Nationality American Name Laurinda Spear | ||
Born 23 August 1950 Rochester, MN, USA Occupation architect, landscape architect and designer Known for being founding member of Arquitectonica Education Columbia University, Brown University People also search for Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Andres Duany, Bernardo Fort-Brescia, Hervin A R Romney | ||
Organizations founded Arquitectonica | ||
Laurinda Hope Spear, FAIA, ASLA, LEED AP (born 1950) is an American architect and landscape architect based in Miami, Florida. She is one of the founders of Arquitectonica, the international architecture, planning, and interior design firm, which formed in 1977. In 2005, in order to further explore sustainable design principles, she co-founded ArquitectonicaGEO, a landscape architecture firm.
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Education and career
Spear graduated from Everglades School in 1968 and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1972 from Brown University, where she later served as a trustee for six years. She received her Master of Architecture from Columbia University in 1975 and a Master of Landscape Architecture from Florida International University in 2006.
Spear co-founded Arquitectonica with her husband, Bernardo Fort-Brescia, and friend Hervin Romney. Arquitectonica translates to "architectural" in Spanish and is credited with bringing contemporary style to Miami. One of Spear’s designs, the Atlantis tower, became a symbol of Miami, due to its frequent appearances on Miami Vice. Although the commissions the firm received originally were contained to Miami, the firm has since broken national boundaries.
Spear has designed several hundred buildings located around the world. In 1992, she was made a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. In 1999, she was inducted into the Interior Design Magazine Hall of Fame. She was also the winner of the Rome Prize in Architecture. With ArquitectonicaGEO, her work includes the landscape for the Miami Science Museum as well as Hudson Square in New York City.
In addition to architecture, landscape architecture, and interior design, Spear designs products for firms such as Dune, Wolf Gordon, and Hickory Business Furniture.
Design style
Spear does not follow the historical eclecticism of the current postmodern trend, but prefers a more original and unprecedented style. This style is described as unconventional and modern, utilizing abstract geometric shapes and bright primary colors. Their designs come across as romantic and playful, but are also bold and dramatic. Influential architect, Philip Johnson, declared the firm as "the gutsiest team in the business." Spear is responsible for much of the firm’s signature work and has over 150 products on the market in the group she created, Laurinda Spear Products. She instituted the interior design practice within the firm, which has earned a spot in the Interior Design Hall of Fame.