Page Announces Two New AIA Fellows

Page is extremely excited to announce that two of its Senior Principals have been elevated to Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Congratulations to our own John Cryer and Matt Kreisle! Their investiture will take place at the AIA 2014 National Convention and Design Exposition in Chicago in June. Read on to learn why John and Matt were selected to join The College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects.

John N. Cryer III
John Cryer is an innovative practice leader who has influenced the profession by building dynamic organizations, creating new competitive services, applying strategic practice models and sharing his expertise with new generations of architects.

Matthew F. Kreisle III
Advocate, leader, and pragmatic visionary, Matthew Kreisle strives to educate, engage, and energize communities to build on a shared past and common ground as the means to create a future that celebrates people and place.

The College of Fellows requires documentation of notable contributions to the advancement of the profession of architecture. John Cryer chose to identify four key elements in his career, and Matt Kreisle focused on two:

John Cryer

1. Practices innovation and its impact on growth and firm success
   John began his career at CRS(S) where the practice model of “team” became a strong core belief in his approach to practice and leadership.  He exemplified this concept when he was promoted to the key leadership of CRSS Architects, Inc.  He expanded the practice by creating the CRSS Discovery Center to bridge science and architecture.  In 1993, he brought his leadership skills to Page Southerland Page as one of five firm partners and transformed the practice in Houston in part by developing unique services such as the Page Strategic Consulting Group and the FEMA Disaster Response Team to assist clients with business continuity during times of change or disaster.
    

2. Impacting the urban environment of downtown Houston
   John utilized his leadership position in Page to impact the urban environment of downtown Houston by recognizing the opportunity to employ new, creative services he developed at the firm to repurpose eight abandoned and historic buildings.  By participating with the City of Houston through his role on a number of City task forces and then engaging the City of Houston as a partner, he expanded his professional practice and was able to impact the urban vision for downtown Houston.

3. Developing International relationships to expand practice
   John applied his four decades of experience as an exceptional project manager, strategic thinker and firm executive to assist a developing country in Africa – and subsequently transformed the international practice of the Houston office of Page.

4. Educating and mentoring professionals in leadership and practice
   Mentoring and continuing education have been hallmarks of John’s practice philosophy. He initiated education outreach between Page key leaders and various schools of architecture, and he has sponsored ongoing internal education in the firm.  Cryer serves as an Adjunct Professor for Professional Practice, and he has applied his 40 years of global practice and experience to develop a new highly interactive course for the College of Architecture at the University of Houston. Throughout his career, John has mentored dozens of young architects, many of whom have become leaders of architecture firms throughout the country, including at Page.

​Matt Kreisle

Service to the City
As a fifth generation Texan, Matt Kreisle is deeply connected to his hometown of Austin and the state of Texas. A student of the state’s history, he is keenly aware of the important interrelation of historic preservation and planning for the future. In the 1990s he served in a variety of leadership positions, including the board of the Austin Real Estate Council, a citizen advisor to the Austin Downtown Commission, an active member of the Austin Chamber of Commerce, and president of the Austin Heritage Society. At a time when many groups were jockeying for influence over Austin’s growth with little success, Kreisle provided the city with a comprehensive road map for future planning that laid the groundwork for managing the city’s enormous growth and development over the past two decades. In a city known to be “terminally democratic,” Kreisle created the Heritage Austin initiative and took on the role of guiding the development of a consensus-driven and value-based vision for the city’s future that built on its history. Through dozens of community workshops, Kreisle gathered information that addressed the fundamentals of the city’s priorities as they related to people, fabric, place, mobility, livability, and economic sustainability. He then recruited other leading architects in the city to develop recommendations based on citizen input. His work created the foundation that would inform all future planning as Austin’s population boomed, establishing the consensus voice of the people that grew from a deep understanding of the qualities of place, shared heritage, and communal values. It provided the underpinnings of the city’s now manifest Great Streets Program, its burgeoning downtown residential district (which has doubled in size in the past ten years), and a new city hall anchoring the lower west downtown, where development continues.

Service to the State
In 2011, Kreisle was appointed by Governor Rick Perry to a six-year term on the Texas Historical Commission. This made him the only architect serving the public in a statewide leadership role. In 2012, Governor Perry designated him as the Commission’s chair. There, he applies his passion for people and his understanding of place, history, and shared heritage to advance and expand the agency’s role and activities through visionary programs, building on the state’s history and diversity. He began this effort by leading a series of planning sessions for THC commissioners and staff, focusing on shared goals to engage the THC in activities supporting economic development, heritage tourism, community building and cultural pride, education and outreach, while simultaneously increasing efficiency and productivity. He is building partnerships with private industry and expanding the commission’s private fundraising efforts to allow more Texans to be directly invested in the agency’s activities. His initiatives use technology and strategic partnerships to develop and deliver content in unprecedented ways. These will establish opportunities that leverage the success of THC’s award-winning courthouse preservation program, inspiring increased economic development activity in small towns and big cities across the state.

Kreisle was instrumental in building Page into one of the nation’s largest A/E design firms. Under his leadership the Austin office was named 1998 AIA Austin Firm of the Year and the 2009 Texas Society of Architects Firm of the Year. The firm was also twice nominated by AIA Austin as AIA National Firm of the Year.

To see all 2014 Fellows, view the AIA announcement. Congratulations to each one!