An architect and astute businessman who propelled a small practice into the largest and most admired firm in the industry, M. Arthur Gensler Jr. (1935–2021) is widely credited with creating the blueprint for how many professional services firms organize and manage themselves today.
The founder of Gensler, Art was an industry icon and entrepreneur with the vision that we not only design spaces, but we do so with the understanding that they have the power to shape how we experience the world and who we become within it. Art’s 65-year career as an architect is a remarkable story.
Art believed that architecture not only contributes measurably to the communities and organizations it serves, but it also has the power to transform everyday life. He helped the firm embrace a diversity of projects — large and small, ambitious, and modest — and he relished the fact that the firm’s work could not be labeled with a single style. The expression of each building, he thought, should grow from the requirements of the client.
“Everything we are today is attributable to our clients — not just because they give us the opportunities, but because they encourage us to learn from them, grow with them, go with them across the country and then across the globe.”
—Art Gensler
Video courtesy of Gensler Design