Every month we’ll be touching base with past 40 Under 40 honorees to see what’s been happening in their professional and personal lives since winning the award. (U40 alums are invited to participate by sending an update to: jhigginbotham@sgcmail.com.) This month: Standout architects in Chicago and Los Angeles make their mark with massive, complex projects.
DAVID MONTALBA, AIA, SIA, LEED AP
Founding Principal
Montalba Architects, Los Angeles
Class of 2012
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Montalba continues to serve as acting Design Principal on all projects for his firm, which handles retail, restaurant, residential, hospitality, office, institutional, and educational work. The practice has clients in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East as well as the U.S., and has grown to 30 full-time employees since it was incorporated in 2004. Recent projects include numerous luxury retail stores (Stylehaus, Isabel Marant, Barbara Bui, Ports 1960), representing an expansion of the sector for the firm; Nobu Malibu, a Japanese restaurant; concessions design for the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX (in collaboration with LAWA and Westfield); and Duty Free Shops in the Tom Bradley International Terminal.
Teaches “Introduction to Construction” for the Graduate Department of Architecture and Urban Design at UCLA, his alma mater.
Recent awards: AIA Los Angeles Presidential Honor Award, Building Team of the Year, 2013 (for the LAX International Terminal collaboration); Los Angeles Business Journal 2014 Commercial Real Estate Award (hospitality category, for Nikita restaurant).
EXTRACURRICULAR
Actively involved in supporting the A + D Museum in Los Angeles. Firm collaborated with the museum in the recent ARkidECTURE children’s workshop.
Jury Chair, AIA Institute Honors for Interior Architecture 2014.
OFF THE CLOCK
Montalba enjoys playing tennis and hanging out with his kids in Santa Monica, where he resides. Takes frequent trips to visit his family in Lausanne, Switzerland.
MATT DUMICH, AIA
Senior Architect / Project Manager
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill
Architecture, Chicago
Class of 2009
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Dumich recently joined Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, a firm dedicated to the design of high-performance, energy-efficient, and sustainable architecture on a global scale. He is currently a Project Manager for EXPO-2017, an international exposition in Astana, Kazakhstan, with the theme “Future Energy.” This large project includes exhibition and cultural pavilions and a new residential community with office, retail, hotel, educational, and civic facilities, as well as parks. The design is performance-driven, with each building oriented and shaped to harness energy from sun and wind to create a highly sustainable development.
Recent honors: 2012 AIA Chicago Dubin Family Young Architect Award, 2013 AIA National Young Architects Award.
EXTRACURRICULAR
Selected to join the AIA Chicago Executive Committee as Secretary for the Board of Directors in 2012. Working to support the chapter as Chicago hosts the AIA National Convention this June.
Co-founder of Bridge, a mentoring and leadership program that pairs young architects with members of the AIA College of Fellows.
Keynote speaker, 2011 Chicago Architecture and Design College Day. Has presented talks on architecture to student groups at the Illinois Institute of Technology, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Judson University, and the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
OFF THE CLOCK
A self-proclaimed foodie and beer snob, Dumich constantly seeks out new restaurants. A recent vacation took him and his wife to Tokyo and Kyoto, where they photographed the unique textures of Japan.
Related Stories
| Aug 9, 2022
5 Lean principles of design-build
Simply put, lean is the practice of creating more value with fewer resources.
| Aug 9, 2022
Designing healthy learning environments
Studies confirm healthy environments can improve learning outcomes and student success.
Legislation | Aug 8, 2022
Inflation Reduction Act includes over $5 billion for low carbon procurement
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, recently passed by the U.S. Senate, sets aside over $5 billion for low carbon procurement in the built environment.
| Aug 8, 2022
Mass timber and net zero design for higher education and lab buildings
When sourced from sustainably managed forests, the use of wood as a replacement for concrete and steel on larger scale construction projects has myriad economic and environmental benefits that have been thoroughly outlined in everything from academic journals to the pages of Newsweek.
AEC Tech | Aug 8, 2022
The technology balancing act
As our world reopens from COVID isolation, we are entering back into undefined territory – a form of hybrid existence.
Legislation | Aug 5, 2022
D.C. City Council moves to require net-zero construction by 2026
The Washington, D.C. City Council unanimously passed legislation that would require all new buildings and substantial renovations in D.C. to be net-zero construction by 2026.
Cultural Facilities | Aug 5, 2022
A time and a place: Telling American stories through architecture
As the United States enters the year 2026, it will commence celebrating a cycle of Sestercentennials, or 250th anniversaries, of historic and cultural events across the land.
Sponsored | | Aug 4, 2022
Brighter vistas: Next-gen tools drive sustainability toward net zero line
New technologies, innovations, and tools are opening doors for building teams interested in better and more socially responsible design.
| Aug 4, 2022
Newer materials for green, resilient building complicate insurance underwriting
Insurers can’t look to years of testing on emerging technology to assess risk.
Sustainability | Aug 4, 2022
To reduce disease and fight climate change, design buildings that breathe
Healthy air quality in buildings improves cognitive function and combats the spread of disease, but its implications for carbon reduction are perhaps the most important benefit.