Rand Elliott Architects was founded in 1976 and has seen decades of remarkable success. In 2016, the firm marked its 40th year in 2016 with a memorable celebration. Its setting was deep inside W&W Steel, one the nation’s largest and most distinguished steel fabricators just west of downtown OKC. The firm was founded by a longtime friend and mentor, the incomparable Bert Cooper, and is and ably led today by his son, Rick, who is also a friend.
THE SKETCHES, UNDER (PLEXI) GLASS
Included with the event’s bar and hot-off-the-grill fare was series of a long Plexiglass cases that displayed the first 40 years of Rand Elliott’s storied sketchbooks. Each volume documents the flow of ideas that became Architecture. Each project entry is dated as development proceeds, day to day. Guests were fascinated.
Using sketches to explore ideas has given way to digital work, especially 3D renderings. Sketching is an additional, conceptual, tool that, in Rand’s hands, has been indispensable. It also gives project presentations an added dimension, and a human touch.
COLORED PENCILS TO PAPER: A PIPELINE OF IDEAS
Since 2016, Rand Elliott’s collection of sketchbooks has continued grow, filled with noted projects such as the OSU Spears School of Business, UCO’s Don Betz STEM Education Center, Heartland Headquarters and Oklahoma Contemporary Art Center.
Guests still gush about the party, and Elliott’s sketchbook collection has stretched to 54 volumes and counting. The firm remains unique in that it’s a professional, architectural studio. Licensed architects work together, and all projects have Rand’s attention, beginning to end.
“Who We Are” is Architecture. With a capital A.