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Charles Rose (b. 1960 New York City) is an American architect whose designs reflect a keen feel for landscape and the distinct characteristics of a building site—whether in rugged coastal settings or dense urban neighborhoods. Now in his third decade as design principal of Boston-based Charles Rose Architects Inc., Rose is the winner of prestigious awards from the American Institute of Architects and national competitions that established the firm’s reputation.

Rose earned degrees in architecture at Princeton University and Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, studying under such high-profile practitioners as Michael Graves and Rafael Moneo. After Harvard, Rose worked with landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh, an experience that influenced his design philosophy of architecture that “sees the site.” He established his practice in Boston in 1989 and in two decades completed more than 50 buildings, thereby establishing his reputation through built projects – in contrast to the “paper architects” who strive to become known through theoretical designs. Two early examples of Rose’s architecture that “sees the site” are the Leeper Studio Complex at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Fla. (1997), and Camp Paint Rock (2000) in Hyattville, Wyo. While the projects occupy dramatically different settings – one is in a lush rainforest-like environment on Florida’s east coast; the other, a camp for underprivileged teens in a northern Wyoming canyon – each bears hallmarks of Rose’s signature style. Buildings are knit into the landscape (rather than objects on the land); forms resonate with features of the site and mediate the site’s unique demands, such as climate and orientation toward the sun. Important commissions followed, including a commercial project in 1997 for Gemini Consulting to design an “office of the future” (which won a business design award from BusinessWeek and Architectural Record); Gulf Coast Museum of Art (Largo, Fl., 2001); the award-winning United States Port of Entry (another “Design Excellence” project for the GSA, 2004); and the Currier Center for the Performing Arts at the Putney School (Putney, Vt., 2004). While building his practice, Rose also taught in the architecture programs at many universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Virginia, and Harvard and Rice universities. Rose also designs furniture; his Executive Mother and Child Desk was featured in Dwell Magazine in 2006. Read Less

Since establishing his firm over 20 years ago, Charles Rose has developed a significant body of work of cultural, institutional, federal and residential projects. While varied in scope, style and complexity, each project is linked by a set of ideas that Rose has used with great success in designing more than 50 buildings. A careful response to the surrounding context; consideration for natural light and exterior space; innovative, sculptural forms; and rigorous senses of craft using durable building materials are notable hallmarks of Rose’s work.

Under Charles Rose’s leadership the firm has completed major projects throughout the United States—working in widely varying settings and responding to the particular opportunities and challenges they represent: physical, ecological, cultural, and historical. Recent design commissions include the Franklin Regional Transit Center (Zero Net Energy Building), Museum of Jackson Hole (LEED Silver), a library and studio buildings for the Oregon College of Art and Craft (LEED Silver) and a zero net energy office building at the Pease International Tradeport for the General Services Administration under their Design Excellence Program.

The firm recently completed two major projects for The University of South Dakota: a 72,000 sf business school (the result of a national competition) and a 76,000 sf student union. The firm also completed a second structure on Brandeis University’s campus, the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Admissions Center, to complement the campus center the firm completed in 2002.

Rose’s work has received numerous and been widely published, including features in: Architectural Record, Architecture, Progressive Architecture, Landscape Architecture, GA, The Architectural Review, BusinessWeek and A+U. Princeton Architectural Press published Charles Rose, Architect in 2006. Read Less

Rose’s designs have long incorporated energy-efficient features, such as geothermal, planted roofs, and louver systems that increase natural lighting. Its most innovative and energy-efficient building—a sculptural brick- and copper-clad 25,000-square-foot transit center in Greenfield, Ma.—is designed to produce as much energy as it uses by drawing on geothermal sources, a wood-chip boiler and photovoltaic array. The project, funded in part by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act., is the state’s first zero net energy transit center and will serve as an office, bus station and train depot on the upgraded “Knowledge Corridor” rail line that goes from Connecticut through Massachusetts to Vermont. Construction is scheduled to be complete in February 2012. Read Less