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.
Read MoreWe are excited to announce that the Salt Lake Cultural Core Action Plan has been unanimously adopted by both Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County, and that the Plan is being printed for posterity as this post goes live! Sparano + Mooney Architecture is honored to have been integral to the development of this master planning initiative, which seeks to make our downtown an even more dynamic and celebrated place to live, work and create.
Read MoreThe architecture and design connection between Los Angeles and Park City might not be immediately obvious – but to those in the film and entertainment industries (and for culture vultures in general) the two cities are inextricably linked. For a contemporary architecture firm with offices in both metropolises, Sparano Mooney Architects understands the rich, vibrant link and is excited that until January 29th, the 2017 Sundance Film Festival is previewing the most cutting-edge, avant-garde and downright awe-inspiring cinematic projects in venues across Park City, Salt Lake City, and Sundance Mountain Resort. Angelenos and Utahans will gather together for inspiration and we hope to see our friends in both locations in Park City, Utah this week...plus, if you want a break from the films we can show you some of our new modern residential design in Park City!
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We are pleased to announce the opening of an exciting new exhibition titled Imagining UMOCA, which will be on display at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art from January 24 - April 15, 2017.
Led by our own Anne Mooney in the Senior Design Studio course at the University of Utah's School of Architecture, students imagined possibilities for expanding the museum to serve its diverse and growing audience. They began by researching contemporary artists, and then developed their analyses into 3-dimensional designs for one of three downtown sites, attempting to capture the essence of the artist they selected in their proposals. These final concepts by six students will be exhibited in the museum's Ed Space Gallery. The concepts meet UMOCA's programmatic and functional requirements, while also creating a spatial experience that unfolds gradually for the visitor and engages both body and mind.
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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.
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Green is good! At Sparano + Mooney Architecture, our architects value providing innovative, modern and sustainable design solutions for our clients. So, we were excited to read that two of our award-winning projects, the Saint Joseph the Worker Church and the Saint Marguerite School, have recently taken steps to continue their conservation efforts.
Read MoreAt Sparano + Mooney Architecture, we care deeply about our unique clients and strive to deliver thoughtful, innovative design solutions for each client’s vision for their architecture and interiors. Our clients are our inspiration, our bread and butter and our driving force. We love what we do and do what we love, and are eternally grateful to be able to work with people and companies that help us cultivate the culture of excellence that defines our firm! Which is why we are so excited to write about Big Cartel, a company that not only shares our core values, but a fantastic architectural client – we are designing their company headquarters in Utah - and an incredibly cool webstore business provider dedicated to assisting creatives in reaching their potential.
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That’s right – Salt Lake Design Week is officially underway, and we are beyond excited to be a part of this city-wide cultural extravaganza! As Salt Lake City architects deeply committed to producing and inspiring great design, we can’t wait to sample the artistic cornucopia that this creative-minded city has to offer this week. So get ready to sharpen your creative edge and join us for what is shaping up to be a stellar event…
Read MoreAt 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.
Read MoreEvery 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…
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Sparano + Mooney Architecture is delighted to announce that our Pulsar House Project has been recognized with a 2016 DesignArts Utah Award! The Utah Division of Arts & Museums DesignArts Program is dedicated to the promotion of excellence in the diverse fields of architecture, graphic and industrial design in Utah. They strive to help the citizens of Utah see, experience, use and value the art of design that surrounds us daily – we are honored that our architects were chosen as a recipient of this year’s award!
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Sparano + Mooney Architecture is honored to announce that it has been awarded the American Institute of Architects Western Mountain Region Architectural Firm of the Year for 2016!
Each year, the AIA Western Mountain Region recognizes substantial achievements by an architectural practice in the western United States who embodies the cause of creating an excellent built environment. The prestigious Firm of the Year Award identifies the continuing collaboration among individuals in a firm who have produced distinguished architecture over a period of at least 10 years, have made significant contributions to the AIA, the profession and their community, and have transcended their regional boundaries in making these contributions. Significantly, this year’s award is the first ever to recognize a Utah architect for the Firm of the Year in the 37-year history of the AIA Western Mountain Region Honor Awards. Based in Washington, D.C., the American Institute of Architects has been the leading professional membership association for licensed architects, emerging architectural professionals, and allied partners since 1857. With nearly 300 state and local chapters, the AIA serves as a voice of the architecture profession and the resource for architects and its members in service to society.
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If you are looking for a pleasant way to pass time indoors as the seasons change, look no further than the Summer 2016 issue of Utah Style & Design - a Park City modern home designed by Sparano + Mooney Architecture has been featured on the cover!
The corresponding article, “Opening Act”, written by Natalie Taylor and photographed by Scot Zimmerman, showcases the “strikingly beautiful” contemporary residence, which “combines dynamic architecture with high-style livability and sustainability”. The clients were clear about choosing the right Park City architect and about their must-haves: “We wanted a relatively quiet house with no duplicate spaces. It was critical that the house feels like it belongs on the land and that it fits peacefully into its environment without feeling forced”.
Read MoreSound and image bleed and fuse. The viewer sees, experiences and questions. Modern hyper-mobility and the relentlessness of human existence are served up in the guise of moving pictures. Such is the entropic landscape of the art works by Doug Aitken, which will be exhibited in a mid-career retrospective at the Geffen Contemporary at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA). The show will be the first North American museum survey of Aitken’s work and will include seven large-scale video installations, a recent live sound piece and several cross-disciplinary, multimedia artworks that, in typical Aitken fashion, defy acute categorization.
Read MorePicture your perfect Saturday night: Does it include a musical performance at Abravanel Hall, followed by a stroll through downtown and a meal at one of the award-winning downtown restaurants, brewpubs or bistros? Or, perhaps it involves a ballet at the Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theater, stargazing at the Clark Planetarium, and an exhibition at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art? A Utah Jazz basketball game? An outdoor film in Pioneer Park? There’s no question about it – Salt Lake City is a vibrant community, with a rich artistic, civic, cultural and religious heritage, and we are proud to be involved with making our downtown an even more dynamic and celebrated place to live, work and create!
Read MoreIn what light do you see yourself? What do you fear? How do you IDENTIFY? In a world that is increasingly dynamic, in which we sleep next to our mobile phones and swarm anonomously among an ever amassing population, our personal identities are more and more fluid, strained and undefinable. This condition is one that prolific New York-based artist Cindy Sherman is intimately familiar with, and seeks to address through her latest photographs, her first body of new work to be exhibited in five years.
In this series of portraits Sherman, true to her milieu, has appropriated the dress and appearance of fading starlets in an attempt to come to terms with her own ageing. Gloria Swanson and Greta Garbo take the stage, as do several leading ladies from Hollywood’s Golden Age. “I relate so much to these women”, Sherman explains. “They look like they’ve been through a lot, and they’re survivors. And you can see some of the pain in there, but they’re looking forward and moving on.”
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No, you’re not seeing double and yes, our team member architects Anne Mooney, John Sparano and Seth Striefel are indeed larger than life! At least, in the Arts Council’s photomural public art project, where oversize photographs of the architects, along with 50 additional creatives and artisans who live and work in the community, have been affixed to the exterior of local businesses.
In planning the new Downtown, the City wanted to highlight the revitalized arts district and showcase the area’s unique talent. “We have been blown away by the creative talent and innovative thinkers already here”, said Arts Council Coordinator Lesly Allen. “Sparano + Mooney Architecture is a key element to what we want our downtown to be”. Lesly also noted this architectural firm’s ability to take gritty, industrial-feeling spaces and create welcoming environments in which you’d want to spend time.
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“Forget about the Boring World! Welcome to our Not Standard World!” So begins Jun Li’s presentation titled Not Standard, which she delivered recently to the next generation of architects visiting from an immersive summer design program. Jun, an architectural intern at Sparano + Mooney Architecture, asked the students to consider: How do we design for a diverse public experience in an increasingly standardized world? Though it may be tempting to conceive of and produce generic spaces, Jun posits that you can design for individuality and the creation of a unique product, perhaps paradoxically, through a standardized data-gathering process. First, we must take into account the variability of a client and the fluid environment in which they wish to live or work. But, by asking broadly applicable questions to distinguish differences such as gender, age and body type, and subjective preferences like whether one prefers to live alone or among others, Jun proposes an evolution of architecture that is intimate and better suited to clients’ personal needs.
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