Barry Berkus Architects

Website Development & Design
2011

B3 Architects

In Memoriam for Barry Berkus

We had the great honor of working for Barry Berkus and while he passed away in 2012 and the site we designed was taken down a couple of years ago, we’ve decided to include him here. Barry was a creative force and the time we spent with him was exhilarating. After all the business was handled we spoke about art and truthfully, it was never far from top of mind in all the work we did for him.

This excerpt about him was of particular interest to me having grown up on Long Island, NY, where Levittown at that time was a singular phenomenon. “One of his first big clients was William Levitt, the real estate developer often called the father of American suburbia. Designing Levittowns of identical box houses was not Berkus’ bent, however. He wanted to play with volume, light and shape and give people houses that were “more than just a box.”

“While at USC, Berkus worked part time for L.C. Major, a prominent California housing designer. Major offered him a full-time job but Berkus turned it down, left USC and opened his own architecture office. He was 21.

Over time,” he told the Wall Street Journal in 2008, “production architects began to promote the idea that people could live in exciting spaces even if they couldn’t afford their own architect.”

Berkus and his firms, Berkus Design Studio and B3 Architects, won numerous awards over the years. In 1991 he was named one of the world’s 100 top architects by Architectural Digest.”
Elaine Woo in the Los Angeles Times after his passing

About What We Did & Why

We made Barry a site where web site visitors could witness and experience Barry’s strong sense of uniqueness and versatility. It separated him from the troops and spoke to his creativity. The objective was for the firm to be recognized for standing the test of time, having an impressive history and at the same time, having the tremendous energy and excitement of newness and youth.

Barry was a Think Tank. He said that social betterment through architecture was the message. That problem-solving was the message. That solutions were the message. And that he and his team could elaborate on their clients’ dreams: that was his message. He felt they made Special Places and that was their ultimate message.

The site was a center for disseminating essential information and became a comprehensive information center for what, at the time, was the new identity of Barry Berkus Design Studios and B3 Architects and Planners.