Matthew G. Trzebiatowski, AIA.
Interior Design Instructor Collins College

The word HOT has a number of different connotations.  There is the school hottie.  Hot can also refer to the weather as in, Phoenix is hot in the summer.  And then there is Phoenix is hot.  It is one of the fast growing cities in the nation.  It is young, vibrant and allows artists to explore new ideas.  According to Edward Booth-Clibborn publisher of art books, “The Phoenix environment not only stimulates local creativity, but attracts creative people from all over to come and live in the extraordinary 21st century desert metropolis.”

One such example of a risk-taking talent who migrated to the desert is Matthew G. Trzebiatowski, AIA. Trzebiatowski is among a small group of artists who were selected for publication in Booth-Clibborn’s book “Phoenix: 21st Century City.”

Trzebiatowski’s home, Xeros Residence, is featured in the book.  The home, appropriately named Xeros meaning dry in Greek, is designed to blend with the stark beauty of the desert.  The cutting-edge glass-front house stands 30-foot high and over looks the Phoenix Mountain Preserve.  The home’s overall design emphasizes simple, unusual solutions and displays an experiential use of space and materials.  Trzebiatowski applies this philosophy to all of his architectural designs in his private practice, blank studio.

Trzebiatowski, an adjunct instructor at Collins College and principal of blank studio, has gained local and national recognition for his architecture.  Xeros Residence specifically has received a number of top honors including being one of only eight homes nation wide selected for Architectural Record, Record Houses 2006.

Trzebiatowski’s list of architectural accolades, national and international include:

• 2007 World Architecture News, House of the Year Award - Xeros Residence - Semi-Finalist
• 2006 AIA Arizona, Honor Award - Xeros Residence
• 2006 AIA Western Mountain Region, Honor Award - Xeros Residence
• 2006 Architectural Record, Record House Award - Xeros Residence
• 2005 Habitat for Humanity Public Housing Competition - Second Place
• 2003 Belmont Bus Shelter Competition - Finalist / Exhibitor
• 2002 State Street Public Art / Bus Shelter Competition - Finalist
  publication

Articles written about Trzebiatowski and blank studio include:

• The New 100 Houses, Images Publishing Group, Victoria Australia.
  Young Architects Americas, DAAB Publishers, Cologne.
  Houses International Atlas, Feierabend Publishers, Berlin.
• “The West’s Best,” Sources+Design, January / February 2007, 70-71.
• “Exemplary Household Factory,” interior DIGEST Moscow, January 2007, 110-123.
• “Xeros Residence,” Southwest Contractor, November 2006, 25.
• “blank studio.” Sell Modern, November 2006.
  www.sellmodern.com/modern_architects/featured_november06.html.
• “Xeros Residence,” GA Houses 95, September 2006, 110-127.
• “Rusty architectural challenge,” centras, 4 : 2006, 32-40.
• “Xeros Effect,” Dwell, September 2006, 184-191.
• “The Xeros Residence,” de arhitectura, No. 20, Case in Peisaj (Houses in Landscape), 54-61.

Trzebiatowski is a registered architect in Arizona and Wisconsin.  He holds a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies and a Master of Architecture from the University of Wisconsin.  For more information on blank studio, visit:  www.blankspaces.net.

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