Mark Bearak grew up wanting to build cities. At a young age, he was surrounded and inspired by urban architecture across Chicago, North Carolina, Georgia, California, and France. His dream of joining the ranks of Frank Lloyd Wright led him to study architecture at Georgia Tech and Columbia University. While in school, Mark had the opportunity to study in Paris, where he was further inspired by the work of an urban architect known as Le Corbusier. Mark was fascinated with the way Le Corbusier used mathematics to create perfectly aesthetic yet entirely unique communities. Studying at several different campuses helped prepare Mark for the broad range of projects and design approaches he would soon encounter.

After graduating, Mark spent 20 years working in various locations across the U.S. with diverse teams, architectural styles, and clients. While Mark is still an urban architect at heart, he fell in love with the variety of projects he was able to take on over the years. One of his favorite parts of any project was, and is, working together with clients. Mark saw that the best way to create a truly unique piece of art is to involve the entire decision making team at every step of the process. Reality was starkly different. Mark saw that clients often felt overwhelmed by the design process and shut out by architects and contractors, preventing the type of teamwork that Mark had found to be so rewarding. Five years ago, he founded dtls.ARCHITECTURE with the intent to foster a more collaborative environment for clients and architects. Today, dtls is thriving by using a revolutionary design process that includes clients at every step of the process.

Mark often describes the environment at dtls as “zero attitude, all love and collaboration.” That collaboration is what enables dtls to create truly unique architecture and turn our clients’ visions into reality. Mark puts such a high level of partnership and passion into his work that it becomes all play for him — the purest and most beautiful way to create art. The impact of COVID-19 was difficult for the team. Limited site visits and face to face interaction with clients required dtls to create innovative ways to digitize our processes while maintaining our trademark level of collaboration. Mark is very proud to say that dtls now uses the most up-to-date technology to provide clients with real-time updates, VR walk-throughs, and customized mood boards.

In his free time, Mark enjoys running marathons. He started as a running coach for Nike while living in Los Angeles, California and simply never stopped running. Having run dozens of marathons, Mark says the mental clarity that running gives him is unmatched. Mark now lives in New York City with his family and enjoys raising his children to appreciate art and humanity. Some things have changed during Mark’s five years at dtls, but some have remained constant. Mark still loves anything designed by Jean Nouvel. His favorite project is still the Lilli Tower in Atlanta, Georgia. He still enjoys the surprises that working directly with clients brings every day. And, he would still love to build a city someday.