Since its formation in 1955, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners has completed over 250 building and planning projects in more than 100 cities across North America and around the world. The firm's clients include major corporations, private developers, and public authorities, as well as educational, cultural, and religious institutions. The firm has been recognized by the American Institute of Architects (Firm Award), the Illinois Council of the American Institute of Architects (Chicago Architecture Award), The New York Society of Architects (Lifetime Achievement Award), and the New York State chapter of the American Institute of Architects (Firm Award). In addition to these awards for the totality of its practice, individual projects designed by the firm have received more than 200 major design awards, including 24 AIA National Honor Awards. Working from a studio in New York, the firm's eight partners and approximately 100 colleagues approach each project on its own terms, drawing inspiration less from formal or theoretical preconceptions than from particularities of place and program. Across six decades of exceptionally diverse practice, two central themes are consistently evident in the firm's body of work. The first is the conception of architecture and planning as an art of place making & embodying above all else a concern for the quality of public space and public life. The second is a commitment to the craft of building emanating from a belief that thoughtful use of materials and careful attention to detail are indispensable to the creation of a meaningful and responsible built environment.