Alison Spear

Years of practice

Professional organizations

• Joined AIA in 1990

Keywords

Biography

Alison Spear graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Architecture degree and from Columbia University with a Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design. She has traveled through the United States, the Caribbean, South America, Central America, Europe, and Asia studying architecture, and her observations now influence her designs. She started as a Junior Designer for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and the New York City office of Arquitectonica, where the principals of the firm were her sister and brother-in-law, Laurinda Spear and Bernardo Fort-Brescia. Her first individual project was in 1989 for author Jay McInerney.

She is now the principal of her firms in Miami and Manhattan, but is a licensed architect in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Florida. The AIA named her the Interior Architect of the Year in 2003 in Miami. Her firm received two AIA Awards of Excellence and was named Interior Design Firm of the Year. She does both architecture and interiors, and has been featured in many magazines and newspapers, such as The New York Times, House & Garden, and Vogue, and has been a guest on many television shows, including shows on the Fine Living Channel and the Fox Network. Spear currently teaches at the University of Miami School of Architecture. She is a member of the American Institute of Architects, the New York Architectural League, the National Council of Registration Boards, and the Miami Design Preservation League.

Major Buildings and Projects

• residences for Francis Ford Coppola, Alberto Ibarguen (the former publisher of The Miami Herald), and Katie Ford (CEO of Ford Models)
• the 25,000 square foot Holly Hunt showroom in Miami’s Design District
• the South Beach 107 room Lido Hotel & Spa in New York City’s Mercer Hotel
• a twelve-story, 66-unit loft-type residential condominium in Miami Beach