My approach to architecture and design is organic - I work from the inside out. To me, each project requires a unique response: a synthesis of building-fabrication science and the humanistic, cultural, and environmental elements specific to each situation. When done well it's possible to achieve a singular cultural - artistic expression which reflects both the specifics of the project's purpose and it's place in the community/world/universe. That's my objective with each and every project.

I was truly inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright in the seventh grade. There were a number of FLW buildings in my home state of Minnesota so he was close, and his work was reachable and believable. In the ninth grade I drew up plans and assisted in the construction of my first house renovation for the junior high school shop teacher - a great first step!

Through high school I continued my study of FLW and his methods of organic design, but I also became inspired by the Bauhaus, the great school of modern design that rose in Germany in the 1910s and 20s. The Bauhaus influenced FLW and the methodology was well suited to my own thinking at the time.

When I realized that Mies van der Rohe, the director of the Bauhaus in the 20s, had fled Germany and founded a school of architecture in Chicago - Illinois Institue of Technology, it seemed too good to be true. Chicago also happens to be home to one of the greatest collections of FLW buildings anywhere - it was perfect. Somehow I managed to get in. I'm lucky to have connected with my dreams so early and I'm grateful for the opportunity to pursue those dreams even today.

Brett Bothwell - Hometown: Minneapolis, MN

Bachelor of Architecture - Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, 1987

Murphy Jahn Architects, Chicago

Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, Chicago

Philip Johnson - John Burgee Architects, New York

BB Design Studio, New York

Commercial Consulting:

Gruzen Samton Architects

Human Factors Industrial Design

Philip Johnson, Architect

Puches Design

TAMS Consultants Inc.

Tennis Experience

Playing competitively since 1972.

IIT  - 1981-1985: #3, #2, #1 singles

USPTA certified for teaching since 1994.

Sr Staff Coach - RI Racquet Club, NY - 1993 - 2020

Sr Staff Coach - West Side Tennis Club, NY - 2014 - 2019

IP Portfolio

US Patents:

#5,458,331 - Game Racket Including a Adjustable String Suspension System

#6,971,964 - Compound Spring Element for a Game Racket

#7,927,239 - Substantially Fluid Tight Game Racket Including a Spring     Suspension Module

#7,938,747 - Game Racket Including a Pivot Element

US Applications:

#13243346 - System and Method for an Inflation Bladder Composite Game Racket