- Address - 

137 South Taylor Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302

- Profile - 

Initiated in 2009 and incorporated a few years later, CAMESgibson, Inc. is not envisioned as a conventional architectural firm or practice. Founded by registered architect and educator Grant Gibson and the fictitious T.E. Cames, the office is best understood as a sustained architectural performance carried out with similar convictions to those held by Gibson’s late mentor, Doug Garofalo. Like (the now defunct) Garofalo Architects was, CAMESgibson is a cultural endeavor that challenges some and enables others to make the world a better place.

In remaining faithful to a pursuit for a more progressive future, we maintain a nimble operation that allows CAMESgibson to not be dependent on any one type of work or client. In return, we undertake a variety of professional commissions, speculative provocations, and academic work. While the range of work can be quite perplexing at first glance—”What kind of office quilts a twenty-foot tall column and publishes fictional stories; while also undertaking a number of residential and institutional commissions?” —CAMESgibson’s portfolio has an distinct aesthetic (including bold architectural form and graphics) that challenges traditional occurrences, demands a heightened contextual awareness and creates programmatic uniqueness. Much less a product of idiosyncratic self-expression as our drawings and models might suggest, the results are user-oriented and successful because of the importance given to collaboration.

With an evolving and often repeating list of collaborators, employees and interns, clients and consultants; the success of the practice is due to Grant Gibson’s preference for lasting relationships, over all else. To this end and with the conviction that truly successful architects should have a larger social impact than that produced by their buildings, CAMESgibson work most often within his immediate community.

Being decidedly regional architects in a global discipline has not left our work unnoticed. While, CAMESgibson has been internationally published and exhibited; the recognition we have found from Chicago’s institutions is a point of pride. Our work has been repeatedly exhibited in Art Institute of Chicago, The Chicago History Museum, The Chicago Architectural Foundation, The University of Illinois at Chicago, The Graham Foundation and The 2015 Chicago Architectural Biannual. The Schiff Foundation named Grant Gibson the 2004 Fellowship as Chicago’s top architectural graduate. A decade later, The Chicago Architecture Club awarded him their Emerging Vision prize. A year later in 2015, Architectural Record named CAMESgibson one of the five promising practices in Chicago’s future. New City has him ranked among the 50 most important architects and designers operating in the city today.

- Key Members -

Grant Gibson, AIA (grant@camesgibson.com)

A registered architect and founding principal of CAMESgibson, Inc., Grant Gibson is committed to creating culturally relevant work. Desiring close and lasting relationships, he seeks to work with collaborators and clients equally committed to a more progressive future. He has oversaw the design and construction of a variety of projects, ranging from multi-family housing developments to small art installations to large civic planning initiatives. Prior to the founding of CAMESgibson, his most notable professional work was the development of Wabash Valley’s Urbanscape Furniture and the Sanders Residence in Jefferson City, MO and realizing UN Studio's design of the Burnham Centennial Pavilion. (All of which was done as a member of Garofalo Architects.)

Gibson graduated with a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has prior degrees from Purdue University in Architectural Engineering and Construction Engineering Technology.

Engaging the full spectrum of the discipline of architecture, Grant gives equal weight to writing, exhibiting, and teaching. A clinical assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Grant teaches design and building technology courses. His work has been consistently published and recognized. 

T.E. Cames (10.1929-12.2010)

Fictitiously born in New Orleans in late October of 1929 and passing in late December of 2010, the late T.E. Cames was a founding partner of CAMESgibson, Inc.. He is credited with establishing the firm’s early financial strategy and human resource management protocols. Prior to the formation of CAMESgibson, Inc., T.E. has had numerous occupations, most notably as a roadie for various bluesmen in the late 50’s, annealing oven operator in a glass factory in the 60’s, a bartender in NYC’s Hells Kitchen in the 70’s and art dealer in the mid 80’s. In 2000, after trying to make a living on a small farm in New Mexico, Cames became interested in architecture, having heard that “an architect’s career usually doesn’t peak until late in their lives.”

As an amateur designer, with no formal education or training, T.E. countered charges that he was unqualified to participate in the creation of the built environment by sighting the percentage of buildings built in the United States not designed by a licensed architect. (72% according to a past AIA report based on the institute’s survey of firms and U.S. Census data.)

Present or Past Collaborators and/or Employees

Colin Jecja, Katarzyna Pilat, Masha Travina, Jacob Patnode, Aura Venckunaite, Drew Stanley, David Mulder, Ryan Hernandez, Sarah Blankenbaker, Zack Morrison, Travis Kalina, Stanley Schultz II, Lorene Ford, Agata Siemionow, John MacGillis, Jordan Wankel, Brandon Horn