James G. Freeman, AIA – Principal

Jim is a founding principal and has practiced architecture extensively in Hawaii and Asia. In total his projects worldwide span over sixteen countries. Before recently forming FSC Architects he was a Vice President at WATG where he honed his place making skills designing several award winning hospitality projects. One of his favorite sayings is that he likes to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts.

As a career advocate for sustainable development his actions along with that of the AIA Sustainable Communities Committee got the attention of President Clinton who awarded him the President’s Council for Sustainable Development Certificate of Appreciation in 1996. As AIA Honolulu President in 2002 Jim lead the chapter in becoming Hawaii’s first and nationally the AIA’s first national headquarters to be LEED certified obtaining LEED‐CI Gold as sponsored by the US Green Building Council (USGBC). Because mankind has outpaced Mother Nature’s ability to replenish itself, Jim is dedicated to becoming a better steward of planet Earth.

In addition to serving as President of AIA, Jim served as AIA Director, Chair of Urban Design Committee, Director of Center for Better Communities, city taskforces on urban design and transportation and other community activities. He also lectured on and was a charter signatory for New Urbanism with the objective that we owe it to society to help create a better built environment. Jim hopes that his open mind to learning and curiosity about people, place and culture encountered throughout his world travels makes him not only a better architect but a more responsible citizen of the world.