”An Evening with Sarah Susanka, AIA“ on Thursday, February 17, 2005 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Saint Cecilia Music Society in Grand Rapids.

As a leading advocate for the re-popularization of residential architecture, Ms. Susanka has improved the quality of home design while countering the elitist image of architects so commonly held by the public.

Sarah Susanka is a sought-after resource by industry groups and members of the media. She has shared her revolutionary insights on big ideas for small spaces with The Oprah Winfrey Show, USA Today, Boston Globe Magazine and Charlie Rose. In February 2001, Fast Company named her to their debut list of "Fast 50" innovators whose achievements have helped to change society - an honor preceded by her selection as a "top newsmaker" for 2000 by Newsweek magazine and an "innovator in American culture" in 1998 by U.S. News & World Report.

Susanka has earned similar accolades for her books. Her first, The Not So Big House (Taunton Press, 1998), spent two years among the top five best sellers on Amazon.com's Home and Garden list. Creating The Not So Big House was released nationwide by the Taunton Press in October 2000 and was ranked among the top 15 books in the New York Times "Advice & How To" best-seller list.

Through her columns in Fine Homebuilding and Inspired House magazine, Sarah explores issues commonly encountered in new home design and remodeling. Her third book, Not So Big Solutions for Your Home (Taunton Press, 2002), is a compilation of the best columns, and provides 30 everyday design solutions for people of all skill levels and budgets. Her first three books combined have sold more than 700,000 copies.

Her latest book, Home By Design, is being launched in conjunction with the 2004 International Home Builders Show. A Home by Design demonstration house on the parking lot of the Stardust Hotel will be open for tours during the entire month of January. Both the book and the house illustrate thirty principles that govern how we experience space and light in our homes, and reveal the tricks used by architects and designers to make their creations comfortable and engaging. Sarah Susanka believes that by giving names to the key ingredients of good design, and by explaining how they can be applied in any home, builders, designers, and homeowners will be able to dramatically improve the quality of house design.

Prior to her work as an author and public speaker, Sarah Susanka was a principal and founding partner of Mulfinger, Susanka, Mahady & Partners, Inc., a firm specializing in residential architecture in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She spent 16 years at the company, which was selected to design the 1999 Life Dream House. Susanka is a registered architect, a member of the American Institute of Architects and is a certified interior designer.