Who We Are

We collaborate closely with our clients to make beautiful, creative architecture.

Erick Consulting on the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco.
Erick creating a training video for architects.
Mikiten Architecture is a dynamic, socially and environmentally responsible firm made up of national-award-winning experts in Universal Design, Ecological Design, and housing of all types.

We combine a strong, sculptural architectural vocabulary with the grace of nature: richness with serenity. We appreciate the intrinsic beauty of the materials with which we build, and carefully orchestrate how they come together.

Vigorous environmental design strategies and healthy building materials are integrated into everything we do, and our Shinsei Gardens project in Alameda, a 39-unit affordable housing project, achieved LEED Platinum certification and industry-leading integration of Universal Design.

Erick Mikiten, FAIA, LEED-AP

Erick Mikiten, AIA founded Mikiten Architecture in 1991 to use his experience growing up in public housing to elevate multi-family affording housing to a higher level of artistic design. As a wheelchair-riding, hard-of-hearing architect, his unique insights made him sought after by clients around the country to bring new, creative levels of design to other architects’ housing projects, and to mixed-use, library, museum, corporate workplace, and other building types. Governor Jerry Brown recognized his expertise by appointing him to the California Building Standards Commission that creates the State Building Code.

​But 30 years later (and 30 years after the ADA), Erick saw that although society’s ideas about Inclusion had progressed, the architecture profession had not; it was still struggling to just meet now-outdated requirements of the ADA.

So he created a new firm to advocate for radical levels of Universal Design (UD), and to demonstrate that UD
doesn’t limit architects’ creativity or mean buildings have to look institutional. Instead, it opens new opportunities for inspiring places that are user-centric and comfortable, but also beautiful. The name of the new business - which is also a rallying call for the profession - is The Art of Access.

As part of this effort he partnered with San Francisco non-profit The Kelsey to create a guidelines and rating system, modeled after the LEED Green Building System, for multifamily projects around the country to get certifications for achieving different levels of UD that far exceed the ADA standards.

In addition to being an architecture firm, and with the Disability Rights Movement’s credo “Nothing about us without us” in mind, The Art of Access gathers together the most creative and pioneering lived-experience designers and consultants in the country, forming an unmatched consortium of talent. We create inspiring solutions that show the world that the future of Inclusion is beautiful.

A peek into our creative nest in Berkeley.
Principals:
Woodworking

​I’ve been a woodworker all my life. Growing up, we had only a few power tools, but my father taught me how to be creative to get the most out of them. In this way, I developed a deep connection with shaping wood. 

Now I have my own wood shop, where I build everything from boxes to furniture to cabinets. It’s been enriching to pass on this love of working with my hands and with wood to my son as well. 

This love of being creative with wood extends into every building I design. And my hands-on understanding of the properties of wood helps me design details that actually work in the field when a contractor is building one of our projects.

​- Erick Mikiten, AIA
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Erick Mikiten, AIA, LEED-AP
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Elisa Mikiten, Planner

We love new projects!
Let's get started.
Give us a call or send us an email. We'd be glad to email you one of our information guides to doing a project, and talk with you about what you're thinking about - with no commitment.
Are you wondering what "Universal Design" is?
It's a phrase that encompasses but goes beyond  "wheelchair accessible design", "ADA compliance", Aging In Place", and other ideas about making places that work well for people regardless of disability, and at any time in their life.
It's a magical idea that makes a place more usable and more enjoyable for everyone, often in surprising and fun ways. 
This is what we do (and that's just for starters).