Since its founding in 1957, Bentel & Bentel, Architects/Planners AIA has acquired a reputation for superior contemporary design. Our work is consistently bold, modern, creative and beautifully resolved. It spans a wide range of building types and scales, from urban environments to refined interiors and furnishings; and demonstrates our belief that great design manifests its virtues in both its practical and aesthetic qualities. We draw inspiration from the locale – local history, regional styles, prevailing building methods, environmental conditions and the nearby landscape or urban context. In the end what we seek is unprecedented design that redefines rather than reproduces prevailing conventions. Our projects have garnered numerous international, national and regional awards for design excellence from the International Interior Design Association, the American Institute of Architects, the Society of American Registered Architects, the James Beard Foundation and Hospitality Design. Our partners have been inducted in both the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects and the Hospitality Design Hall of Fame; and hold prominent positions within the professional, national and civic organizations such as the AIA Committee on Design and Peer Reviewers of the General Services Administration. Our work is routinely published in professional journals including Architecture, Architectural Record, Architecture Design (AD), Metropolis, Interior Design, Hospitality Design, Contract Magazine, L’Arca and World Architecture News. Our firm currently has three principal members: The late Dr. Frederick R. Bentel, FAIA, and the late Maria A. Bentel, FAIA, were founding partners of the firm. Fred was a graduate of the School of Architecture at M.I.T. and practiced for over 40 years. Dr. Paul Bentel, FAIA, a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Design and M.I.T., currently combines practice with teaching at Columbia University where he is Professor of Architecture and History; Peter Bentel, AIA, is a graduate of Princeton University and the Harvard Graduate School of Design and lectures extensively in Asia, Europe and the Americas. Dr. Carol Rusche Bentel, FAIA, is a graduate of Washington University, St. Louis and M.I.T., Chairperson of the AIA Committee on Design and a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome. The firm's studio is located in Locust Valley, New York, where it has practiced since its inception.