Joseph Pinto-Architect
Joseph’s journey in architecture began at the early age of 12. His older brother bought him his first book on Frank LLoyd Wright and his uncle, a master carpenter, taught him how to build. At 20 he designed and built Chicago's first elegant Italian restaurant, Sogni Dorati. Electing not to go the path of formal education, Joseph turned his attention to high-end residential construction. In addition, he has restored an Eastlake Victorian Painted Lady in Evanston’s Historic District and saved a Georgian Mini-Mansion listed on the National Registry which had been converted to a nursing home, completely violating the grand design; abandoned and in complete disrepair. It just had its 100th birthday and his clients are still living in this home today.
Joseph’s first design-build home was in Highland Park, a suburb of Chicago. It was an existing one-story typical home built in the early 60s that related to the mid-century, modern movement. His design added a second-floor addition as well as an addition to the ground floor and an attached two car garage. The original owners sold the home a few years ago, and the current owners have honored the design and construction and have maintained the home to Joseph’s original design. His mastery in design is well rooted in the nature of materials, their appropriate use as well as the craft and skill needed to meet his design intent.
In 1996 Joseph decided to get his real estate license with the intention of buying, redesigning and selling those properties. He had a certain affinity to selling real estate and excelled at it and won rookie of the year at Coldwell Banker. He recruited agents and built a team and was recognized nationally, placing 62nd in the top 100 teams in the country. The real estate market was so hot and expanding that he decided to enter into speculative development. His experience in design and construction made this a perfect fit. It was then, in midlife, that Joseph’s calling to architecture beckoned him back to school and he completed a BArch degree at IIT-Illinois Institute of Technology. While at school he was the winner of several awards, one being sponsored by the CTBUH for a design concept of a vertical facade for tall buildings. In light of his unorthodox path of becoming an architect, Joseph can truly be thought of as a modern-day renaissance man. He learned his craft the way the great masters of the renaissance did, from the bottom up... and it shows in his natural intuition and second-nature abilities.