AJArchitects.com - Art, Architecture + Design

Is architecture art or a profession? Is it something real defined by professional constraints of program, safety, function, environment, climate, building codes, planning, zoning, community organization, responsibility, and economy? Or does architecture rather sometimes succeed in inspiring with ideas in space and light—things that can only be perceived achieved in the abstract of art? Steven Holl identified the delicate balance between architecture as an art and a profession when he said, "While artists work from the real to the abstract, architects must work from the abstract to the real." It is a poetic message with a practical meaning. If the professional constraints of program, safety, function, environment, climate, building codes, planning, zoning, community organization, responsibility, and economy are not addressed and solved, nobody cares about the art.

Anton Janezich of AJArchitects.com LLC, considers that architecture should blend into the forms and attributes of its locality and the business and social culture of those for whom a project is intended while being respectful of a client’s resources, and agenda. He has over three decades of experience collaborating with some of the world's leading architects producing major projects in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. His vision is driven by an awareness and application for the cultural, economic and intellectual complexities of the modern world. Projects types include large-scale mixed use developments as well as more modestly scaled work.

As an Associate Partner with SOM in London, Anton was a lead technical member of project teams focusing on detailed design and construction of multiple international projects including the 7.5 million sq. ft. Liverpool Street Station Development in the heart of London’s Financial District, home to the National Westminster Bank Headquarters and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; the 1.5 million sq. ft. Ludgate Hill mixed use development adjacent to the Old Bailey; the 500 room Conrad Hotel in Cairo, and the 250,000 sq. ft. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Beijing.

In Washington DC, Anton joined GGA as Design Principal where he won design awards for the renovation and repositioning of Organization of American States, the law firm of Bingham McCutchen, LLP, The Newspaper Association of America and The Herbert C Hoover Building, home to the US Department of Commerce.

Prior to establishing AJArchitects.com (AJA), Anton worked with Leo A Daly as Projects Director on the design of the 3 million square meter Huaqiao Business City in Shanghai, the 3.5 million square foot Huanggang Excellence Century Center in Shenzhen and a 250,000 square foot Stepwolf Development in Xiamen. Anton also played a role in the master plan for the new US Embassy in London and an international airport terminal for private jets in Calgary, Alberta.

Having spent 18 years with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in their Chicago, San Francisco, Washington and London locations, Anton was mentored by associates of Mies van der Rohe's office, on the subtle design of exterior curtain walls from the architects who trail blazed this art form in the mid-20th century.