconic Architecture and Design is on a continuous  quest to stay at the forefront of evidence-based design and the latest technology in all interior finishes and MPE systems. Our mission is  to provide our clients with the very best built environment outcomes as technology will allow.

And as always, Our Mission is Your Success.

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| Health Care Heroes |

Karen and I were so fortunate to have as our guest for this worthy event, the folks from Ensemble Devman of Arizona Bill Molloy, Tracy Altemus, Judy Kline, and Ivan Hilton, St. Joseph’s Hospital, Nick Tedesco and John Scarborough, Paradise Valley Hospital, Korey Sims, and Todd & Associates, Doug Smith, join Iconic Architecture and Design for breakfast and awards on the 19th of August at the lovely Biltmore Hotel.

This is truly an inspiring event focused on the folks in the business of delivering healthcare gain recognition for a lifetime of service in giving others the life saving services they need. This includes you and me.

I listened to amazing stories about people who have sacrificed so much in dedication to help others. It’s a lesson we could all heed. One female volunteer in her nineties had been volunteering for so long

This is the second event I’ve attended. It touched my heart. I won’t miss the next one.

Our mission is your success

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| Nick | Frank

Karen and I are so excited to announce Nick Devenney, Founder of Devenney Group, Ltd. Architects and presently owner of DAL, a health care planning consulting firm, has agreed to mentor our young architectural firm. We met at Nick’s hang out, The Adobe at the Biltmore, to join him for his usual grilled cheese and fruit. They know him well there, and well they should.

We shared the obligatory niceties and then cut right to the chase. We wanted him to guide us through the murky waters of the health care architecture and design business. And in true form, to the gracious gentleman he is, he accepted. We are pleased as punch to have him as a sounding board to run by our ideas, systems, thoughts, or unorthodox schemes.

As the crisp grilled cheese was efficiently delivered, our conversation turned to Nick’s start in the biz. He is an Arizona native and therefore was around when Frank Lloyd Wright built Taliesin West. This was back in the day when the desert was just the desert. Nick heard about this guy and decided to wander on up the road to check him out. Nick casually wandered onto the property and poked around a bit, finding himself in the office of Frank himself. Of course at the time Frank was not “Frank” and Nick was not “Nick”. Frank greeted Nick and asked how he could help him. Nick related he wanted to be an architect. Well, that tickled Frank pink and so he invited Nick to come on up and study his with his group.

Nick, being barley eighteen, young and clueless (his words, not mine) didn’t really take Mr. Wright seriously and so did not immediately seize his offer. As weeks passed, the pull of Taliesin grew stronger and Nick found himself serendipitously face to face with Mr. Wright on the grounds of Taliesin again. This time Frank inquired how Nick was enjoying his stay at the compound. Nick, clueless again, still did not realize the Frank was offering him the chance of a lifetime.

They chatted briefly and Frank offered Nick the opportunity to go North for the Summer and study with him.  Nick stated he was not graduated from high school yet which elicited a big scoff from Frank. He said Nick didn’t need those credentials. Fortunately Nick’s mama and daddy had a different idea. So Nick got his high school diploma and ultimately traveled North to study with Frank.

Of course, anyone in the architectural industry in the Southwest, knows that Mr. Devenney went on to create one of the most successful and cutting edge health care architectural firms in the country. His knowledge of the business of the health care delivery system in this country is unmatched. We are so fortunate to have him as our mentor, as we intend to model our format based on many of his business practices and his boots on the ground evidence-based design principles. By the way, Nick is no longer clueless.

So, in closing, thank you Nick for sharing your wisdom, talents, experience and expertise with Iconic Architecture and Design. We hope one day we can pay it forward in the fine and compassionate manner you have done for us.

And as always, your success is our mission.

| Ghosts of the Past |

Here we are celebrating the birthday and glorious freedom of  our great United States of America. We live in an incredible country,  where anything is possible, if one is willing to persevere.

Case in point;  Will Counts recently graduated in business from  Thunderbird Global School of Management and set his mind to resurrect  the crumbling Tower, used during World War II for  flight training and control.  American and Chinese pilots were trained to fly, among other aircraft, the Stearman PT 17.  Will, in his indelible way and with Missouri fortitude, would not be deterred and set upon a path to preserve Thunderbird’s history and that of our country.

Karen and I, with much exuberance set to work as soon as Will gave us the go. I was enthralled with the history of the campus, right here in our own back yard, and could only imagine what would be recounted if walls could talk. These brave men, learning to fly planes made from fabric! Talk about flying by the seat of your pants.

We visited the job site Thursday in one hundred plus degree heat and took a few photos of the construction progress. It is very exciting to see our design and Will’s dream begin to take such defined physical shape. The space will be spectacular and a tribute to the men who preserved our freedom and to Thunderbird for having the foresight to save such a worthy piece of our history.

My father-in-law, Joemax Smith,  passed away this January. He was a World War II hero. These men changed our world for the better. The best of the best they are.  I pray The Ghosts of our Past stay with us always,  to remind us of how hard fought, with human treasure, our freedom has been. It is a fragile condition, and one we must be ever vigilant to protect.

Karen, is from Brazil and has taken such interest in learning about the history of our country while working on this project. She loves her native Brazil, but recounted to me over this holiday weekend that she can sum up America in three simple words, Fairness, Freedom and Friendly. I think that’s a pretty good description. I look forward to learning more about her beautiful Brazil.

So in closing, take a moment to thank a vet or acknowledge a soldier. It is because of them we can celebrate this day in glorious style. Karen and I wish you a Happy and Safe  4th of July.

As always, our goal is your success!