The Falls, Coral Gables, Florida

The Falls is a large open-air retail center in Coral Gables, Florida designed by Mark Gerwing while at Anthony Belluschi Architects in 1994-5.  The center is composed of a series of covered walkways on either side of a water garden protecting shoppers from the harsh sun and frequent rainfall.

The overall project consisted of adding approximately 250,000 sf of retail space and designing the outdoor areas in three distinct sections to assist with wayfinding and to provide orientation.

Each section of the center has a different variation-on-a-theme of canopies, overhangs, rails and materials emphasizing the scale of each of the differing circulation and gathering spaces.

Architects:  Anthony Belluschi Architects

Project Architect:  Mark Gerwing

Lincoln Square renovation, Chicago

Designed to maximize the live/work life of the artisan/craftsman owner, this house renovation combines a number of different traditions to make a unique series of spaces. The owner, an accomplished craftsman of shoji screens and Japanese tonsu chests, wanted a house that could be more flexible as both a home and showroom. Like many renovations, a careful analysis of the existing structure revealed a few curious surprises. The existing second floor was supported on a number of beams that radiated, pinwheel-like, from a hall closet.

By removing almost all of the interior walls of the old house, the space could than be opened up for larger gatherings. A series of shoji screens located along the position of the old interior walls allows each of the previously existing rooms to be reconstituted, or by sliding the screens back shifted to create a completely open space around the former closet. This closet became the center of the house, a place of honor for newly created objects, functioning like a paper lantern lit from a new skylight and glass floor above.

Designed with James Walker, David Leary and Katherine Iverson Builder: by Owner Structural Engineer: John Trankina Photography: Craig Klucina and James Walker

Wicker Park, Chicago townhouse

This is the design for a speculative townhouse designed for a site in the Wicker Park neighborhood in Chicago. The project centers around a large two-story bookcase/fireplace that is wrapped by the stairs accessing the private realm of the bedrooms upstairs.

The brick exterior makes a kind of exoskeleton to house the clients, making a solid refuge in what was a marginal neighborhood.  The light and views are largely interior with masonry walls wrapping the house and site.

Designed by Mark Gerwing

Mark Gerwing, Project Architect

unbuilt