Stanley Tigerman

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Stanley Tigerman in 2007.

Stanley Tigerman (born 20th September, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American architect, theorist and designer He studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Chicago Institute of Design, and Yale University. After serving several years in the Navy, he assumed the role of draftsman and designer in a series of offices. Since 1964 he has been the Principal of Stanley Tigerman and Associates Ltd. (now Tigerman McCurry Architects), in Chicago. He has also taught at several universities in the United States.

During his early career, Tigerman borrowed extensively from an eclectic blend of styles. In later years, his diverse design style has progressively assumed a more sensual and theatrical character. Tigerman's early skill with curves and perspective has expanded to include organic shapes, bright color, topiary, and allegory. From his early eclectic styling he has developed into an idiosyncratic theorist.

Tigerman creates specific and unique designs for each individual client. He sees design as a complex representation of art and criticism. With the transformation of his design approach, he has become a leading advocate of architecture as a cultural and technological response to society. His works have developed an increasingly Classical vocabulary.

Tigerman generates designs that are marked by formal inventiveness, sculptural and compositional finesse and attentiveness to detail. He references pop and pornography, history and literature to create formal design building blocks. He feels that architecture should be fun, witty, and appealing. Unfortunately this design aesthetic has led to some decidedly trivial design programs.

Tigerman's building credits as principal designer include institutional projects such as The Five Polytechnic Institutes in Bangladesh, The Illinois Regional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in Chicago, and The POWERHOUSE Energy Museum in Zion, Illinois. He has completed both mixed use high rise and low rise housing projects throughout the United States, as well as in Germany and Japan, and he has designed exhibition installations for museums in the United States, Portugal and Puerto Rico. His broad range of collaborative works include The Chicago Central Area Plan, the 1992 Chicago World's Fair, and London's Kings' Cross and St. Pancras' High Density Mixed Use Urban Plan. From the more than 390 projects defining his career, over 175 built works embrace virtually every building type.

Tigerman has been a central influence on the architectural community of Chicago. He has helped to create a community of discussions among Chicago designers and to encourage talented beginners to participate. He has also brought architectural issues to a wider audience that includes architects, artists and the general public.

In 1994, Tigerman co-founded Archeworks, a nonprofit organization in Chicago, with designer Eva L. Maddox. The school has received a number of grants from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. Archeworks is an alternative design school where students work in multidisciplinary teams with nonprofit partners to create design solutions for social concerns.