Duo Dickinson

George "Duo" Dickinson (born August, 21, 1955) is an American architect. He has built over 500 projects in over 10 states, with budgets ranging from $5,000 to $5,000,000. He maintains an office of 10 staff members in Madison, Connecticut.

A house designed by Duo Dickinson

Life and career

Dickinson graduated from Cornell in 1977 with a Bachelor's degree in Architecture and opened his own architectural practice in 1987. He is licensed in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Texas, Florida, Arizona, Oklahoma, Minnesota and Tennessee.

His work has received more than 30 awards, including the Architectural Record Record House, the Metropolitan Home Met Home Award, and the Connecticut and New York American Institute of Architects design awards. He is the first non-member award-winner of the Society of America Registered Architects' 2009 Special Service Award. He is the co-Founder of The Congress of Residential Architecture (CORA), the first national organization of residential designers. CORA has grown to over 20 chapters and 1,000 members in seven years.

Publications

Dickinson's design work has been published in over 70 publications including the New York Times, Architectural Record and House Beautiful. He has written seven books, including The Small House and Expressive Details for McGraw-Hill and The House You Build, published by Taunton Press and as a paperback entitled House On A Budget. His last book, Staying Put, was released by Taunton Press in November 2011.

Dickinson is a commissioned blogger for the New Haven Register, and his blog, "Saved By Design" has been up since the summer of 2010. He is a contributing writer on home design for Money Magazine. Additionally he is the architecture critic for the New Haven Register and contributing writer in home design for New Haven magazine. Dickinson has written articles for more than a dozen national publications including Residential Architect, Home and Fine Homebuilding and was a contributing writer for the “By Design” column for This Old House magazine.

Books

• 1994: Small Houses for the Next Century. McGraw Hill ISBN 0070168288
• 1996: Expressive Details: Materials, Selection, Use. McGraw Hill ISBN 0070168334
• 2004: The House You Build.Taunton Press ISBN 1561586161
• 2007: House on a Budget. Taunton Press ISBN 1561589233
• 2011: Staying Put: Remodel Your House to Get the Home You Want Taunton Press ISBN 978-1600853647

Academia

Dickinson has taught at Yale College, Roger Williams University and at the Harvard Graduate School of Design Summer Program. Additionally he has lectured at dozens of universities, AIA associations, and at national conventions and gatherings.

Media

Dickinson was the co-host of the CNN/Money Magazine web series Home Work. He was under contract with Lightworks Producing Group to create production ideas for cable television programming focusing on residential design and is in production with Bruce Barber on a regional radio program The Real Life Survival Guide scheduled to begin airing in 2011. He has appeared on a variety of national media platforms, including Heritage Radio Network's Burning Down the House, CNN’s Open House, NPR’s Studio 360 and Weekend Marketplace.

Community

Dickinson sits on the board of seven not-for-profit organizations, including the New Haven Chapter of Habitat for Humanity, the Katherine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, and Madison Cultural Arts. Additionally, 20-30% of the ongoing work in his office is dedicated to pro bono or at-cost work for not-for-profits, totaling over 50 projects for over 30 organizations over the last 25 years.

Other websites

• Official website
• "An Architect Who Puts Work Before Worship", New York Times