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Alumni Awards List

DOUGLAS STOCKMAN was introduced to architecture at an early age. His father worked for the U.S. State Department which required adapting to a new country every two years. His family's lifestyle exposed him to numerous cultures and their contributions to urban planning, architecture, interior architecture and landscape architecture. Through this exposure to the built environment, he developed a fascination with capturing these places by way of photography, 8mm silent film and sketching. His interest in drawing grew into a fascination with technical drafting and then architectural drafting through high school and community college in Washington, D.C.

Doug became interested in K-State through his extended family. Four of his cousins attended K-State, three of whom were students in what was then the College of Architecture and Design. He was enamored by the majestic expanse of the Konza Prairie, the small-town simplicity of Manhattan, and the uniquely intimate campus. His research into K-State, which revealed that the College of Architecture and Design was nationally recognized, convinced him to begin his studies in the fall of 1988.

K-State provided a program in which Doug developed the technical drawing and modeling skills necessary to succeed as an architect. He selected rigorous design studios that utilized fundamental and exploratory methods of design. He developed a comprehensive understanding of architectural history and its relationship to current architectural philosophies. He became interested in the pragmatic constraints of professional practice, and worked summer and winter recesses at Eaton Design Group in Washington D.C. and RLS Architects in Kansas City. Interested in integrating hands-on experience with architectural internship, Doug worked in construction, rehabilitating urban houses with local Kansas City architect David Greer. He expanded his hands-on experiences by building cabinets with a local cabinet shop in Kansas City.

Doug did not limit his schooling to the boundaries of the K-State campus. For one semester in 1992, he attended the College's foreign studies program in Italy. There he developed a deep appreciation for cultural influences on architecture and architectural influences on culture. He grew accustomed to good coffee, good wine and the ubiquitous siesta. In 1993, he attended a foreign studies program in Japan. There he studied the innovative architectural works of many contemporaries such as Ito, Ando, Suzuki, Takamatsu and Maki.

Doug completed his K-State education by entering the 1993 William Van Alen international student design competition and received an Honorable Mention. He was also awarded the Sidney L. Katz Memorial Prize for outstanding presentation. Upon graduation, Doug received the Heintzelman Prize, awarded for outstanding thesis project in the final semester of design studio.

After a brief search for employment in New York, Chicago, Minneapolis and Boston, Doug was referred back to Bob Berkibile at BNIM Architects in Kansas City. BNIM was highly impressed with his portfolio of work from K-State, and he began work immediately.

At BNIM, Doug developed skills in schematic design, design development, construction documents and construction administration. He worked on an array of projects such as the Kansas City Zoo, University of Missouri-Columbia Parking Garage, and H&R Block Headquarters. He volunteered his personal time to construct a new house for Habitat for Humanity and rehabilitated a house for Christmas in October.

It was there, at BNIM, that Douglas met and nurtured friendships with his future business partners Jamie Darnell, Dan Maginn, and David Dowell. The newly formed group of friends shared a mutual disappointment with the disconnection between the architectural process and construction process in professional practice. They decided to take a welding class together to learn more about steel fabrication.

It was also at BNIM that Doug met his future wife, Amanda. As a graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute, Amanda was working as a freelance graphic designer providing assistance for proposals and presentation material. They were married in the early part of 1996.

Desiring to work in a smaller, more intimate practice, Doug left BNIM. In 1995, he began work with International Architects Atelier and worked on smaller projects such as the Overland Park Lutheran Church, Central High School in Kansas City, Missouri, and numerous armory renovations for the state of Missouri.

In the spring of 1996, Doug joined his BNIM colleagues Dan Maginn and Jamie Darnell to form el dorado inc. This leap of faith was an attempt to address a specific problem. As a group, they believed there was a strong connection between designing and making in architecture, and good things would result by blurring the boundary between the two. They worked within an industry with a sizable and expanding gap between designing and making. Often, many architects don't understand the constraints inherent in the construction process, and many builders don't understand the goals that architects have set in order to meet their clients' needs. el dorado inc. was founded at the crossroads of these colliding worlds. They feel strongly that good architecture is collaboration between designers and makers. This collaborative spirit was present at their inception and remains at the core of their business.