Our architectural team is fortunate to work with the most inspiring clients in the region. One of these monumental talents is Dr. Craig Jessop, Dean of Utah State University’s Caine College of the Arts. Jessop will be in Salt Lake City this weekend conducting an ensemble for the Madeleine Choir School’s 20th-anniversary celebration Sunday March 6th at 8pm at the Cathedral of the Madeleine with a performance of Claudio Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers. We are sure this performance will be fabulous under Dean Jessop’s direction!

Utah State University Caine College of the Arts, Madeleine Choir School Events

The University of Utah is a world-class research institution with a reputation for promoting sustainable design. In 2011, the University was ranked third among all similar institutions in the country for green power consumption by the EPA. As a pioneer of sustainable design in Salt Lake City ourselves, we understand the University of Utah's commitment to sustainability and renewable energy. It is with that in mind we are proud to announce that our very own Anne Mooney will be addressing students at the University as part of the 2016 School of Architecture Lecture Series.

Anne's presentation will take place on Friday, February 26 at 4 PM. She will be joining two other important architectural voices in addressing students at the College of Architecture and Planning during the three-lecture series of 2016.

Sparano + Mooney is extremely proud to announce that we are winners of the 2015 Religious Architecture Award, a prestigious international award given annually by the American Institute of Architects Interfaith Forum on Art and Architecture.  Our architectural design work is featured in the current issue of Faith and Form magazine’s annual awards issue. Our reputation for contemporary architecture in Salt Lake City is one of the things that helped us secure the contract to design the award-winning St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church facilities in West Jordan. It has been quite a project.

For the benefit of our readers, we wanted to take the opportunity of winning the Faith and Form award to explain some of the unique challenges of designing religious architecture. As you might expect, religious architecture is different in a number of different ways. The three biggest challenges we face on these kinds of projects are as follows:

CNN Style contributor Tish Wrigley recently authored a fascinating article about photography and architecture. It was published on the CNN website on January 5 of this year (2016). In the piece, Wrigley detailed how a skilled photographer can do for architecture what even the best architects cannot do for themselves: make their work travel. The piece is well worth the read if you are interested in knowing what can happen when architecture and photography meet for the purposes of creating art.

Both mediums are art forms in and of themselves. We know that. Whether we are designing commercial architecture in Salt Lake City or a residential project on the other side of the state, we know that what we design will speak volumes about our firm and the communities we serve. Likewise, photographers have similar experiences. The work they create tells the world who they are as artists, yet it also brings to life subject matter that viewers may have no other means of experiencing. When you put the two together, the results can be absolutely incredible.

At Sparano + Mooney Architecture, we are full-fledged supporters of sustainable design. Salt Lake City mostly agrees with this philosophy as well, but perhaps only in principle. When it actually comes to purchasing a new home designed around sustainability principles, those principles may no longer be so important. And unfortunately, it frequently boils down to money. We have created a system of assembly-line home building in North America and Europe that makes it possible to erect massive volumes of new homes at affordable prices. But this practice could be the biggest hindrance to sustainability in the long run.

Come one come all to a Women in Architecture New Years Resolution Spectacular. Join us tonight, the 8th at Sparano + Mooney Architecture from 6 - 8pm. Plenty of drinks, petite bites, conversation and good people. We hope to see you there!

We are honored to have our design for Saint Joseph the Worker Catholic Church be recognized by Faith and Form Magazine and The AIA Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture as one of the architects who are a national recipient of a 2015 Religious Architecture Award. This design award recognizes exemplary sacred spaces of all denominations throughout the world. Check out this year’s architecture at Archdaily.

Happy New Year from all of us at Sparano + Mooney Architecture! Here are 10 simple life changes we can do to help reduce emissions, promote healthier environments and lives in 2016.

This Thanksgiving Day we are so grateful to have the opportunity to collaborate with the best architects, designers, artists and consultants in the industry as we serve amazing clients who care so much about the built environment. A BIG thanks to our community, we hope you enjoy a relaxing day with loved ones!

A self-taught architect better known for his art, Ai Weiwei’s practice began with the simple need to build his own studio and residence. He sees architecture as shelter and fundamental to human survival, with the ability to "transform people’s conditions of existence". His architectural studio has developed a restrained style that speaks powerfully to the fundamentals – form, structure, proportion and light. His work is on exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts in London through mid-December.

This Fall season, we have been appreciative of the changing light in the spaces and landscapes we design and occupy. Image captures a sunset in the desert near Death Valley. "I sense light as the giver of all presences, and material as spent light. What is made by light casts a shadow, and the shadow belongs to light." - Luis Kahn

Just like the footings of a building, no two are the same. This shoe, designed by architecture student Otto Steffan and Feetz for the FN Platform challenge at Pensole Footwear Design Academy, responds to biological and environmental conditions making it adaptable to change. Well designed architecture for your feet!

This week at the AIA Western Mountain Regional Conference in Keystone, Colorado, John is presenting the work of Sparano + Mooney Architecture and its grounding in the places and people of the American West. A heuristic design process guides the design team beyond convention to identify and illuminate the essential truths of each project.

One of our projects currently underway - glashausen - received a design award for architecture from the Utah State Division of Arts & Museums. Targeted for LEED Platinum certification, this model green home serves as a retreat within glass and concrete volumes integrated into an amazing mountain setting. glashausen is on exhibit at the Rio Gallery until October 23rd. Come by the gallery this Friday evening for a reception and to check out the design!

For Sparano + Mooney Architecture great design is at the heart of everything we do. Today at the AIA Utah Annual Conference, Anne has been invited to participate on a panel discussion on design process and firm culture moderated by architect, John Carney from the Jackson. Wyoming practice, Carney, Logan and Burke. These images are a series of study models for a project currently in progress.

A view from the road trip Anne recently took to the IMMERSION symposium for architects and architecture students dedicated to site-specific design in art and architecture in the American West. The symposium was held at the Open Air Museum in Nevada near the ghost town of Rhyolite.