Frank Irizarry

Frank Irizarry was born in Yonkers, New York in 1963, and moved a few years later to Rochester, New York, where he lived until 1988.  He holds a Master of Architecture from Clemson University, and is a registered Architect in the states of New York and Georgia.  He currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia.

Frank moved to Atlanta in the Spring of 1996, where he worked at Cooper Carry Architects until 2001 pursuing his interests in architecture and large scale urban planning. He began his own firm in 2001, primarily focusing on finding a balance between art and architecture.  He spent the summer of 2004 in Athens, Greece and Bilbao, Spain, and is currently at work with Eastman Kodak designing a 1800 sq. meter facility, at the Main Press Center, for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

Frank studied architecture in Genoa, Italy in 1992, through the Clemson M Arch Program, traveling extensively throughout Italy, and Europe.  It was during this time that he began creating pastel and ink travel drawings.  His work was largely influenced by a drawing seminar, held at the Clemson College of Architecture, by renowned architect Antoine Predock, and the drawings of Louis I. Kahn.

He returned to Genoa in the spring of 1995 where he worked with Studio Fera, and as an Adjunct Professor of Architecture at the Clemson University Charles E. Daniel Center.  At this time, he continued to develop and create drawings from his travels.  Francis met Aldo Rossi, one of the most influential architects of the 20th Century, in Milan in the Fall of 1995, his work and writings have had an evolving impact on Frank's thoughts on art and architecture to this day.

Past and present project involvement includes work with a diverse set of clients such as Cousins Properties, the St. Joe Company, Eastman Kodak Company, and Emory University. His artwork has emerged from his studies on architecture, and has been exhibited widely in Atlanta, and is a part of numerous private collections through out the country.