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Brad Cloepfil, Founding Principal, AIA, NCARB
Allied Works
Portland, USA

Sponsored by the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction

Title: Case Work

Architect, educator, and principal of Allied Works Architecture, Brad Cloepfil creates culturally resonant architectural designs that are forged by the defining elements of their mission and site. Cloepfil’s earliest influences lay outside the field of architecture—from the vast landscapes and monumental works of civil engineering in the Pacific Northwest, to the simple yet profoundly affecting gestures of land and installation artists. One of his earliest defining projects was the Maryhill Overlook, completed in 1998, the first in a series of site-specific interventions and installation designs in diverse landscapes across the Pacific Northwest. In the years since, his body of work has continued to be as informed by the history of place as it is by his formal training. His approach to design combines a research-intensive focus on the specific character of each project with an understanding of the transformative possibilities of architecture.

Cloepfil has received particular acclaim for his work on creative and cultural projects and for crafting powerful spaces for art and interaction. These works include the recently completed “Studio Bell” National Music Centre of Canada, in Calgary, Alberta; the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, Colorado; the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis; the Museum of Arts and Design in New York; the Seattle Art Museum; the University of Michigan Museum of Art; the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in the Dallas Arts District; and the Schnitzer Center for Art and Design at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon. Allied Works was also one of two finalists for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s expansion to house the Modern and Contemporary Art Galleries.

Cloepfil has also designed private residences, offices, and creative workspaces, such its design for Wieden + Kennedy Agency; the Dutchess County Estate in Stanfordville, New York; and Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, California. Current projects include a U.S. Embassy compound in Maputo, Mozambique; the National Veterans’ Memorial Museum in Columbus, Ohio; and studio and production spaces for Theory and Helmut Lang in New York City.

Cloepfil founded Allied Works Architecture in his native Portland, Oregon, in 1994, and opened the New York City office in 2003. The recipient of numerous design awards, Cloepfil has held professorships and lectured widely throughout North America and Europe. He earned his bachelor’s in architecture at the University of Oregon, and holds an advanced degree in architectural design from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture.