Today we are faced with daunting new challenges: climate change, stalled social mobility, exponential technological dislocations, grossly substandard infrastructure, systemic racism, fraying cultural fabric, and a fragile sense of the public commons. The city is the space where we will confront and reconcile these challenges. The city is the last and best hope for humanity, and architects must share the stewardship of this hope as we together heal our planet.
At PAU we have built a practice that attempts to address the pressing issues of our era, a practice decidedly focused on social impact through the tangible improvement of cities. PAU designs lasting architecture and humanist urbanism to advance the city of the future, to advance the values of liberté, égalité, et humanité that undergird metropolitan life. We design cities, buildings, public spaces, infrastructure, and urban technologies that are of, by, and for the global civilization we seek to serve and enrich. We take on this mission informed by decades of proven experience, guided by the ideal that by reinventing cities, we can help shepherd our shared world to betterment, self-reflection, and public delight.
Founded in 2011, Lab / Life. Science. Architecture is committed to designing innovative spaces for universities, colleges and companies in the sciences. Our clients are our inspiration. One of the primary satisfactions of our work is the realization that the design of a lab can speed the creation of knowledge and discovery.
The work of LA DALLMAN explores architecture as transformed site, reshaping the raw materials of found and abstracted landscape in projects of diverse scale and type. Among the broad range of their work, notable projects embrace urban infrastructure, public space, installations, houses, and civic buildings.
Led by James Dallman and Grace La, the practice has been awarded numerous professional honors since its inception in 1999, including a Progressive Architecture Award (featured on the cover of Architect magazine in 2021), nine Design Awards from the American Institute of Architects Wisconsin, three from the Boston Society of Architects, and several prizes in international design competitions. LA DALLMAN was named a 2010 Emerging Voice by the Architectural League of New York and received the Bruner Award for Urban Excellence Silver Medal. The firm is the 2011 recipient of The Rice Design Alliance Prize, an international honor that " recognizes exceptionally gifted architects in the early phase of their career." LA DALLMAN is the first United States practice to receive the prize.
In their roles as educators, James and Grace have held academic appointments at a number of institutions including their alma mater, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Grace is a tenured professor at the Harvard University GSD, and serves as Chair of the Department of Architecture. James is a member of the visiting faculty at the Harvard GSD as well.
Projects include design work for the Harvard Law School, the civic transformation of the historic Door County Granary, the Miller Brewing Meeting Center, permanent exhibits for Discovery World, the Marsupial Bridge, and prominent residences. LA DALLMAN’s work is featured in publications by a+t, Architect, Architectural Record, Azure, Praxis, Princeton Architectural Press, Routledge, and Topos. LA DALLMAN has exhibited broadly and delivered more than 60 lectures.