The principal of a firm currently working in New York City, Jeff Straesser has a solid resume for someone in the architecture field.
He obtained a graduate degree at Yale, worked in a number of studios across the country, and was even part of the team at Resolution 4: Architecture who won a contest sponsored by Dwell magazine to design a modern modular home. He could probably be working on a variety of residential or institutional projects, but he’d rather focus on finding ways to get you interested in cycling.
Straesser isn’t a salesman. As one of the lead architects working at Eight Inc., a multidisciplinary experiential design studio, he focuses on creating branded environments, new retail spaces, and new experiences for companies and organizations such as Shimano, a bicycle parts maker, the school charity Donors Choose, and Apple (his firm was approached by Steve Jobs years ago to help create the company’s now-famous retail outlets). He’s far outside what he considers traditional, siloed architecture, and he loves the opportunity.