TenBerke is a New York-based architecture studio that adopted its current name in April 2023, when the firm formerly known as Deborah Berke Partners relaunched with a re-articulated ethics-based vision. The studio describes itself as “united by values,” bound by the promise that architecture must build toward dignity and decency, and that the truest measure of good design is the good it does the world. [1]
Design and History
The TenBerke wordmark is a simple black text-based logo. The firm’s website presents the name in a clean, unadorned treatment consistent with the studio’s stated design philosophy of restraint and precision. [2]
The name change from Deborah Berke Partners to TenBerke was announced in mid-April 2023. The firm explained that the number ten “speaks of multiples and unity, a reflection of the creative collective who form TenBerke.” The name also evokes the “Powers of Ten,” described as the firm’s duty as designers to look at the biggest picture and the finest detail. [1]
Alongside the name change, the firm re-articulated its ethics-based vision, stating that architecture is “never an end itself” but rather “a tool that turns what we have into what we need.” The relaunch also elevated two long-time senior team members, architect Aaron Plewke and comptroller Damaris Arias, to owners. [1]
Architectural Record covered the relaunch, noting that Deborah Berke spoke with the publication about the name change and what it means for the 60-person practice. [3]
Meaning and Symbolism
TenBerke’s official “Our Name” page describes the name as referring to “a practice and design intelligence that is grounded in values of Community, Unity, Scalability, Quality, and Humanity.” The firm elaborates on each value:
- Community: The number ten speaks of multiples, multiplicity, of plurality, referring to the creative collective who form TenBerke.
- Unity: In the base ten numeral system, ten is the first number that again becomes one, reflecting the unity the practice finds through its diversity.
- Scalability: The idea of the powers of ten, the compounding and exponential rates of change, and the duty to look at the finest detail and the biggest picture, brings both strength and subtlety to the firm’s work.
- Quality: The work of TenBerke is “measured” in both senses of the word, finely calibrated to the needs it addresses and the opportunities it finds.
- Humanity: Ten is described as “a handy number. Ten fingers, ten toes. Ten is a human number.”
The firm’s website was redesigned by KUDOS Design Collaboratory, a New York-based studio, which was tasked with reimagining TenBerke’s website to speak more directly to the firm’s three audience groups: institutional, residential, and commercial. [5]
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