Category Archive for : ‘Design’

Happy Monday! Welcome to another week. Without further delay, here is the second set of Donna Gaines‘s favorite quotes, with commentary:

1. “I try firstly to make buildings humane. The greatest satisfaction, I think, is when a building opens and the public possesses it and you cut the umbilical cord. You see it taking it’s own life.  There is no greater satisfaction”: Moshe Safdie designs building around the globe that touch many diverse cultures that give back to society.

2. “My passion and great enjoyment for architecture and the reason the older I get,

Good Morning! Are you looking for a few pieces of architectural gold to get your week started? If so, we have a few insights for you! Donna may no longer be in the office every day, but she is still a part of our Gaines International world. As such, we have some of her favorite quotes listed below. And keep an eye out on the following Mondays of this month, as we may just have more on the way! Without further delay, here are her first 5 favorite quotes, with commentary, from

Congrats on making it to Friday! To help you make it through the day and carry on through the weekend, we thought we would bring you a little fun! Have you ever wondered how modernist design came about? Did Le Corbusier wake up one morning deciding that he valued function over form and that concrete would be his number one material for construction? Or was he influenced by trends of the past? Read on to find out for yourself! Once you are done reading, go ahead and continue the discussion on

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Happy Friday!! Today, we thought we would bring you some inspirational and somewhat dream-like architecture to uplift your creative spirits. While none of these buildings were actually built, they are fascinating. We’ve been having a great time around the office discussing how our cities would be different both architecturally and culturally if these buildings had actually materialized. For instance, what if the Manhattan Dome had actually been built in the 1960s? What social, physical, and environmental impacts would it have on the city? Would traffic in Manhattan be better or

From the Archives:

Written by: Donna Gaines

When employees quit, the main reason is that they were not well matched to their jobs in the first place.” Caliper, a Princeton-based human resource firm, reached that conclusion after surveying 180 companies’ exit interviews. Contrary to some views, employees do not jump ship because of money (only 26 percent mentioned wages) or workplace conflict (11 percent). Rather, the reason most give (40 percent) is a combination of limited challenge, poor advancement potential, and insufficient recognition.

Confirming this, a recent Wall

Losing top performers has a negative impact on employee morale, productivity, and company revenue. The top performing employees are the ones who improve your bottom line by closing more deals, writing better proposals, creating more effective business strategies, analyzing your finances more closely and many other ways. That’s not the only compelling reason to hold on to them though.

Photo Credit: Kira Jannusch

This weekend was the Chicago Architecture Foundation’s 5th annual Open House Chicago, a festival that opens over 200 architecturally significant buildings to the public for free. Open House Chicago is part of the Open House Worldwide network, which hosts similar events in 20 cities across the globe.  At the Illinois Institute of Technology, the Mies van der Rohe society invited the public to tour two of their namesake’s most important works during this exciting celebration of Chicago’s architectural heritage.  Since this particular designer has his own

Ever been to Seattle? Or just appreciate architectural facts? Today’s Friday Fun is all about the Puget Sound’s famous landmark, the Seattle Space Needle! Do you have a favorite building, design or architectural achievement? Share your favorites, and tweet us today!

Written by our founder: Donna Gaines

Life can be funny at times. And yet, not everyone loves clowns! I however happen to find them to be delightful. So much so, that I sent my own son to clowning school at the Art Institute of Chicago when he was little. And here we are, years later, where I’m reminded of the simple and sweet joy we both found in clowning.

Let me tell you about a person that I met a couple of months ago through some research I was doing