I had the opportunity of working with Michael Southard for several years in which I got to know him personally and professionally.
Michael has a great personality, exceptional in his professionalism and has a unique understanding of architecture that proved contagious to work beside. He brought an intense focus the projects he was involved in and his enthusiasm for architecture was obvious through the way he communicated with his clients, his team members, and his work. Always eager to connect the full team when working towards solutions, Michael’s expertise in the profession really shined in our team design sessions when big picture project guidance was critical. His ability to communicate architectural ideas and coalesce the team around a direction that everyone could get behind proved very effective towards the success of the projects he worked on.
Michael took leadership in staying informed with the professional community outside of our office and brought to the table opportunities of community engagement which our firm would not have otherwise engaged in. Particularly, Michael led a small team of architects and interns, in which I was one, through a local architectural competition which proved a great success for the company. Not only did he bring the opportunity to the office, he was critical in the development and production of our competition entry which our firm is quite proud of. Michael brought a design professionalism and architectural visualization skillset to every project he touched and influenced a greater culture of design progression that is sorely missed with his absence. It would be a missed opportunity to pass by working with Michael Southard.
Joseph F. Klimek, RA
JDavis Architects | Project Architect