Zoetic Architecture & Design, L.L.C.   Natural, Organic, and Responsive Design
		Mr. Hawker has been a docent for the Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ebsworth Park "The Kraus House" since 2004. Michael C. Hawker NCARB, ARA, MRAIC, CSI, CDT Principal/Founding Member With over 16 years of professional experience and higher education, Michael is highly skilled in architecture, graphics, design, and construction management. He is certified by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) and the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI). A specialist in designing and managing construction of custom residential buildings and renovations, where Michael excels in the art of the human relationship, his projects also include retail and specialty commercial, religious and educational buildings, healthcare and hospitality facilities, financial institutions, and community planning. He is also known for art glass designs, graphics, and photography. Michael's architectural "heritage" is unique among St. Louis architects and perhaps the world. He is amidst only 1,000 worldwide to have apprenticed with the Taliesin Fellowship, the institution founded by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1932. "It was the Taliesin experience that put me on the right path, more or less," states Mr. Hawker. His unique training was further complemented by working for internationally-renown Gunnar Birkerts, FAIA, whose notable design process continues the European organic tradition pioneered by Alvar Aalto. As part of his graduate degree program, Michael studied under Canadian Gold Medalist, and highly acclaimed organic architect, Douglas Cardinal. A licensed architect with considerable construction experience (a rarity in this day and age), Michael has worked on projects throughout the United States, and designed a 17,000 s.f. school and convent for Tipitapa, Nicaragua. Other travels have included England, France, Spain, Portugal, Nicaragua, Honduras, Mexico, and Canada. His construction projects have ranged in dollar values from $3,000 to $300,000. On the immediate horizon are projects double that size and scope. "A client asked me once if designing a deck is too small a project." Mr. Hawker replied, "To me, of course not, if it is a dream of yours and important to you, then it is important to me to realize your dream." Among others, he maintains professional memberships with the Society of American Registered Architects (ARA), the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), and CSI. Recently, he has become involved with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in response to the world's resource crisis and interest in "green" building. Merely employing recycled or sustainable materials, Mr. Hawker recognizes, is not enough to give a building "the spirit." Thus, Michael is dedicated to organic design principles and educating others – both in his own work and the work of others – kept active by his associations and publishings with the Taliesin Fellows, the Friends of Kebyar (as Editor), the Amici Dell' Architettura Organica (as North America Correspondent), and the Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ebsworth Park (as Docent and interpreter). Michael also is active in the community with other volunteer involvements. Perhaps following in the footsteps of Frank Lloyd Wright and acclaimed St. Louis architect William Bernoudy (also Taliesin trained), Michael incorporates art glass designs of his own creation into his buildings. After inheriting his grandfather's tools and glass in 1992, he learned the craft and then began creating, often exploring architectural and three-dimensional themes using pure geometries. Michael personally designs and crafts all sorts of items. These pieces are limited and, thus, sought after by his customers. He established Zoetic Arts in order to make his creations more widely available and to handle personal commissions. Soon he hopes to explore ceramics and pottery. To learn more about Zoetic Arts and Mr. Hawker's stained glass designs, please visit www.zoeticarts.com. Despite all the experience and involvements, Mr. Hawker would be the first to say that he is "just beginning." Perhaps most striking in him is his passion for his work, his knowledge of the Organic tradition, and his affable and genuine personality. "I have studied many organic architects over the years, a passion of mine to learn and observe, including not only Wright and Birkerts, but the life and work of E. Fay Jones, Alden Dow, John Lautner, William Bernoudy, and Nari Gandhi, among others." "What I find fascinating is the variety of architectural responses in just those names I mention. All were very different, but all were true Masters in Organic Architecture and did it with 100% devotion. All designed spaces that had the spirit. Go experience their work for yourself and let me know your feelings. It is this that I aspire to; it is this that I hope a client will wish to explore and collaborate with me. It is this that is the good stuff." "To put it simply: organic architecture is an architecture of Ideas. In my mind, it is the Ideal in beauty and harmony in our built environment, where the 'L' in 'ideal' stands for 'love.' And when you love the idea, nurture it 100%, only naturally then would honest and pure creativity be the result. To this end, ideas do not necessarily have to be large or expensive, which is why Sarah Susanka's 'Not-So-Big-House' concepts really appeal to me." - Michael Hawker, 2007 CERTIFICATIONS AND QUALIFICATIONS: Registered Architect in the States of: • Michigan • Missouri • Illinois NCARB Certificate No. 57,154 National Council of Architectural Registration Boards Construction Document Technologist (CDT) Construction Specifications Institute Intern Development Program (IDP) qualified National Council of Architectural Registration Boards EDUCATION AND ACADEMIC DEGREES: Master of Architecture (with Distinction) Lawrence Technological University Master of Science in Management National-Louis University The Taliesin Fellowship Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture Bachelor of Arts (major: Architecture; minor: Art History) Washington University HONORS AND AWARDS: Taliesin Fellowship Certificate "In appreciation of your contribution past present future, love of beauty, youth, creativity, courage, heart, humor, dedication, change, resilience", 2007. Residential Architect Design Awards program entrant, 2004. Metal Architecture Design Awards program entrant, 2003. Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges, 1998. Yamasaki Scholarship, College of Architecture and Design, Lawrence Technological University, 1997. 1st Place, AIA Certificate, Architectural Design and Planning Charrette for Valmeyer, Illinois, 1993. 2nd Place, Design Charrette for Reuse Plan of St. Louis Chains of Rocks Bridge, 1993. SELECTED PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA: Hawker, Michael C. (editor), "Celebrating the Life and Work of Nari Gandhi", Friends of Kebyar, Journal (volume 23.1, No. 72), November, 2007. "Organic Architecture: the Other Modernism" (book review by Michael Hawker), The Free Radical [a New Zealand publication], July-August, 2007. Russell, Stefene, "Modernizing the Modernist", St. Louis At-Home Magazine, Jan./Feb. 2007. Hawker, Michael, "Alden B. Dow: Wright's Apprentice and Proponent of Organic Architecture", Wright Focus, The Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ebsworth Park, Winter, 2006. "A Garage for the 21st Century", Architectural Insights, Weather Shield Manufacturing Inc. [Issue No. 3, 2003], Fall, 2003. Volland, Victor, "Dream of Building Center in Nicaragua Draws Closer", The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Vol. 120, No. 328, Section W2), November 25, 1998. "Mission of Hope", Leisa Zigman (corr.) KSDK Channel 5 News, St. Louis, Missouri, November 12-13, 1998. "Understanding Demographics–A Vital Part of Identifying Housing Needs", The Orchard Lake Community Project, Thomas Barrie (ed.), Palimpset Press, 1998. Carlson, Victoria, "Talk of the Town: Dialogue and Design at the Valmeyer Charrette, Inland Architect, Spring, 1994. Brown, Susan K., "Valmeyer Designs Its Destiny", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, (Vol. 115, No. 319, Section A1), November 15, 1993. "New Valmeyer", Leisa Zigman (corr.), KSDK Channel 5 News, St. Louis, Missouri, November 13-14, 1993. A custom stained glass panel, "Prairie Garden", designed and crafted by Michael Hawker in 2004. A photograph taken by Michael Hawker of a terracotta detail from an Isadore Shank building in St. Louis, Missouri. Mr. Hawker's interests also extend into graphic design and other allied arts.