[ First | Previous | Next | Last ]
Alumni Awards List

SARAH GIBSON and BRENT CRITTENDEN met while both were architecture students at K-State and have been working, traveling and studying together since graduating in 1998. They currently live in St. Louis with their two daughters, Millie and Lucie. Sarah and Brent both found the exceptional instruction they received at K-State and the competitive yet collegial atmosphere invaluable in their development as design professionals.

Sarah was born and grew up in Ottawa Kansas. While at K-State, Sarah was a Heintzelman Prize finalist and completed a semester internship with Cannon Design in St. Louis.

Brent was born in Granite City, Illinois, and spent various parts of his childhood in the metropolitan areas of St. Louis, Cincinnati and Chicago. While at K-State, Brent was co-editor of Oz Volume 20 with Anders Henningsson, studied in Prague during the inaugural year of the student exchange with Czech Technical University and won the Heintzelman Prize.

After graduating, the couple moved to New York City for two years. Sarah worked first for Cannon Design's New York City office and later at the Polshek Partnership, where she worked on the Symphony Space Theater and on a monograph of the firm's work. Brent worked for Mitchell/Giurgola Architects, participating on a master plan and several projects for Queen's College and on the redevelopment of the Manhattan Family Courts Building. While in New York they enjoyed a stimulating professional experience and the many cultural amenities of the city, but also knew that they wanted to continue their academic studies. In the spring of 2000, both applied to and were admitted to graduate schools in Europe, Sarah in the Landscape Urbanism course at the Architectural Association in London and Brent at the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam.

They decided to alternate roles of student and professional, and in the fall of 2000 they moved to Rotterdam where Brent completed the two-year course at the Berlage Institute, Postgraduate Laboratory of Architecture. While at the Berlage, Brent studied with a number of well-known architects, including significant work with Winy Maas of MVRDV on their 3-D City project and thesis work under the tutelage of renowned architectural educator Elia Zenghelis. During these two years, Sarah worked for Rem Koolhaas' Office for Metropolitan Architecture and participated in various projects, including the Seattle Public Library, the firm's proposal for the Whitney Museum extension and a competition for NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Following two years in Rotterdam, they moved to London where Sarah began her graduate studies. Sarah earned a Master of Arts in Landscape Urbanism from the Architectural Association. Studying in the Landscape Urbanism program allowed Sarah to further pursue her longstanding interest in landscape architecture and its relationship to architecture and urban design. While in London, Brent worked for Zaha Hadid on her firm's entry to the Florence High Speed Train Terminal, and later with the young British firm DSDHA on two of their first built projects and their winning entry for the Designs on Democracy competition.

Following their time in the UK, Brent and Sarah returned to the US in early 2003 and decided that the Midwest and St. Louis offered the long-term opportunities that they sought in their careers. Since returning to St. Louis, Sarah has worked for the HOK Planning Group on urban design and landscape projects in the US, the UK, India, Russia and Saudi Arabia. Brent worked for two years with Cannon Design, working as project designer with Design Principal George Nikolajevic on a number of award-winning projects and competition entries.

In the fall of 2005, Brent and Sarah, along with partners Curtis Ridgeway and Mark Groenda, a K-State architecture graduate from 2002, formed a series of companies aimed at being a proactive force for change and progress in St. Louis and other American cities. They first launched Urban Improvement Conglomerate, a property development firm, and later UIC, a general contracting company, and Central Design Office (CDO), an architecture, landscape, urban design and graphics firm. They together bought their first development project in December of 2005 and over the next 12 months redeveloped the 110-year-old, three-story building into three residences and a ground floor contemporary art gallery. This project allowed them to showcase their abilities in design and construction, and in the two years since they have developed a successful integrated practice model working with clients in various roles on a variety of projects in St. Louis. Their current projects range from the master planning and redevelopment of the McRee Town neighborhood, to several mixed use and multi-family historic redevelopments, to a new restaurant on Washington Avenue in downtown St. Louis.

In addition to their professional roles, Sarah and Brent both teach design studio at Washington University in St. Louis.