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International Exposure
The Kuwaiti projects were brought to the attention of CATALYST by the Engineering Consulting firm of Osama Bukhamseen Design (OBD), and include two Regional Development Plans, and the Shuwaikh Crafts, Services, and Commercial Masterplan project. OBD, www.obd.com.kw, has previously participated in such projects as the Crystal Tower in Al Sharq, Kuwait, and the Laila Tower in Al Salmiya.  OBD has routinely teamed up with sustainable design firms around the world such as Great Britain's ARUP, and US based HOK (Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum) to produce large-scale, high-performance international building projects.

Dubai is another location which may see the work of CATALYST ARCHITECTURE in the near future. Gulf Syndicate, PLC, a Danish-UAE (United Arab Emirates) Engineering Consultancy firm involved in numerous projects in the UAE, was attracted to CATALYST during their international search for architectural design firms with proven environmentally sustainable project experience.  As Dubai continues its unprecedented growth, attention there has now turned towards high-rise structures which are as equally responsive to the region's extreme desert climate, as they are to the emerging global demand for more energy and resource efficient built environments.

CATALYST ARCHITECTURE has gained international attention due to the firm's longstanding committment to cutting-edge, energy-efficient planning and design practices. While both Mr. Ackerman and Mr. Zucker are LEED accredited, the CATALYST duo have a lengthy track record of leadership in energy and environmental design, which extends long before these same words became the acronym for the US Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED Rating Program.
 
Sustainable Design Team
The CATALYST ARCHITECTURE Design Team assembled to pursue these high-profile international projects, includes the unique talents of several key individuals.  Architects who, over the years, have carved out a legacy of ground-breaking work, collectively spanning decades. 

CATALYST Partner Matthew Ackerman, LEED AIA, led design team members on several large-scale, Smart-Growth based masterplans during the 1980’s, through the internationally acclaimed Urban Design office of Benjamin Thompson & Associates (1987 Firm of the Year). These projects included a 900-acre masterplan development for Savannah Harbor; a 1.5 million sq. ft. high-density, mixed-use development for Westwood Village, California; and a 23-acre winning international design competition for the George's Dock development in Dublin, Ireland. Mr. Ackerman, the first LEED accredited architect in his County, was the project designer on his city's first LEED-Certified building, and the County's first LEED-Gold Certified structure.

Yves P. Rathle of StudioYVESinc brings a high level of urban high-rise and masterplanning experience to the CATALYST Design Team.  Since the 1991 founding of StudioYVESinc, Mr. Rathle has worked on scores of land-efficient, pedestrian oriented masterplans and high-rise design commissions from Paris, France; to Moscow, Russia; to Shanghai China; including numerous high- rise projects in the Middle-East.

As far back as the 1976 Bicentennial, CATALYST Partner Jeffrey Zucker, LEED AIA, placed an inscription beneath the cornerstone of his completely passive solar, Ohio Stone house, dedicating it to “American Energy Independence”.  Mr. Zucker would later apprentice under Dr. Paolo Soleri (developer of the "Arcology") as the construction supervisor and Project Architect at Arcosanti (the first US prototype arcology).  As the current Resident Architect of Arcosanti, Mr. Zucker continues his cutting-edge design explorations of organically based, community oriented architecture.

Mr. Zucker's mentor, Dr. Paolo Soleri, brings a lifetime's worth of sustainable design exploration, dating back to the early 1950's.  Dr. Soleri hs been the focus of several landmark exhibitions, including "The Architectural Visions of Paolo Soleri," organized by the Washington DC, Corcoran Gallery of Art, which traveled extensively throughout the US and Canada, breaking records for attendance; "Two Suns Arcology, A Concept for Future Cities" displayed at the Xerox Square Center in Rochester, New York; and "Paolo Soleri Habitats: Ecologic Minutiae," an exhibition of arcologies, space habitats, and bridges, was presented at the New York Academy of Sciences. Most recently, "Soleri's Cities; Architecture for the Planet Earth and Beyond" was featured at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts.  Dr. Paolo Soleri's visionary work has been exhibited worldwide.

The Arcology Comes of Age
The Arcology is Dr. Soleri's answer to the diaspora of suburban sprawl, and the modern crisis of urban disfunctionality.  In an Arcology, the entire city or town is designed to harvest the energy of the elements: the sun, wind, water, and earth; and to work in concert with the energy of the people who inhabit its spaces.  The result is a rich interaction of human nature, and an enhanced cultural environment, all within an organically sustainable city. 

Arcology theory advocates cities which are designed to maximize the interaction and accessibility of an urban environment; minimize the use of energy, raw materials, and land; reduce waste and environmental pollution; all the while allowing for the maximum interaction with, and preservation of, the surrounding natural environment.

An Opportunity Awaits
The Kuwait and Dubai project leads have presented the CATALYST ARCHITECTURE Design Team with the unique opportunity to incorporate their shared values, aspirations, and ideals into these world-class developments.  A collaboration of CATALYST Prinicpals Mr. Ackerman and Mr. Zucker, along with Mr. Rathle, and the visionary Dr. Paolo Soleri, has opened the possibility of creating extraordinary urban designs, which, not only may have a significant impact upon the built environment, but perhaps upon the very nature of human habitat.

Mr. Rathle's exceptional design capabilities and previous Mid-East experience, will be utilized to develop, and culturally root the high-performance, biomimicry-based design expertise of Mr. Zucker and Mr. Ackerman.  Coupling this with Dr. Paolo Soleri’s continued exploration of his visionary, arcology-based urban environments, the potential for these Mid-East projects becomes clear.  The seeds which have been patiently sown over decades by the individual CATALYST Design Team partners, are now finally poised to bear fruit.

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Our Design Team…

Dr. Paolo Soleri is the founder and designer of Arcosanti, a prototype sustainable city for 5,000 people located in central Arizona. Dr. Soleri is the creative force and developer of the "Arcology," a concept in which architecture is coherent with ecology.  Born in Italy in 1919, Dr. Soleri was awarded a Ph.D. from the Torino Polytechnico in 1946. He came to the United States in 1947 on a fellowship, and apprenticed directly under Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West in Arizona.


Jeffrey Zucker, LEED AIA, is the founder and designer of the Manzanita Village Cohousing Community, the first of its kind in Arizona.  A Design Principal at Catalyst Architecture, Mr. Zucker apprenticed for five years under Dr. Paolo Soleri at Arcosanti, and is currently the Resident Architect of this prototype arcology.  Mr. Zucker is known for his organic, neighborhood-focused designs, as well as the use of Biomimicry in seeking solutions to architectural challenges.


Matthew Ackerman, LEED AIA, is the founding partner of Catalyst Architecture, an award winning, sustainable design firm, specializing in public, cultural, masterplanning, and commercial work, with an emphasis on high-performance energy-efficient design and construction strategies. Mr. Ackerman has extensive background in Smart-Growth and Sustainable Planning, and has been a design team leader on numerous large-scale, sustainable, mixed-use masterplans.


Yves P. Rathle is the founding principal of studioYVESinc, an internationally recognized design firm, with offices on both the east and west coasts of the United States. Mr. Rathle has been involved on numerous large-scale, resource-efficient masterplans all over the world; including Dubai, Riyadh, Jeddah, Moscow, Cairo, Bangkok, and Shanghai.  Mr. Rathle and Mr. Ackerman worked together in the Boston based offices of Benjamin Thompson & Associates.