Gary W. Miller, Architect & Associates, Inc.

GMID Architecture Interiors & Planning - Caring, Creative, Thoughtful and Professional Customer Service for your residential and commercial projects. Services include: Research, Site Evaluation, Government Approval Processing, Land Planning, Architecture, and Interior Design and Decorating. Educated and trained professionals offer insightful analysis, imaginative design and technically accurate construction drawings. This complete package of services will result in a project recognized for its stunning beauty and thoughtful detail. The cost of construction will be kept to a minimum due to the thoroughness of the technical drawings and specifications. An architect is a person involved in the planning, designing and oversight of a building's construction. The most basic definition of an architect is a professional who is qualified to design and provide advice - functional, aesthetic and technical - on built objects in our public and private landscapes. More generally, an architect is the designer of a scheme or plan. "Architect" is derived from Latin: architectus, and from Greek: arkhitekton (master builder), arkhi (chief) + tekton (builder, carpenter). In the broadest sense, an architect is a person who interfaces between the end user of a planned structure and the builder. That is, the architect translates the user's needs into the builder's requirements. The architect must be completely conversant with the user's environment, that is, the area of business or industry for which the structure is to be used, so that s/he can fully and completely understand the image of the final result that the user is trying to convey. Equally as important, the architect must thoroughly understand the building and operational codes with which the builder must conform and, upon completion, during use of the structure. That degree of knowledge is necessary so that s/he is not apt to omit any necessary requirements, or produce improper, conflicting, ambiguous, or confusing requirements. S/he must understand the various methods available to the builder for building the user's structure, so that s/he can negotiate with the user to produce a best possible compromise of the results desired within explicit cost and time boundaries. Architects are professionals considered on par with doctors, engineers, and lawyers, and they must frequently make building design and planning decisions that affect the safety and well being of the general public. Architects are required to obtain specialized education and documented work experience to obtain professional licensure, similar to the requirements for other professionals, with requirements for practice varying greatly from place to place. The most prestigious award a living architect can receive is the Pritzker Prize. It is considered the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for architecture. Other awards for excellence in architecture are given by national and regional professional associations such as the American Institute of Architects and Royal Institute of British Architects.