“If a building is neither spontaneous nor sophisticated, there is probably nothing to see,” observes Chicago native Stanley Tigerman. After receiving architecture degrees from Yale, he started his firm in 1962, which his wife and partner, architect Margaret McCurry, joined in 1982. Though Tigerman’s achievements and accolades have been many (he represented the United States at the Venice Biennale on two occasions and has received more than 130 design awards) and his credentials impressive, he remains grounded and is the first to debunk the myth that architects reside on a lofty perch. “People often feel that architects are detached from others or are part of an elite—it’s just not true!” Tigerman believes that being a responsible architect and human being means “being totally immersed in ecological responsiveness.”

In addition to his residential projects in the United States, he has worked on public structures in Bangladesh and on the Illinois Regional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. Tigerman says, “I think design for those most in need of it is rewarding.” In 1993 he cofounded, with Eva Maddox, Chicago-based Archeworks, an alternative multidisciplinary design school. Programs at the school range from designing products and prototypes to improve the lives of stroke survivors to analyzing response models of recent disasters. He adds, “I choose projects where poignancy is built into the program.”

Stanley Tigerman

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