'08 BALA Hall of Fame

J. Carson Looney, FAIA, Looney Ricks Kiss

J. Carson Looney Photo courtesy Looney Ricks Kiss

Sweeney South Commercial Photography

If there’s anything Carson Looney hates, it’s an ill-conceived residential design that will look out of date in 10 years. “The most important thing to do,” Looney says, “is establish good design DNA. You can have a home that’s very modest or you can dress it up and make it into a very expensive home, but both should maintain a DNA that’s timeless.”

Looney is the principal in charge of residential architecture for Looney Ricks Kiss Architects in Memphis, Tenn., a firm he co-founded in 1983. At that time, he says, only a few architectural firms did work nationally or internationally.

“Today, architects can have an impact beyond their immediate locale, which is a big change,” Looney says. “Residential architecture is no longer just about providing a set of plans. I see it more as true problem-solving, dealing with lifestyle issues, materials, products and their life cycles, the cost/value equation, energy usage, health issues.”

Looney is passionate in his belief that one of the highest levels of sustainability in design is achieved through the creation of homes, streets and neighborhoods that have enduring value. Two outstanding illustrations of this philosophy are the firm’s Harbor Town in Memphis and Celebration in central Florida — New Urbanist communities that have garnered national recognition.

Looney was elected to The College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in 1996 and inducted into the Wm. S. Marvin Hall of Fame for Design Excellence in 2007. The firm has won 62 Best in American Living Awards (including three Home of the Year awards), in addition to numerous other regional and national awards.