Education:
Bachelor of Arts in Architecture, UNC Charlotte (1976)
Hometown: Gastonia, NC
Terry Shook, FAIA, is a founding partner of Shook Kelley, a firm specializing in strategic consulting services in disciplines of consumer psychographics and brand development along with specialties in urban planning, architecture, and communication design, all focusing on how places and spaces convene humans in meaningful ways. Terry’s list of current projects is quite extensive. He is working on a master plan for a Mixed Use Town Center in New Hampshire, a master plan for a mixed use village and town center in Orlando, a master plan for downtown Detroit, a strategic plan for downtown Pittsburgh, designs for a Charlotte continuing care retirement community, and an inner-city Charlotte mixed-income residential community called Brightwalk.
His education at UNC Charlotte shaped him into the architect that he is today.
“The College of Architecture (now School of Architecture) was a hotbed of independent thinkers—Ron Morgan, Michael Gallis and Mete Turan among them. Reflecting in many ways the underlying concerns that led to the civil disobedience of the ’60’s, they and others encouraged students to consider society, culture, and community equally among formal design considerations. We were also given the latitude to define our own educational path, and to seek out genuine community experiences — “clients”, so to speak — with hope that we would gain perspective and find meaning as we defined our own professional path.”
His passion for advocacy and community involvement during his education at UNC Charlotte left an impact on the city itself. During his education he was instrumental in saving “Charlotte's former First Baptist Church from the wrecking ball, and conducting the first arts programming for what would become Spirit Square.” He, along with other classmates, convinced Belmont Abbey College to restore historic St. Leo’s Hall. He was also part of the group of students that prepared the vision plan that convinced city leaders to place Charlotte’s new children’s museum in the city instead of the suburbs. He says, “Today, Discovery Place sits on the very site that we recommended.”
Even though a lot has changed since his graduation, he says, “ COA/A retains the spirit of inquisitiveness for an architecture of and for society, along with a healthy disrespect for normative, formal, and/or reckless design responses to the challenges associated with contemporary life. If you care about the world and its unfolding into a better future, go here.”
In 2008 Shook Kelley was awarded the AIA NC Firm Of The Year by AIA North Carolina. In 2014, the firm received a Center City Partners Vision Award for its work in Historic South End. The firm sponsors the Shook Kelley Design Scholarship in the School of Architecture each year.
In 2009, Terry was named to the College of Fellows by the American Institute of Architects. He is the recipient of the School of Architecture 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award.