About Flynn A&D
Who
Matt Flynn
Matt Flynn is a registered architect in AZ, CA, IL (with inactive registration in FL, NV, and Victoria, Australia) and holds an NCARB certificate, facilitating reciprocity in other jurisdictions in the United States.
Having held positions from Director of Design Technology, Project Architect, Project Manager, to Site Superintendent before founding Flynn A&D, Matt holds a wide scope of talents to pull off projects.
Matt holds a Master in Architecture from Harvard University (and cross-attended at MIT), a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and studied in France at the Ecole d'Architecture de Versailles.
Creativity has a wide spectrum, from architecture to art to design and more. The goal of Flynn A&D is to produce creative, unique projects - whether the designs are its own or someone else's quirky, wild ideas.
Architecture has been called the highest of the seven arts. It should uplift the spirit, stimulate the imagination, and be a joy to inhabit. Form, space, and light are still the driving factors that create timeless architecture.
The human body is curved; nature is curved; even light bends in its travels around objects. Why should designs be orthogonally-restrictive when the Industrial Revolution and the drafting T-square are history, when today we have incredible software, technology, and equipment to pull off sculptural forms? If you want a box of a building, you should keep looking for another architect.
Flynn A&D opened a workshop in 2020, expanding its capabilities to fabricate its designs rather than outsourcing them. Working in wood, acrylic, resin, and lighting, capabilities include a full-size CNC router with rotary axis, and 3D printing. The products of fruition, including the initial plywood furniture, are available through the online store.
Flynn A&D has worked on more than 80 of Turrell's artworks over the past 15 years, including some of the most ambitious: the South Space, at Roden Crater in Arizona, and Aqua de Luz, the elliptical ziggurat in the Yucatan jungle in Mexico. Services provided have aided the renowned Light and Space artist by visualizing design ideas, resolving geometry, rendering concept proposals, drawing technical design documents, and facilitating construction with the local/ foreign architect and contractors.
It's been a pleasure to work with Peter Wegner on several of his artworks, including arguably the most universally-enjoyed art piece Flynn A&D has worked on: Wegner's flip digit piece at Stanford's Graduate School of Business.
Flynn A&D has been privileged to assist world-class artists in their efforts, including Nancy Rubins, Richard Long, Jenny Holzer, Ai Weiwei's studio, and Yves Klein's archives, primarily through the artwork installed at MGM's CityCenter, Fontainebleau Miami, and the unfinished Fontainebleau Las Vegas.
Despite the enjoyment of working on incredible and quirky art, there comes a point when one wonders what good is truly done from spending half a million dollars to install ten square feet of colored light into someone's living room wall. While the major efforts of Flynn A&D involve significant artworks, giving wonder and beauty to beholders, how do these projects benefit a neighbor in need?
As such, Flynn A&D's board of directors routinely ships off its CEO on Habitat for Humanity trips to impoverished locations, building houses for those who have little. It's a way to keep focus on what is really important in this world.
Where
Flynn Architecture & Design has worked on projects spanning five continents.
Currently located outside of Chicago, Illinois, Flynn A&D was founded in Los Angeles, California and was based in Long Beach, CA, for nearly ten years.
When
After working in Los Angeles for several years on high-end modern residences, Matt Flynn had a mid-life crisis. Yep, 28 years old.
After promptly crashing his sporty red convertible, quitting his job, and leaving his apartment, he walked off the continent to scuba dive in the South Pacific. Returning with sun-bleached hair months later, he started his own design firm for art and architecture projects.
Over a decade later, he is still at it while wondering where the next mid-life crisis will take him.
Why
Pourquoi pas? Everyone needs to make a living. Why not do it making wonderful, creative projects that bring people inspiration and joy?
Life is too short to squander on bland projects when better opportunities exist.
How
Acting as what Matt Flynn coined an “art design architect”, a liaison between the unbridled art world and the technical construction industry, Flynn A&D provides services from conceptual design studies, renderings and animations through architectural documents and engineering coordination to construction assistance.
All this is solely by the grace of God. Does anyone give themselves their own talent? It is the LORD who knitted us together in the womb, who created us in His image (Psalm 139:13; Genesis 1:27). Any talents, experiences, and coincident meetings are His blessings and expressed with thanksgiving.
Contact
Credits
Unless otherwise noted, all photographs, renderings, animations, and drawings are by and copyright © Flynn Architecture & Design, Inc. / Matt Flynn.
Renderings and screenshots by Flynn A&D are demarcated with a logo in the corner.
Photographs taken by or courtesy of other parties are listed in captions on each image (hover over to show). If any errors or omissions are noted, please contact Flynn A&D.
Works of art are copyright of their respective authors.