SOLSTICE in 2024: A Year in Review
We’re knocking on the door of 2025! It’s been another exciting year at SOLSTICE and as is tradition, we are sharing some of our team highlights from the previous year.
Pictured above, the SOLSTICE crew in summer 2024 on Main Street. Left to right: Chris, Chandler, Kathryn, Roy, Veronica, Amely, Jonathan, Angela, Julia, Kira, and Katrina.
Pictured above: We welcomed Design Professional Aaron Flores to the team in 2024. Michael P. from Rutgers University slayed as our summer intern in Urban Planning. And Rucha and Ruchi continue to join the office all the way from India!
And as you keep reading, we’ll give a special shout out to photographer Dylan Jon Wade Cox for what is the majority of these photos.
Check out the latest in award-winning design!
It was an honor to have our projects recognized with a bevy of design awards throughout the year.
In June, The American Institute of Architects (AIA) revealed the winners of its National 2024 AIA Design Awards during a prestigious gala held at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. The category of Regional & Urban Design was established to honor the best in urban design, regional and city planning, and community development. SOLSTICE Planning and Architecture was bestowed with an Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design for Rosemary Square, designed by architect Jonathan Parks AIA and project managed by Selma Göker Wilson, INT'L ASSOC. AIA, RIBA. A national AIA award is the ultimate acknowledgment of impactful, exemplary work in architecture and design. Rosemary Square was among only a handful of projects in the country to be recognized in this category, including others located in Washington, D.C.; Staten Island, NY; Chicago, IL; and Austin, TX.
You can view the project information on the AIA national website here, or watch the one-minute recap of the award ceremony in DC here.
Rosemary Square project team:
Architect: Solstice Planning and Architecture
Developer / Client: Rosemary Square, LLC, Mark Kauffman
Landscape Architect: Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.
Engineer - MEP: Global Sanchez, Inc.
Engineer - Civil: Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.
Engineer - Structural: Snell Engineering Consultants, Inc.
General Contractor: Gilbane Building Company
In November, the AIA chapter closer to home (Tampa Bay) honored the new residence, Skyhook, with not one but TWO design awards! Honor Award or Architecture and the Merit Award for Sustainability. (Below)
Above, that’s Aaron, Dallas, Jonathan, Joe Jannopoulo from Synergy Building, and Kathryn, of course.
Houzz bestowed us once more with BEST of DESIGN and readers of SRQ Magazine voted us the Gold Winner for Best Architect! Past client Dan Barzel wrote into SRQ Magazine “Creative and dynamic work, not cookie cutter or too industrial. Soft and interesting homes and more avant-garde commercial buildings.” THANK YOU DAN! We are blushing :)
Plus, in March, our renovation work of the exterior facade of the Umbrella House was recognized with a Merit Award for Historic Preservation. Go Chris and Jonathan!
I’m ready for my closeup: SOLSTICE in the news
The past year we saw Jonathan and the office published in Dwell Magazine, Architectural Record, Florida/Caribbean Architect Magazine, SRQ Magazine, and the fancy new Sarasota 100 book from Architecture Sarasota, which you can learn more about at this Sarasota 100 blog link. Jonathan was even a hot ticket item in the Palm Springs’ Desert Sun Newspaper: 30 free or low-cost Modernism Week events for architecture fans on a budget (more on that further down).
In April 2024, Lord Norman Foster was honored by Architecture Sarasota with the Philip Hanson Hiss Award. Architectural Record was here to write about it and we were pleasantly surprised to be mentioned in their article! (Check’s in the mail guys!)
“More surprising even for some seasoned architecture lovers was the sheer abundance of outstanding buildings around Sarasota - not just from Rudolph, but from contemporaries like Ralph Twitchell and Victor Lundy, as well as by 21st century practitioners like Jonathan Parks...”
In the summer months, the magazine of the American Institute of Architects’ Florida Chapter featured our work on the Art Ovation Hotel. Click here for Art Ovation Hotel Article.
And thank you to SRQ Magazine for featuring our powerhouse interior design team in the September issue. Left to right, that would be Katrina, Julia, and Kira rocking the SOLSTICE colors.
Marah Eakin with Dwell Magazine interviewed Jonathan shortly after Hurricane Milton’s eye passed through Sarasota. The article, “When Natural Disasters Threaten Modernist Icons”, is an interesting profile on how the Sarasota School of Architecture is doing against the changing climate.
“It’s everything that people did to their homes in the ’70s and ’80s that we’re having to peel back now. We were going to anyway, but Mother Nature came in first and said: Time for a real renovation. ”
New pictures, New projects
Here’s a round up of some featured projects now under construction.
Danza Cubica (Dance of the Cubes) on Siesta Key
Another construction image of Danza Cubica on Siesta Key.
Pilings going in for this new home on the Gulf on Longboat Key. Builder: Coastal Construction and Remodeling.
The “space inbetween” at SunBlok. Here, we’re looking at the courtyard (that’s a pool in the foreground) of a new home under construction west of the trail in Sarasota. Builder: Modus Builders.
Lightscreen House rises from the ground thanks to Synergy Building, Corp.
A new home under construction on Siesta Key with Modus Builders.
Here is a restoration of a Jack West home in Sarasota - complete with conversation pit! General Contractor: Statement Construction.
We are lucky to be assisting with the restoration of the Paul Rudolph Cocoon House following hurricanes Helene and Milton.
A Year in Photos
February
In February (below), Jonathan was honored to give a lecture at the world-renowned celebration of midcentury architecture, design, and culture at Modernism Week in Palm Springs. The lecture was titled “Paul Rudolph, Charles Moore, and Back Again: A Sarasota Architect’s Journey”. Homage to The Hobbit?
Also in February (below), Jonathan was named Chair of the Public Art Committee for the City of Sarasota. After all, as he would tell you, “Architecture is the mother of all arts.”
April
We all celebrated on April 14 as Katrina from the ID team at Solstice GOT MARRIED! Congrats to her and her new husband, Kevin.
June
As noted above, in June part of the team went to the nation’s capital to accept an AIA NATIONAL DESIGN AWARD in Urban Design for Rosemary Square. Selma Göker-Wilson, office alum who was the project manager, joined Jonathan in accepting the award. Receiving a national AIA award is something of a big deal. We were incredibly honored to be recognized among some of the top projects and firms in the nation.
You’ll also see in the photo above: Dylan Jon Wade Cox, photographer; Architect Jes Deaver AIA, friend to the office; Christopher Wilson, Architectural Scholar at Architecture Sarasota; Selma Goker-Wilson Rosemary Square project Manager; Jonathan; Kathryn; and SOLSTICE intern, Amely!
And then here’s a little slide show (below) of some of the other sights and sites of Washington, D.C., guest staring Alexandra Chaves, Assoc AIA, Jes Deaver, AIA, Gustavo Bernal, Wesley Kean of KoDA Miami and recipient of 2024 Young Architects Award, Architect Angela Hendershot, Principal of Rowe Architects in Tampa, and the actual Starship Enterprise NCC-1701-J.
July
We’re thrilled to be doing our first home in Palm Beach (below). Here we are in July visiting the property with landscape architect, Andres Paradelo ASLA with Paradelo Burgess Design Studio.
Also in July, we visited the AIA Florida Convention and hung out with some architects and friends. Wait, is that Angela Hendershot again?
August
In August, the team enjoyed a very summery lunch at O’Leary’s Tiki Bar … with drone in tow.
Then, the whole team was invited to a wicked smart lunch and learn at Wicked Smart Homes in Sarasota. Thanks for the education on lighting, home automation, and shades.
September
In September, Jeffrey Huber, FAIA, of Brooks + Scarpa and professor at Florida Atlantic University helped to organize a tour of this Siesta Key project under construction, Danza Cubica. Two tours of 25 students were given the royal treatment by architect Chris Chudy and design intern Dallas Chavez, both part of the team of SOLSTICE. Thank you Dylan Jon Wade Cox for all the great photos!
One of the tours given to students at Florida Atlantic University at the SOLSTICE project on Siesta Key, Danza Cubica.
Below you’ll see some highlights from the SOLSTICE trip to visit the Lutron factory in Austin in September. Thank you to Joseph Breese for the invite!
Visiting the Lutron factory in Austin, TX. Lyle Breeze, FAIBD, Robert Lanteigne “LightBob”, Jonathan and Kathryn, Joe Breese, and Troy Beasley.
Nick and Kathleen Deaver (That would be Jes’ parents!), Kathryn Parks, Jean Smajstrla, and Jonathan Parks.
Plus, we took the opportunity to visit with JPA office alum, Tatsuma(below), as well as alum from Centerbrook Architects and Planners, architect Nick Deaver, AIA, and architect Jean E Smajstrla. If you don’t know, Jonathan worked at Centerbrook for 10+ years before starting his own firm in Sarasota. Centerbrook is the legacy firm of Charles Moore. The last few photos were even taken at the Charles W. Moore house, the Moore/Andersson Compound in Austin!
Jonathan really put on some miles in the month of September, as below you’ll see him in Gainesville. For eight years, Jonathan has been the only architect and one of eleven on the state of Florida’s Energy Technical Advisory Committee, where he advises the Commission on Florida Building Code technical issues, shaping policy for the entire state of Florida. You may also recognize Drew Smith of Two Trails, Inc. (second from the left).
September / October
The hurricane season was unlike any other we’ve seen in Sarasota. Jonathan was out on the islands immediately afterwards, checking on clients’ homes as best he could. Here he is at the Lamolithic House on Siesta Key, which we are restoring. You can see where the water level was and then you can see Jonathan dumpster diving a neighboring property for the original drawers made of combed plywood from a Paul Rudolph/Ralph Twitchell-designed home! One man’s trash…
November
Jonathan was honored to be asked by Architecture Sarasota to be a part of “Brunch with the Bunch: The Next Generation of the Sarasota School” at Sarasota Mod Weekend. Pictured below: Michael Halflants, Michael Epstein, Jerry Sparkman, Jonathan Parks, Guy Peterson. Moderated by Damien Blumetti and Marty Hilton III.
And thank you to our clients at the Terrace House (below) in South Gate for opening up your home for the South Gate Self-Guided Driving Tour for Sarasota Mod Weekend!
December
Thank you to our clients, Karen and Fred, for having the entire team over for lunch to celebrate the completed renovation! Also pictured here, some of the team from the General Contractor, Rampart Homes.
*And congrats to our architectural intern, Veronica, and her husband, Brandon, who got married in December 18, 2023 and are now celebrating their one year anniversary! (She promised me a photo next year.)
On the boards: An exclusive first look
Check out this new modern home coming soon to Siesta Key. Builder: DTI Contracting.
Another new modern home on Siesta Key that will soon be on its way!
This home is right on the Gulf of Mexico on Longboat Key. Builder: Synergy Building, Corp.
Rendering of the restoration to come at the Lamolithic House on Siesta Key. General Contractor: Statement Construction.
Located on St. Pete Beach, we’re very excited about this new home coming soon! Builder: Synergy Building, Corp.
Things we are looking forward to in the new year
We’ll have a new intern, Alanis, joining us for the first half of the year from Virginia Tech.
Our 2024 intern from Rutgers, Michael P., is coming back for a brief winter internship too.
We’re hoping to get back to Palm Springs for Modernism Week 2025.
The AIA Florida Convention is closer to home and happening in Tampa this year.
Jonathan is giving a tour of Sarasota architecture in late February for a group, Tours d’Art, based out of Massachusetts.
And of course, we’re excited to see every home come out of the ground.
Have a joyous holiday season and a happy new year from all of us at SOLSTICE Planning and Architecture!
Special thank you to Dylan Jon Wade Cox for all the scrumptious photography throughout the year!