By: Carol Ross Barney
Architect Carol Ross Barney founded her own firm in 1981. Throughout the past 25 years of Ross Barney Jankowski and now Ross Barney Architects, the office has grown to a 35-person firm that places special emphasis on the process of design. The team involved in that process includes not only the architects and consultants, but very importantly, the clients.
Her approach, rather unique among architectural offices, relies on input, analysis, and evaluation from many fronts, the development of alternatives, and a collaborative effort that assures there is no one author, but rather guarantees a final work more than the sum of the parts. This publication examines the evolution of Ross Barney Architects, and some of its most significant works, from the US Post Office in Glendale Heights, Illinois to the new Oklahoma City Federal Building, along with a discussion of the rigorous process that each commission goes through from initial ideas to final design.