About Anatole Plotkin

I have received my Architectural Degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and the City College of New York City and have been a Registered Architect since 1988.  Prior to establishing my own practice in 1996, I have apprenticed at several of New York City prominent architectural firms working on all phases of institutional and residential projects from schematic design through construction.

My approach to architecture can be summarized as this: "Architecture is the building of the second body for the mind".  That is, like the body, architecture is a physical construction of space form and light.  It must accommodate its intended functions but  can also embody our values and tastes.  When done well it has a joyous feeling of "aptness", of fitness, of something that bears our impression, has our form.

As an extension of this idea, I think of myself not as a author, but as a facilitator, helping my clients' desires and ideas come into being.  That is why I don't have and don't believe in a fixed and recognizable "style" that must be imposed on each project. I not only prefer, but also enjoy developing and evolving a solution starting and ending with the client. Quite often the results are surprising and delightful to both of us.

Many of my projects involve "making purses out of sow's ears" - coming up with creative solutions to challenging circumstances, doing more with less, using what is "found" on-site and improving or adding to it to transform it into something else altogether.