Christopher Barrett/Hedrich Bles
The Racine Art Museum in Wisconsin by Brininstool + Lynch
Chicago-based firm Brininstool + Lynch—founded in 1989 by David Brininstool, AIA and Brad Lynch—has announced the closing of its practice, five months after the passing of Lynch in September 2022.
Over the past 34 years, the firm has produced a range of projects that echo the architectural lexicon of Chicago, with some of its most-notable work including the Claremont House in Chicago; the Perimeter Gallery locations in Chicago and New York; the Racine Art Museum in Wisconsin; the Wood House in Chicago; and the Tiny Lounge in Chicago, which closed its doors in 2018.
Brininstool + Lynch has received more than 50 noteworthy design accolades throughout its decades-long history: 28 Design Excellence Awards from The American Institute of Architects, three American Architecture Awards, and a special honor as an Emerging Voice in architecture by the Architectural League of New York. The firm’s pragmatic approach to design, commitment to sustainable building practices, and attention to materiality have endeared it to clients. And although the company is shuttering, it isn’t the end of the road.
“This is not a farewell,” Brininstool said in a statement published on the firm’s website. “We know that the best way to honor what came before is to invent what comes after.” Architects Jen Park and Brad Fowler, AIA—partners at Brininstool+Lynch—have founded a new co-creative design practice, ParkFowler Plus, that will build upon the firm’s work.