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Cottage
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Hillside House
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Tennis House
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Our work explores the intersection of design and building production. We recognize building as a medium through which architectural ideas are most forcefully explored and unforgivingly expressed; as an undertaking that consumes physical and environmental resources as it irrevocably alters the character and culture of a place.
We seek to take the greatest possible advantage of those resources that we claim in the process of design and construction. The work in our studio and fabrication facility is fed by research and analysis of the sites we engage, the programs we shape, and the materials and methods we implement. In delicate coastal and interior wetland and woodland areas, as well as in urban and neighborhood settings, we explore and employ innovative environmental technologies and low impact building practices to reduce energy consumption and maximize the use of renewable materials in our buildings. We maintain, as a fundamental principle of our architecture, that broad-ranging inquiry and excellent planning and design are the most effective means of achieving true sustainability. The ethic of economy, simplicity, and sensitivity that underlies ecological design transcends the practice of architecture. The principles that seek to protect and preserve our natural environment are also those that work to restore and strengthen our cities and towns and provide enduring resources for their citizens.
The small size and complementary skills of our team of designers, fabricators, and builders allow us to work closely and intensively with our clients to develop productive strategies for the budgeting, scheduling, and construction of highly refined buildings. Our projects range in scale and scope from the development of hardware, furniture, and building assembly systems to the design of buildings for evolving institutions and for private clients. Our experience with work studied at a small scale and at close range has informed our process and forged our philosophy: that the technical, physical, and economic demands of a project give force and clarity to the language of its architecture. Gray Organschi Architecture is dedicated to the thoughtful conception and careful crafting of buildings and spaces that nurture communities while celebrating the individual experiences that form and enrich them.
Elizabeth Gray is the founding partner and managing principal at Gray Organschi Architecture. Ms. Gray is committed to fusing design excellence with principled community engagement, providing in special cases pro-bono design services for local institutions. Ms. Gray’s management establishes clear and achievable project goals and guides the design and construction process to ensure the timely delivery of buildings of the highest quality. Careful project research, frank and open conversation and the clear presentation of options and opportunities have been a hallmark of her professional work.
Ms. Gray is also the founder and principal designer of Gray Design, an interior design and furnishings firm with projects ranging from private homes to public institutions. This practice weaves furnishing specification and fabrication with an expertise in contemporary and historical material culture, providing innovative and livable spaces for a variety of building types and uses.
Ms. Gray received a Bachelor of Arts in English and Architecture from Yale College and a Master of Architecture from the Yale School of Architecture.
Alan Organschi is the design principal at Gray Organschi Architecture, in New Haven. A trained cabinet-maker and builder as well as a teacher, Mr. Organschi has developed a practice and a pedagogy that seeks to link broad based conceptions of architectural space, form, and program to the physical means and methods of producing them. He is the founding principal of the fabrication and construction company JIG Design Build, an offshoot of Gray Organschi Architecture involved in the prototyping, fabrication, and installation of specialized furniture and building components and systems. A member of the faculty of the Yale School of Architecture, Mr. Organschi coordinates Yale’s first-year graduate housing studio which culminates each spring with the student design and construction of an affordable house in New Haven. He is an instructor in building technology and has served as the Area Coordinator for the Material and Production curriculum. He lectures widely on architecture, technology, and sustainable urban renewal. As a consulting expert to the Advisory Board for The Seedlings Teacher Collaborative, Mr. Organschi works closely with New Haven private and public school teachers to bring project-based education to the city’s schools.
Mr. Organschi received a Bachelor of Arts in History from Brown University and a Master of Architecture from the Yale School of Architecture, and pursued additional coursework at the Rhode Island School of Design and the Institute for Urban Studies.
In 2009, Mr. Organschi was one of the first recipients of a research grant from The Hines Research Fund for Advanced Sustainability in Architectural Design for his current work on high density, high performance wood housing in the United States.

