The work of La Dallman Architects re-imagines the American post-industrial landscape using the Midwestern city as a laboratory for investigation. Through projects of intentionally diverse scale and program, the design studio focuses on the critical transformation of site--introducing tactile, tectonic, and intuitive translations of space which critique the formulaic modernism so prevalent in contemporary rust-belt cities. La Dallman's project range attempts to engage the public realm through infrastructural interventions and redefinition of public space as well as to propose strategic insertions within emergent landscapes. Through specific exploitation of the rich, industrial heritage of the region, La Dallman's practice deploys material and detailing investigations as cultural and temporal artifacts which grow from the phenomena and constraints of context. Recently completed and current projects include the Marsupial Bridge and Urban Plaza, the Employee Meeting Center at Miller Brewing Company, the Kilbourn Tower multi-family dwelling, the Milwaukee Montessori Open Air Classroom, the Brady Street Bus Shelter, and the Ravine House.

Led by James Dallman and Grace La, both educated at Harvard University, the studio most recently won two design awards from the American Institute of Architects, Wisconsin, recognizing design excellence for the Frederick J. Miller Employee Meeting Center and the Brady Street Bus Shelter. The Bus Shelter also received the 2002-3 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Design Award. La Dallman Architects was a recent finalist in the 2005 International Design Competition Honoring Ambassador Andrew Young held in Atlanta, and in 2000 was awarded 1st place in the competition for Kilbourn Tower, a 33 story residential tower in Milwaukee overlooking Lake Michigan.

Mr. Dallman and Ms. La have worked together and separately in distinguished architecture firms in London, Vienna, Montreal, Chicago, New York, and Boston, and have designed a wide range of building types. For their theoretical work, they have independently been selected as Harvard University Kelley Thesis Prize finalists. For her study of multi-family dwelling, Ms. La was awarded the Clifford Wong Housing Prize, honoring the project that best represents housing innovation and design at Harvard University. Ms. La is tenured at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and is the 2005 recipient of the UWM Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award. La Dallman Architects has been published locally, regionally, and in national publications such as Architectural Record April 2001 as the featured emerging architectural firm, and December 2002 as one of four small firms nationally working on large scale projects. They have lectured broadly on their design work and were selected for solo exhibitions in Chicago and Milwaukee.