People
Peter Landon, FAIA, LEED AP · plandon@landonbonebaker.com
Peter Landon FAIA, founder and principal of the firm, is known for his work in low-rise inner city affordable housing. He has been consistent and innovative in bringing good design as well as developing a sense of ownership to the residents of homeless shelters, SRO apartment buildings, daycare centers, and a wide variety of new and rehabbed affordable, subsidized, and market rate urban housing developments. With the belief that quality design is critical on all levels, he has successfully balanced context, technology, and economy in his work. His own and the firm’s work has won many awards for subsidized, market rate and private housing designs. The designs have been exhibited and published widely over the years. Peter is a regular critic at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Illinois Institute of Technology, and he teaches, lectures, and presents material at various organizations predominately in the Chicago area. He has participated on several City of Chicago task forces, was an original member of the Design Matters panel at DOH, and is a member of the Advisory Group of The Affordable Housing Catalogue. Peter is a Past President of the Chicago Architectural Club, and was Chairman of the Chicago AIA Design Committee for 5 years. He is a current and founding board member of archi-treasures – a collective of artists, architects, educators, and community organizers who are in service to Chicago’s neighborhoods.
Jeff Bone, AIA · jbone@landonbonebaker.com
Jeff Bone AIA, received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Ball State University in 1987. He worked at Weese Hickey Weese Architects in Chicago from 1986 to 1987 and lived in London from 1987 to 1988 where he worked and traveled. Jeff joined Landon Architects Ltd. in 1988 and became a principal in 1999. He is president of Knothead Furniture, an ongoing collaboration with Landon Bone Architects that designs furniture and custom installations. Jeff has worked on a wide variety of affordable housing projects throughout the city and currently is working with The Night Ministry to design and build a transitional shelter for homeless teenagers. He is a current member of the archi-treasures program committee where he participates in the design of community based gardens and is Chairperson of the AIA Education in the Schools PIA; he received the Young Architect Award from the CCAIA in 2001. Recently, Jeff organized and led a tour for the City’s Great Chicago Places and Spaces 2002. The tour, Fortifying Affordable Housing, looked at the collaborative effort between management, residents, architects, and artists in the rehabilitation of Barbara Jean Wright Courts, 272 Units of affordable housing on the near west side.
Catherine Baker, AIA · cbaker@landonbonebaker.com
Catherine Baker AIA, graduated with Honors from Ball State University where she received Bachelor degrees in Architecture and Environmental Design. Interested in the relationship between people and the built environment, she studied at the University of Chicago where she received a Master of Arts degree in the Social Sciences.
Catherine is a licensed architect in the state of Illinois. She joined Landon Architects in 1994 and was named a principal in 2002. While at Landon Bone Baker Architects she has managed various projects including; new and renovated single-family housing, multi-family housing, interior office build-outs and a daycare center. Currently she is managing several of the Chicago Housing Authority’s Hope VI revitalization programs – Robert Taylor Homes and Henry Horner Homes. The Hope VI programs include the complete redesign and master planning of neighborhoods where former high-rise housing projects once stood. She is also managing a 500 unit Section 8 housing redevelopment in the Woodlawn neighborhood. The new development will focus on transit oriented design and is being developed to meet LEED for Homes Silver rating.
Catherine has been active in Chicago’s architectural educational community – focused mainly on CPS high school students. Her goal has been to bring an understanding of our urban environment to Chicago students and teachers. For the past 10 years she has been teaching an architecture class in collaboration between Lane Technical High School and Marwen.
Catherine volunteers with the Chicago Architecture Foundation and was a member of the advisory group that developed “The Architectural Handbook” a new award-winning architectural curriculum for the Chicago Public Schools. She is also a mentor for Marwen’s Art at Work program – a program that introduces students to the professional employment opportunities in design and art. Through Marwen and the Chicago Architecture Foundation she also conducts various architectural workshops for teachers and students.
Catherine recently team taught an architectural graduate design studio at IIT with her business partners Pete Landon and Jeff Bone. The class was based on community development and neighborhood transformation.
Jack Schroeder, AIA, LEED AP · jschroeder@landonbonebaker.com
Jack Schroeder graduated with honors from Ball State University in 2001 with bachelor’s degrees in Architecture and in Environmental Design. He has worked at Browning Day Mullins Dierdorf and at a3design in Indianapolis, Indiana. Jack joined Landon Bone Architects in 2002. He has worked on a number of affordable housing projects of varying scales throughout Chicago and Illinois, as well as collaborating on smaller custom furniture projects with Knothead Furniture. Jack has been involved with various design related not-for-profit organizations and programs, including: classroom volunteer and competition judge for CAF’s Newhouse Competition, teacher and TA for art courses at Marwen, and charrette participant and marketing/web designer with archi-treasures. He was a finalist in the 2005 USGBC Natural Talent Competition – a collaborative competition staged by the USGBC Emerging Green Builders Committee and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
Trisha Girdwood · tgirdwood@landonbonebaker.com
Trisha Girdwood received her accredited Bachelor of Architecture degree in 2000 from the University of Cincinnati. During her studies, she participated in an internship program in Cincinnati, Ann Arbor, London, Portsmouth, Madrid and Chicago. After graduating from college, Trish worked at Brininstool + Lynch. She started working at Landon Bone Baker Architects in 2002 and became a senior associate of the firm in 2009. She has worked on a number of new market rate homes and additions, affordable housing, urban planning projects and rehab projects including the Worthington House, 1610 Halsted, City Gardens, Westhaven Park Phase IIC, Hansberry Square, Bush by the Lake, NHS Roseland Phase II and several LUCHA rehabs, among others. She has a concentrated focus on energy sustainability and how to achieve that in the affordable market. In addition, she has participated in several programs on accessibility and adaptability in residential and commercial construction. Trish is working towards obtaining her license in 2012.
Dominik Soltys, LEED AP · dsoltys@landonbonebaker.com
Dominik Soltys has received an accredited Bachelor of Architecture degree in 2000 from Illinois Institute of Technology. During his studies he has focused on building technology, sustainability, material research and planning. Prior to joining LBBA in summer of 2003, Dominik has worked on variety of projects including university/hospital laboratories, high rise condominium buildings and high end residential/commercial buildouts. He has also participated in historic rehabilitation work and furniture design.
Currently, Dominik is exploring sensible and practical applications of technology in the context of affordable housing. He also endeavors to combine design and detailing to produce elegant, efficient and occupant oriented solutions capitalizing on the understating of the construction process.
Tyler Brown, LEED AP · tbrown@landonbonebaker.com
Tyler Brown was raised in Ohio, graduated with a BArch from the University of Cincinnati in 1999 and is working toward professional registration. Professional experience includes work in the public and private sectors concentrated on urbanism and historic rehabilitation in Cincinnati, San Francisco and New York as well as some time building in rural France. Work since joining LBBA in 2004 has included redevelopment of the Henry Horner and Robert Taylor Homes and renovation of the Gill Park Cooperative.
Claudia Rodriguez, AIA · crodriguez@landonbonebaker.com
Claudia Rodriguez received a Bachelor of Architecture and a Master’s of Architecture from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign in 1998 and 2000, respectively. She worked at VOA Associates from 2000-2005. Claudia has had a wide range of experience on a variety of projects that includes mixed-use housing developments, renovations, student recreation centers, and a performing art center. The project list includes the renovation and addition of 110,000 S.F. of the University of Illinois’ Student Recreation Center, the renovation of the Milwaukee Theater in Wisconsin, an Enlisted Officers housing quarters for the Great Lakes Naval Center, and the renovations of 7 existing mid to high rise senior housing residential properties for the Chicago Housing Authority. At LBBA she has completed numerous rehabilitations of affordable housing projects that include, but are not limited to, Harriet Tubman Apartments, 10 buildings of affordable apartment buildings that are part of the Lawndale Restoration initiative in the Lawndale neighborhood, Renaissance Apartments in the Lawndale neighborhood, and Uptown Apartments. She is currently working on a new addition to a battered woman’s shelter; an adaptive reuse of what will be the main office headquarters for Spanish Coalition for Housing, the rehabilitation of scattered buildings of affordable housing as part of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program with POAH, and a new construction housing project with LUCHA CUFAH that will provide 3 buildings and 30 units of affordable apartments in the West Humboldt neighborhood. Her interest in socially conscious, environmentally friendly and good design principles led her to join Landon Bone Baker where her skills can best be utilized. She received her architect’s license from the State of Illinois in June 2008. Claudia is an active member of the American Institute of Architects.
Kami Altman · kaltman@landonbonebaker.com
2001: Received a Bachelor of Science in Urban Planning from Arizona State University. Kami then spent 8 months in Europe, traveling and eventually working in Rome, Italy for a firm specializing in Industrial Architecture. 2002: Moved to Chicago. For a year, she worked as a Model Builder for Booth Hansen and Associates where she realized how crucial the model making process is to creating Architecture. 2003: Enrolled in the Architecture program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. 2006: Received her Master of Architecture in 2006. Upon graduating, she worked for Teng and Associates for 7 months. Kami’s interest in affordable Architecture is what eventually brought her to Landon Bone Baker Architects, which she joined in December 2006.
Terran Wilson · twilson@landonbonebaker.com
Terran Wilson received a Bachelor of Architecture from Auburn University in 2009. While at Auburn, she studied abroad in Rome for one semester. She completed her thesis work—designing and building a mobile concessions stand for Lions Park—at the Rural Studio. Shortly after its completion, she moved to Chicago in search of an architecture job. Terran worked at Wilkinson Blender Architecture in 2010 and joined Landon Bone Baker in 2011 in order to pursue her passion of designing affordable housing. Her travels have taken her to Swaziland and Mexico, and she hopes to discover more of the world in the coming years. Terran enjoys reading and making books and soaking up the sun at the lakefront.
Caroline Liebman · cliebman@landonbonebaker.com
Caroline graduated from Kent State University in 2008 with Bachelor’s degrees in both Art and English. She recently received a Master’s of Art in New Arts Journalism from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and joined LBBA as office manager in 2011.
Victor Jiménez · vjimenez@landonbonebaker.com
Victor is a versatile designer 
with experience in commercial, residential, and institutional work. Victor’s work has ranged fromlarge mixed-use international developments to a modest renovation and addition for an inner-city school. His involvement with projects spans the design, document production and construction phases, and his expertise in graphics and visualization is a significant asset for clarifying project design and planning concepts.
Victor received a Master of Architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2010, where he focused his studies on the adaptive reuse of industrial structures in Chicago, and a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2006.
An aspiring teacher and mentor for the next generation of design professionals, Victor volunteers for the ACE Mentor program and teaches a summer studio at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Louis Fernandez · lfernandez@landonbonebaker.com
Louis Fernandez received a Bachelor in Architecture from Illinois Institute of Technology in 2011. During his time at IIT he focused on material studies, digital design, and visual communication. He was involved in a wide range of work, from furniture design to collaborative high-rise and planning projects.
Louis worked for a small interior architecture firm in 2011 and joined Landon Bone Baker in 2012 to pursue an interest in community-based design.
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