The Firm

ANTE Architecture + Design is a multi-disciplinary design practice located in Manhattan's trendy Lower East Side.
 
In practice for over 5 years, ANTE's projects include residential, commercial, retail, and hospitality work.
 
The firm strongly believes in cross-collaborative endeavors of international scope, the importance of a process-oriented design approach, and the use of technology to facilitate communication and decision-making.

The process of designing and building is one of the most complex processes that exists out there today. Our job is to educate clients about the process, helping them understand their choices while working within budget. There is an infinite number of ways a building or space can be designed, so we work closely with our clients to make sure we create the right design for them.

The Principal

The practice is led by principal Jennifer Magee, who has taught design at Pratt University and the University of Tennessee. She won in 2005 the Architectural League's Deborah Norden Grant Award for "Interfacing Architecture in the Fragile Ecosystems of Australia" and Parson's Green Grant for "Cities, Ecology & Technology: Overlapping Systems on the Great Barrier Reef."

Jennifer has a unique dual background in architecture and real estate development. She has a Master in Real Estate Development from Columbia University (2005), a Master of Science in Architecture from the University of Cincinnati (1998), and a Bachelor of Environmental Design from Texas A&M University (1995). Jennifer is an entrepreneur by nature and is involved in many collaborative endeavors with other people and businesses.

She is also Co-Founder and CEO of an Internet technology business for the real estate and building industry called UPworld. It integrates all the players in the building process on a single platform, providing them with powerful professional networking opportunities and real-time collaborative project space. Visit www.upworld.com for more information.

What ANTE Stands For

The name of the firm ANTE stands for Architecture | Nature | Technology | Emergence
 
Architecture: The practice of architecture today is vastly different than it was back in Brunelleschi's day with the construction of the Florence Dome. Back then, an architect like Bernini or Michelangelo was a master builder, who coordinated all work and was involved in the process of making. Today, the architect is just one of many specialists responsible for coordinating various trades and professionals. For architects, there are over tens of thousands materials to choose from, hundreds of specialists to work with, and over millions of products to specify. It is our job as architects to embrace this new work environment and look for new opportunities to merge systems, communicate across disciplines, and establish alternative collaborations.

Nature: Buildings today produce over 60% of the waste associated with greenhouse gases. This problem can no longer be ignored, and we must make changes to design for our future. ANTE is less interested in the technical means of specifying green products or meeting certain criteria than we are interested in a whole systems-thinking approach that considers specifically how architecture is designed to work in synergy with the environment that surrounds it. It is about the processes that naturally heat, light, and cool buildings. It is about the way architecture interfaces with nature, whether it is the ground, the sky, or the water. We believe that sustainability is also critical in the process of designing as well as building. Sustainability here means promoting well-coordinated means and methods of communication between a myriad of specialists working on a project. Efficiencies in communication and in drawing materials can lead to less waste - and better buildings with fewer inefficiencies.

Technology: Technology is changing the way architecture is created and it frees us so we can work from anywhere at anytime. It helps us communicate our ideas and transmit information. It allows us to build cutting-edge architecture with full coordination of power, light, and air. It keeps propelling our industry forward, faster than it really wants to move. And technology can make a difference in the way buildings are made. It will not replace the ingenuity and sophisticated knowledge of people, but it will allow us to do our job better and free us up to think more and work less. ANTE believes in technology, uses technology, and looks forward to its increasing integration in our future.

Emergence: Emergence is a natural process that presents a powerful way of understanding how the world operates. ANTE's work simply fits into a larger pattern of systems in action. We cannot change the world but can contribute to continued growth and development. We are all ants working together in orchestrated patterns beyond our direct consciousness. New concepts emerge and take hold not because of something that we as individuals directly do but because of the larger forces at play moving over time and space. Cities, like ants, grow organically and new online communities do the same. These powerful networks that emerge have to power to change the world.