John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects was formed in 1996, when John and Alice recognized a shared aesthetic and social vision for the power of architecture. Since then, the firm has become renowned for an innovative design process dedicated to creating vibrant architectural spaces that catalyze creative interaction and redefine both social and individual realms.
The firm’s portfolio encompasses a range of building types and sizes that have been widely recognized for their technological, material, and sustainable intelligence, as well as their spatial fluidity, quality of light and social significance.
Noteworthy early projects include Club Sugar, the LA Design Center, and the SK Swim Center, followed by more recent examples such as the King Residence, the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories at Caltech, and the Guest of Honor Pavilion for the 2009 Guadalajara International Book Fair. Both the Ehrlich Residence and the Green Dot East 27th Street Charter High Schools have been widely lauded for their integration of the most up-to-date sustainable strategies, the latter project being the first LEED-Certified charter school facility in Los Angeles. JFAK is continuing to demonstrate leadership in the realm of sustainability with two new college projects being designed for LEED-Platinum status. These include a new Fitness and Athletics Center for Claremont McKenna College and the new Resnick Institute for the Science of Energy at Caltech.
For these and other projects, JFAK has received over 30 significant design distinctions, including 16 American Institute of Architect Chapter and State awards. In 2004, the firm’s LA Design Center received an AIA Institute Honor Award, widely accepted to be the most significant architecture award that a single project can win in the US. This was followed by the Rudy Bruner Silver Medal for Urban Excellence in 2007. JFAK’s work has been widely published worldwide in over 70 periodicals and books, including 6 cover features. Three of the firm’s projects are featured in Phaidon’s influential Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture, published in 2004. In recognition of these ongoing achievements, John and Alice were named as “Emerging Voices” in 2004 by The Architectural League of New York. Both partners lecture widely and have spoken at USC, University of Oregon, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Pomona, the Nevada Museum of Art, Otis College of Art + Design, the Architectural League of New York, and Woodbury University. Recently, they completed The Roberts Pavilion at Claremont McKenna College and the La Kretz Innovation Campus in Downtown Los Angeles.