While sipping beers on their porches in downtown Phoenix in 2003, neighbors Chris Nieto and Joe Herzog, AIA, began brewing up the idea to start their own architecture firm. At the time, Nieto was running his family’s contracting company, while Herzog was working for architect Wendell Burnette, following a four-year stint with Will Bruder. “We had a lot of evening conversations about how we wanted to change our city, and our world for that matter,” says Herzog.
Those casual chats morphed into a serious venture. In 2004, the duo founded Merzproject — now one of the most popular design studios in Phoenix. In short time, the firm has built a series of economical, sustainable, and urban projects and garnered several honors: Its Galleries at Turney (2007) was Arizona’s first project to earn LEED for Homes certification, for instance, and Hoover House was AIA Arizona’s Home of the Year in 2008. Moreover, The Arizona Republic recently named Nieto one of the state’s top entrepreneurs under the age of 35. (Nieto handles Merzproject’s business affairs, while Herzog is the creative force.) “I think we’re part of a new generation, and people are looking to us for design leadership,” says Herzog. “We’re now pushing into the establishment, and we’re pushing the dialogue.”
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