Cureosities | What’s in a Name

The majority of architecture firms out there are named after people.  Sometimes it’s a singular name, it’s often an acronym of initials, but generally it’s linked to the names of the individuals who took the leap to start the firm.  I’m sure there are a variety of reasons for this phenomenon - it’s the typical approach, posterity, clarity of who’s the owner.  It could also just be ease…don’t know what else to call it, so just name it after the owner.  I get all that and don’t have a problem with it at all, but in starting a design studio, I found myself really struggling with the idea of naming it after myself.  

Part of it may be my inner middle child coming out and deflecting the attention, part could be that my last name is really long and is already a mouthful, but I think the primary issue is that I don’t want this studio to be centered around who I am. This studio should be, through its name, rooted in the value it brings to the people it serves. I want it to be centered around the idea of individuals coming together to create beautiful spaces as a holistic, unified team with common goals.  That’s part of what I love about what we do, the collaboration between people that look at problems from different perspectives and make the solution better. Project client, builder and design team all working together toward common goals.  When it works well, when people can build upon other’s ideas, push, pull and make ideas stronger, it’s such a fun, enriching process to be a part of.  

So what is Cureo?  It’s about putting values first as the umbrella under which this studio will exist.  Two of my primary, personal values in life are curiosity and creativity.  I find so much joy in learning new things and creating just about anything, and so the only name I came to that actually felt right started with those values.  Curiosity paired with Creo, the Latin origin for creativity….Cur..reo…..Cureo.  

I also believe that curiosity and creativity are tightly linked in design, they work closely together to enhance unique problem solving.  If you start with curiosity in order to best understand what is needed, what’s driving the project, creativity then has fuel to ideate and come up with unique approaches to a problem.  We need both of these values in order to design thoughtful spaces that respond to the human needs that drove the projects existence in the first place.  

So Cureo….not a curio cabinet, though the parallel is interesting.  A curio, historically, was a cabinet for curiosities….varied, unique objects that each tell different stories gathered together to create the larger story of someone’s life or history.  I actually love that as a parable for a creative body of work.  Each project will be its own unique story, each studio member will have their own unique contributions, but put together over time they will all be part of the life story of Cureo Architecture + Design.  

Cureo cards and stickers