Congruence Architecture is owned by Paul Marx who is a licensed architect in Oregon, Arizona, and Montana, and is a sole practitioner architecture firm. Paul is originally from Spokane Washington where he grew up. He has always been interested in building and structures. While in grade school his future path began to reveal itself in contest winning straw towers, and toothpick bridges. He enjoyed taking his first drafting class in High School and learned how to draw by hand the old way, with T square and triangles, and a drafting board. After High school Paul became interested in Carpentry obtained and AA degree in Carpentry and Cabinetry. He gained hands on experience in woodworking, and light frame construction. He then went to work as a cabinet maker in the raised panel door department of a large cabinet manufacturer. He would build hundreds of cabinet doors a night. Later he worked at two different furniture manufacturers building custom furniture, and workstations for Dot Com startups. Paul decided to go to night school to learn Computer Aided Drafting and got his first experience in drafting with computers. He eventually decided to pursue another AA degree, this time in Computer aided drafting with an emphasis on Architectural Drafting. While in drafting school He decided to further expand his education with a university level program in architecture, eventually graduating with a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Architecture from the University of Idaho. This would not have been possible without the dedicated support of friends and family, to whom he is very grateful.
Paul began his architecture career in Arizona and was mentored by and worked for very experienced architects, where he learned much. He also worked at the local VA hospital in the facilities department as one of the Architects working to deliver projects to keep the large hospital running to serve the regions veteran population. He was privileged to be involved in several large outpatient clinic build-outs as the project manager for the VA. He also gained medical architecture experience working on designs for an active hospital. After working at the VA Paul also obtained valuable experience working on many different project types, including governmental and tribal projects, & industrial buildings, particularly metal buildings. He tested for and gained his first Architecture license in Arizona in 2014. He is now NCARB certified and licensed in Oregon and Montana.
Paul has done contract architecture work for several architects, as well as private individuals, in the years since, where he gained knowledge of how to run a small business. He is a very experienced drafter of construction documents in Auto CAD as well as Autodesk Revit. He is a 3d modeling expert in Sketch Up, where he has done many models to produce renderings, as well as solar studies for passive solar designs. As an architect he is experienced in code analysis, site design, schematic design, and permitting.
Paul always seeks to find ways to bring beauty to his architectural designs, with a strong vision of where and how to bring the project to a successful and smooth completion, with a minimum of challenges, to meet the needs of the owner. Paul is straightforward in his design concepts and prefers structural simplicity when possible and practical to keep the design from being too complex. He barrows ideas from many different sources and likes to combine architectural styles in new ways.
He is very interested in alternative building types. Recently He attended a straw bale building workshop in Eugene and had the opportunity to get hands on experience in building a straw bale home. Paul particularly enjoys the quietness of straw bale buildings, the massive thermal insulation, and the soft light from the curved windows. He is currently designing a straw bale cabin which will be built in Montana. He is also interested in residential pole structures. Pole structures have a very long architectural history and are well suited to high-risk environments, such as coastal areas, sloped lots with views, and high seismic risk areas. Pole frame structures do not have load bearing walls, and do not rely on shear walls for shear resistance, so it is possible to be very creative with how the walls are placed. He also has an interest in construction using concrete masonry, hemp blocks, AAC blocks, rammed earth, insulated concrete forms, and other alternative approaches to building.
Paul has a long-standing interest in classical architecture, as well as historical styles. If you would like a building designed using classical architecture principles, he would gladly help you where many architects may not able or willing to consider a classical approach to design.
Paul is very passionate about architecture and knows he will be doing this for the rest of his life. His life purpose is to bring beauty to the world while also serving a practical purpose in his architecture. He would enjoy the opportunity to work with you on your project to help bring your vision to life.