David Woodhouse

David Woodhouse is an American architect who was born in Peoria, Illinois.

David Woodhouse FAIA has been widely recognized for his architectural work in the Chicago region for a series of innovative public projects that reflect, respect and celebrate the values of the communities his designs serve. He is founder of David Woodhouse Architects, an AIA Chicago Firm of the Year.

Biography and Influences

Mr. Woodhouse received his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Illinois at Urbana in 1971 in a program that included study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Versailles, France. He then joined Stanley Tigerman and Associates in Chicago, where he became an Associate before leaving in 1978 to join Booth/Hansen and Associates where he was Senior Associate and Vice President. In 1987 he started a partnership which became David Woodhouse Architects in 1990. He was advanced to membership in the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in 1999.

Burnham Memorial Design Competition

In 2009, at age 61, Woodhouse's firm won a private design competition for the Burnham Memorial in Chicago, beating out 19 other competition submissions.

David Woodhouse Architects’s design solution has three primary elements – a Corner, Overlook, and Lawn. The Corner formation of two memorial walls depicts elements of Burnham’s plan of downtown Chicago on the exterior and invites visitors to step inside for a near-panoramic view of the plan’s achievements. The Overlook forms a timeline of Chicago’s evolution from undisturbed prairie to the present and beyond. The Lawn, which slopes down to the waterfront, offers a grassy expanse from which to view the skyline and the lakefront. A three-dimensional scale model of DWA’s design will be on display today at the offices of the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Chicago), along with all of the conceptual designs created as part of the competition. The scale model and all competition entries will be featured in an exhibition opening on Friday, August 21, 2009 in the T. Kimball and Nancy N. Brooker Gallery at The Field Museum.

Awards

His projects have been recognized with numerous architectural and interior design awards from the Chicago Chapter of the American Institute of Architects as well as preservation citations from the Richard H Driehaus Foundation, Landmarks Illinois, and the Lake Forest Preservation Foundation. They have been published both here and abroad in architectural periodicals and books such as Architectural Record, the Chicago Tribune and the AIA Guide to Chicago.

Projects

• Daniel Burnham Memorial Competition (Chicago)
• the Lake Forest LibraryChildren's Theater
• Buckingham Fountain Visitor Pavilions
• Venues for Chicago's Bid for the 2016 Olympics
• the Rainbow Park Beach Houses and Field House
• the Divine Word Chapel in Techny, Illinois
• Lake County Museum in Wauconda, Illinois
• the buildings at Independence Grove Forest Preserve in Libertyville
• the East and West Gates at Lincoln Park Zoo
• the Davis Square Park Pool House and Field House renovation
• the Morton Arboretum Visitor Center
• Lincoln Park Conservatory Master Plan
• DuSable Harbor Building on Chicago’s lakefront
• the Cove School in Northbrook, Illinois
• the Main Library renovation at Northwestern University
• the Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities at Northwestern University
• the Daley Library Information Commons at the University of Illinois at Chicago

Exhibitions and Publications

"Placement: The Architecture of David Woodhouse Architects" at Chicago's I space Gallery in June 2009 "Chicago Architecture: 10 Visions" at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2004/2005

Mr. Woodhouse's proposal for Chicago's Education District is featured in the book Visionary Chicago Architecture, edited by Stanley Tigerman in 2004.

Jurys and Teaching

Mr. Woodhouse has served on numerous architectural design award juries for the American Institute of Architects and various preservation foundations, has contributed articles to several architectural periodicals and has been a faculty member at Archeworks.

He has taught as an Adjunct Professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology's College of Architecture and is a frequent lecturer and visiting design critic at the University of Illinois in Chicago, the Illinois Institute of Technology and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Philanthropy

David is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Cove School for children with learning disabilities, and the Ragdale Foundation, an artists' retreat in Lake Forest. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Landmarks Illinois and the Advisory Design Council of the School of the Art Institute.

External links

• David Woodhouse Architects
• Burnham Design Competition Entires