
AIA Chicago Firm of the Year!
Honoring their commitment to FUN, collaboration and their designs for “deeply humanistic and courageous” projects, Architecture Is Fun is AIA Chicago Firm of the Year.

Furniture Objects By Architects Pop-Up #FOBA
In conjunction with the Chicago Architecture Biennial and AIA Chicago, Architecture Is Fun transformed an empty storefront into a pop-up of Functional Objects By Architects (FOBA). Inspired by museum-minded concepts of open storage, the architecture took form as industrial shelving with a straightforward layout, branded wall graphics and a curated collection; all of which turned a generic gallery into a design destination.

DuPage Children’s Museum Renovation
We did it, the reviews are in and we received a 5 star rating…There were audible gasps of joy and delight. Everyone came together and with one big push…..we were open! Thank you for the passion, the hard work and the commitment that had us looking so beautiful at 4:00 today. The Mayor was truly moved and just in awe of what were able to do in a few months.
~ Sarah Orleans, President & CEO, DuPage Children’s Museum

Hotel X Design Showcase
Dressing A Showcase in Stone
Materiality plays a big role in the functionality, sustainability, and aesthetic of public and private spaces for home, culture, and play. Designing a Coverings’16 Showcase was an opportunity to play with material goods, disrupt the norm, and highlight stone products to reflect a sense of place and playful spirit in a boutique hotel lobby.

Architecture Is Fun
Work of significance and relevance, joy and seriousness, range and depth.
~ Robert Venturi FAIA FRIBA and Denise Scott Brown RIBA, Int. FRIBA
on the work of Architecture Is Fun.
Design makes a difference.
Architecture Is Fun listens and engages with you to develop places, spaces and experiences that are relevant for you. We like good ideas and having fun.

Nurturing Your Child’s Creativity
Creativity is a place you and your child should go.
~ Sharon Exley.
In Nurturing Your Child’s Creativity from PechaKucha Night Chicago Vol. 32, Sharon Exley presents her top ten of how creativity, challenge, adventure and more is nurtured in children, which shows why apples don’t fall far from trees (via her own brave and artful explorer daughter Emma).

Chicago Paddle Company
Boards in a Box
In its inaugural season at Kathy Osterman Beach in Chicago, the Chicago Paddle Company needed an efficient and affordable way to launch a park district-approved rental and storage station. With YOLO (You Only Live Once) branded boards and sentiment, the Paddle project highlights the adventurous paddle boarder lifestyle and builds awareness of this fast-growing watersport. Container architecture became the resilient, recycled, and recyclable seasonal solution for transforming a bleak stretch of beach into a hub of paddleboarding, family fun, and fitness.

What Keeps a Great Music Venue Great?
Rock ‘n’ roll addicts, we’ve spent many formative and memorable evenings, ear plugs in place, at renown rock venues. The best venues seem to have as Gibson Guitars so eloquently wrote: “…a raggedly dilapidated quality that feels part and parcel of rock music itself.”
So when renovating a venue as we’re doing right now, how do we retain its inherent authenticity, vibe, and heritage?
Let’s Be Friends