Anne Mooney is a Top Women in Architecture Honoree by Mountain Living Magazine

Sparano + Mooney Architecture is pleased to announce that our Principal Architect and Co-Founder, Anne Mooney is one of this year’s recipients of the Mountain Living Magazine’s Top Female Architects!

Anne was educated in architecture at Columbia University in New York, and at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) where she studied in Switzerland and Los Angeles. Anne has achieved professional distinctions as an architectural practitioner, professor and design critic, and her award-winning designs have been featured in publications and exhibitions in the United States, Canada, China, England, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Japan.

Sparano + Mooney Architecture in THE PLAN no.122

One of Sparano + Mooney Architecture’s favorite international architectural publications, The Plan based out of Bologna, Italy did an in-depth feature of our studio’s design process in their most recent edition published this week. Written by architecture and design critic, Michael Webb (Architect’s Houses, Moving Around: A Lifetime of Wandering, and many others), the article titled “Interpreting the Context to Create Striking Architecture” explores the studio’s interest in design, process, site-specificity, and the unique context of the American West.

COVID-19, Design, and How We Are Dealing With It

At the very start of this year, only a mere three months ago, we don’t think there could have been any way to anticipate just how drastically things have changed globally due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As our staff have begun working remotely we have encountered some challenges, but also opportunities to rethink how we work as individuals and as a team.

A Stadium for the Trees

Design Inspiration: For Forest “The Unending Attraction of Nature”

The drawing depicts a common modern scenario, a vast urban stadium – architecture densely packed with spectators. But instead of an athletic event, the stadium looks onto a grove of trees, planted in the center of the field. The wooded area is a direct juxtaposition to the teaming skyline behind it, visible just above the rim of the stadium. Skyscrapers, cranes, and billowing smoke render the cityscape as a dynamic engine of growth and development. By contrast, the forest is still, even contemplative.

Pioneer of Modernist Design, Florence Knoll Bassett Dies at 101

If you were to take a quick look around Sparano + Mooney’s Salt Lake City office, there are a few things that immediately stand out about the space. We work in a converted industrial building with an open floorplan, strategic architectural embellishments have been added to the frame of the building, but very little has been done to the existing concrete floors and cinderblock walls. Individual work spaces comprised of sleek wooden furniture are situated along the walls, while a main counter where our team frequently gathers for meetings runs down the center of the main office space. In a word, our office is “modern.”

An Artist Among Us: The Art + Paintings of Camille Erickson

Without doubt, the Sparano + Mooney Architecture team are talented, driven, and creative. We work hard to deliver thoughtful design solutions to our clients, not to mention our commitment to an exceptional client experience and harnessing first-rate business acumen. Of course, our Salt Lake City and Los Angeles architects are highly skilled at turning numerous iterations of ideas and sketches into renders and plans. Putting pen, pencil and brush to paper is a key aspect of our practice and drawing skills are essential to the profession. But did you know that our team member Camille Erickson, head of Accounting and Human Resources, also produces beautiful paintings and is an enormously talented artist in her own right? We are astounded by Camille’s talent, and her ability to use both her left and right brain with equal flourish. We interviewed her to discover more about her work.

Art, Architecture, History + Identity: The Chicago Architecture Biennial

Chicago may be known as the Windy City, but for architecture aficionados, the metropolis is a veritable treasure trove of world-renowned architectural gems. From historic structures including Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House (1910), Mies van der Rohe’s Federal Center complex (1974), and Bertrand Goldberg’s Marina City (1964), to more recent structures such as Studio Gang’s Aqua (2009), Chicago boasts numerous architectural landmarks. Though our firm of Salt Lake City and Los Angeles architects are based in the American West, we nevertheless have closely followed the most recent incarnation of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, a showcase of over 140 architects and artists, exhibitions and events across the city, free and open to the public. Hurry! The events come to a close in early January, so if you find yourself in need of inspiration to start the new year, make haste to this cultural hub and take advantage of the truly breathtaking array of architectural wonders on offer.

Adrián Villar Rojas and Sparano + Mooney Architecture Create “Theater” at MOCA

Sparano + Mooney Architecture and our team of Los Angeles architects and designers have established a fantastic working relationship with The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, and we were delighted when the institution approached us to provide architectural services and interior remodeling for their latest exhibition of cutting-edge contemporary art, titled Adrián Villar Rojas: The Theater of Disappearance. We have also collaborated with MOCA on acclaimed shows by Matthew Barney and of works from the 1990s at the museum, and were more than happy to partner on this occasion to bring Villar Rojas’ eclectic and boundary-defying art to The Geffen’s savvy audience.

For this show, Sparano + Mooney Architecture worked with Villar Rojas’ proposed layout for the exhibit, made modifications in order for it to comply with current codes, such as building and fire, and also collaborated with structural engineers to ensure columnar components of the space held up.

The Amber Road Trekking Cabins: Architecture Competition Entry by Sparano + Mooney Architecture

At Sparano + Mooney Architecture, we are always in search of creative outlets for our ideas and for new ways to innovate and promote sustainability in architectural practice. Submitting conceptual projects to architectural competitions is just one way that we attempt to advance our critical thinking, and our team of architects and designers recently put forth a tiny house proposal to the Amber Road Trekking Cabins architecture competition, organized by Bee Breeders in association with the Latvia Nature Conservation Agency, which calls for the design of several travelers’ cabins to be situated along the extensive and stunning Amber Road trekking path. The path will run along the beaches of the Baltic Sea, a remote treasure of natural beauty in Northern Europe renowned for the fragments of glowing amber that wash up on the region’s shores. Winning designs will be considered for construction as a means of boosting tourism to Latvia.

The Glorious Getty: Art + Architecture

Sparano + Mooney Architecture loves art and culture – and as contemporary architects in Los Angeles, we also adore examples of institutions in this great city that combine these passions and pursuits. Which is why we are crazy about the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center and the treasure trove it offers throughout its sprawling California campus. Housing an expansive collection of European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, photography, textiles and decorative arts created from antiquity to the present, the museum serves diverse local and international audiences and continually offers groundbreaking exhibitions and programming to the public. The Getty Center’s overriding mission is to “inspire curiosity about, and enjoyment and understanding of, the visual arts by collecting, conserving, exhibiting and interpreting works of art of outstanding quality and historical importance”. Now that’s a mission we can support!

Fanatical about Form + Fashion: The Work of Cristóbal Balenciaga

Spanish couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895-1972) left such an indelible mark on the world of fashion design that his contemporary Coco Chanel once described him as the “only couturier in the truest sense of the word. The others are simply fashion designers”. This is high praise from fashion’s grande dame, and a new exhibition at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, titled Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion, seeks to uncover why this virtuoso is universally regarded as the maestro of modern fashion design, haute couture, and architectural cut, shape and material.

The Status of Women - in Architecture

When the March, 2017 issue of The Architectural Review hit newsstands, in conjunction with International Women’s Day, women’s rights marches, and waves of pink “pussy hats”, it reopened and spurred an essential, if uncomfortable, dialogue that is vital to the future of our industry: the role, status and prospect of women in architecture. Issue number 1439, March 2017, explores the status that female architects occupy in the field during a time of global upheaval and a reconsideration of socio-political and economic values. It is also a reflection upon a century or more of sometimes nuanced, oftentimes blatant discrimination, obliteration, and systemic repression of women from the public record of architecture. So what’s it all about?

Searching for Beauty, Meaning and Truth in Architecture and Museums

It should be no secret that, as architects specializing in arts and culture projects in Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, and the American West, we adore museums. Their hallowed galleries contain priceless paintings, sculptures, photographs, drawings and objets d’art, but they also possess the residual stories of the artists themselves, countless visitors who pass through, talented curators who bring the exhibits to life, and architects who have helped realize those storied spaces. It is a pleasure and a privilege to roam the creative displays and learn from some of the most influential museum designs in the world, just as Anne Mooney and John Sparano did recently on their European tour of London and Paris where they visited Sir John Soane’s Museum and the Tate Modern in London and the Louvre, Picasso Museum and the Rodin Museum in Paris. The inspiration drawn from these stalwart institutions absolutely helps inform our own design process, and we are excited to incorporate new ideas into our own museum projects, such as the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art (NEHMA) at Utah State University.

The Global, the Local and the Authentic in Contemporary Architecture

No matter which side of the aisle your views rest upon, it is generally agreed that the world is moving into uncharted socio-political and economic territory. As modern architects living and working in the American West, we can’t help but wonder how this new order will affect our industry: How will clients feel about the home of their dreams when their dreams may no longer reflect reality? Alternatively, will others feel bolstered by the changes that have occurred and want to invest further in their future on terra firma? What will happen to the cost of architecture, and the materials and labor of its construction? How will a shifting perception of the “local” versus the “global” influence the way our architects design and how our clients view contemporary architecture?

Uncommon Modern (Architecture)

Does the thought of mid-century modern architecture put some pep in your step? Do you long to surround yourself with glass and concrete assembled when the Rat Pack were roaming, or perhaps come home to an architect John Sugden-designed space each night? If so, you might want to check out Uncommon Modern Salt Lake! This event will celebrate mid-century modern architecture (buildings constructed between ca. 1945-1970) and kick off an inventory of period buildings in Salt Lake City. Stop by cityhomeCOLLECTIVE at 645 E South Temple tomorrow, February 9th from 7pm, to take part in this important project.

A Phoenix Rises in Los Angeles: Architects Restore the Ft. Moore Pioneer Memorial

What do a London-born sculptor, Connecticut-based/German-native artist, the Mormon Battalion of Salt Lake City, Mormon Battalion of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and our firm of Los Angeles architects have in common? The answer might surprise you: the Ft. Moore Pioneer Memorial in Los Angeles, California. As reported on the front page of the Los Angeles Times on Saturday, January 28th, 2017, thanks to generous support from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and with the technical and design team at Sparano + Mooney Architecture, the “forgotten memorial” is undergoing critical restoration to return the monument to its original civic glory.

An Artist among Us: The Sketches of Jorge Beltran

There’s no doubt about it – the Sparano + Mooney Architecture team are a talented bunch. We work hard to deliver thoughtful, innovative and contemporary design solutions; every day striving to produce beautiful architecture for our amazing clients. The interpretation of an idea from start to finish often involves numerous iterations of sketches, renders and plans. Putting pen, pencil and brush to paper is a key aspect of our practice and drawing skills are essential to the profession. But did you know that our team member Jorge Beltran, who recently celebrated eleven years with the firm, also produces phenomenal sketches at work and in his free time and is a supremely talented artist in his own right? We are blown away by Jorge’s talent, and interviewed him to discover more about his work.

Reflections from the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016

At Sparano + Mooney, we are mad about architecture. For us, great design is at the heart of our Los Angeles, California, and Salt Lake City, Utah, based practice and our architects are wholeheartedly focused on delivering thoughtful, innovative, sustainable and contemporary design solutions to each and every client. We explore hyper-specific cultural cues and strive to construct a meaningful relationship between modern architecture and the experience of its inhabitants. Which is why we were so excited to visit the mothership of international architecture – the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016. We were eager to explore visionary architectural creations from architects from around the globe and to be inspired by the plethora of architectural delights on offer. Do other firms share our core values? Does an architect in Ireland approach design in a similar manner to an architect in the American West? How can we continue to progress the cause of research-based conceptual design and architecture to solve the real problems we confront each day? What can we learn from our peers around the globe? Below is a snapshot of the incredible installations and exhibitions we discovered during our trip.

From Venice Beach to the Venice Architecture Biennale: the “Wayward Eye” of Denise Scott Brown

Every two years, the international architecture community comes together for a truly inspirational presentation: the Venice Architecture Biennale. Held in Venice, Italy, the 2016 edition runs from May 28th until November 27th, and includes 88 participants from 37 countries, as well as 62 national participants and a curated selection of associated events. The Biennale is truly THE place to engage with cutting-edge, thought-provoking architecture – which is why, when Anne Mooney and John Sparano recently visited Venice, they understandably made the Biennale the focus of their stay. Here, we present a blog series about their architectural discoveries…

Repurposing Architecture, for Architecture

In the small central French city of Claremont-Ferrand is a fascinating building with a storied history dating back more than 80 years. The structure is surrounded by residential neighborhoods and a beautiful park, making the ground on which it sits more peaceful than one might expect for such a magnificent structure. And now this building, which was once a 1930s era sanatorium, has been repurposed by a renowned French architecture firm for future architects.

Paris-based architectural firm Du Besset-Lyon was commissioned by the French Ministry of Culture to find a way to repurpose the aging building that had fallen into disrepair in recent years. After an initial study, the firm decided it was the perfect structure for a new architecture school run by the Ministry. Upon completion, it would be the latest in a series of 20 schools throughout France that teach young emerging architects the skills they need to create the design of the future.

SMADecember 2, 2015Architecture, Contemporary Architecture, Salt Lake City, Utah, Repurposing, Claremont-Ferrand

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