Memphis Specialized Laboratory, designed by Perkins + Will and Self + Tucker Architects, is nearing completion on site of former Baptist Hospital. The building is proposed for LEED Certification and features a green roof irrigated by recycled water and ties into the adjacent UT Campus.

Whether he’s coming in from a meeting off-site with blueprints in hand or creating an aesthetic mock-up for a client in his downtown office, Jimmie Tucker, a founding principal of Self + Tucker Architects, always has Memphis on his mind. From his early days as a carrier for the Press-Scimitar, through which he was able to earn a scholarship to The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey and eventually attend Princeton for undergrad, to his recognizable projects like the FedExForum, STAX Museum and Academy, and Heritage Landing, Tucker is a Memphian who’s passionate about the revitalization of the Bluff City, one building at a time.

For three growing seasons, Rev. Kenneth Robinson kept a mental tally of the broccoli, cabbage and carrots streaming out of the farmers market at an abandoned fish market in South Memphis. When white eggplant showed up at one of the stalls last summer and no one knew how to prepare it, he made another note.
In June, the notes will be writ large at the corner of Mississippi Boulevard and South Parkway. With $1.2 million in grants, the community development arm of St. Andrew AME Church is opening a green grocer in 3,600 square feet of an eyesore that was the empty Carter’s Fish Market.

There’s enough of a challenge in designing a new concept for a museum, but updating a museum that was originally built around the site of a historic event presents a whole new set of challenges. Before the $27 million renovation of the National Civil Rights Museum began earlier this year, Self+Tucker Architects was tasked with updating the delivery of the museum’s message without altering the message itself.

Effective March 6, the rental car companies at Memphis International will move to their new home on levels one and two of the new seven-level Ground Transportation Center. Rental car companies will be able to house all of their customer service operations within the Center, including rental operations, return services and quick-turnaround vehicle service. More than 1,200 rental car spaces are available. The complete auto rental capabilities will eliminate any need for shuttle buses for the rental car companies, creating a more environmental approach to rental car services and reducing overall congestion along the airport roadways.

Presented by CB Richard Ellis Memphis, Building Memphis is designed to be a broad commercial real estate recognition program honoring projects that have created a positive community impact in the areas of investment, new jobs, environmental leadership, renovation or revitalization. The event’s gold sponsor is Bass, Berry & Sims.

A Los Angeles-based developer is working with the Church of God in Christ to redevelop the former site of Fowler Homes into Mason Village, which would include 77 units of affordable housing.
John Stanley Inc. and COGIC are collaborating on the project, which has an estimated budget of $8 million. Memphis-based architecture firm Self Tucker Architects is designing Mason Village. Fowler Homes, a public housing project located at Fourth Avenue and Crump Boulevard, was torn down in 2004. The land, which is owned by COGIC, has been vacant since then.

Tuesday, Jan. 15, would have been the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 84th birthday. In the almost 45 years since his assassination at the Lorraine Motel, the South Main district and Downtown as a whole have certainly seen its ebbs and flows. But 2013 has the potential to be one of the years in which the civil rights icon would be most proud of the area’s revitalization.
The National Civil Rights Museum is pumping $27.5 million into renovations to the Lorraine Motel and its newly acquired administrative building on St. Martin Street. The footprint of the facility won’t change, but the way the space is used will be greatly enhanced by early 2014 when it reopens.

Why It Matters:
“It’s critical that we focus on this area [Memphis Heritage Trail] at this time, because we are in the midst of renovating and rebuilding in this zone and if we are not careful in our progress we will overlook and build over and tear down some of the essential components of this great history.” — A C Wharton, mayor, City of Memphis

Jenga transformed from a family game-night favorite into a life-size version that occupied a Downtown Memphis parking space Friday, with players standing on ladders and chasing after pieces that blew away in the wind.

Shane Donahue, 24, who moved to Memphis from Oakland, Calif. three weeks ago, left a parking space that was hosting giant mini tennis – tennis with giant rackets and a miniature net – sponsored by the Racquet Club of Memphis, to play life-size Jenga in the space across the street.

A Downtown development board approved a $200,000 loan Wednesday for a health club and restaurant in a long-vacant building at 387 S. Main.

The Center City Development Corp. waived a standard $90,000 cap on a development loan for the Downtown Athletic Club and Atmosphere Eurocafe after developers said the lesser amount would stop the project.

After some initial concerns by the Center City Development Corp. board, a local development team has received the green light to move forward with its plans to renovate the 26,500-square-foot building at 387 S. Main St. into a mixed-use development that will include an athletic club and café.

About the only thing remaining the same after the National Civil Rights Museum’s $27 million, 14-month renovation will be the room Dr. Martin Luther King stayed in at the Lorraine Motel.

Nearly every other exhibit in the museum is getting a massive overhaul with new technology, redesigned text, and more interactive areas that allow visitors to feel like they were a part of civil rights history. The new design created by Howard + Revis and Self Tucker Architects was unveiled Tuesday night in the museum’s theater.

When residential and commercial construction hit new boom times – whenever that might be – the rebirth will take place in a new era with new rules. “People are becoming more environmentally aware, and that’s going to change the market,” said Don Glays, executive director of the Memphis Area Home Builders Association. “There are a lot of advantages to buying green, and people are starting to understand that.”

Starting in November, visitors to the National Civil Rights Museum will be able to do what others haven’t been allowed—stand on the balcony where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

The main building of the museum, which opened in 1991, is undergoing major renovations and will be closed beginning in November until the first quarter of 2014.

After just two weeks of Discovering Architecture Summer Camp, the high-schoolers spoke the language. The 18 students didn’t refer, for example, to a “roof” or “wall” as they presented their design projects last weekend to a roomful of parents and professors at the University of Memphis Department of Architecture.

With the press of humidity and its own expectations, St. Andrew AME dedicated its $1.1 million child care center in South Memphis on Tuesday, memorializing a decreased church member who started the effort five decades ago. The Ernestine Rivers Childcare Center, a white clapboard building with shining blue roof, sits beside Interstate 240 for a reason, Rev. Kenneth Robinson told the crowd.

Walker says architecture was in his blood from the time he was born, saying his first lesson in architecture was as a toddler playing with building blocks. He says he enjoyed making and demolishing buildings and drawing more than anything else as a child. He realized his life’s passion for architecture and design in 2006, when he joined Self Tucker Architects Inc.

Self + Tucker Architects is proud to announce that founding partner and managing principal, Jimmie Tucker, has been selected for the second year in a row a Memphis Business “Power Player.” Jimmie is featured in Memphis Business Quarterly magazine’s “2012 Power Players” issue as a top local business leader. The “MBQ Power Players” is an annual feature that highlights the city’s movers and shakers. The editorial board consists of MBQ staff, along with informed business and community leaders.

Usually Self-Tucker Architects do the design work and planning for someone else who is the developer.But in an open lot on the north side of Chelsea Avenue at Leath Street, seven single- family homes to come in the next year will be the architecture firm’s first steps into developing.
Self-Tucker managing principal Jimmy Tucker was among those who broke ground last week in North Memphis for the Leath Street Initiative. “It’s not a huge leap to do development,” Tucker said. “But obviously being able to buy land, develop a project and attract the financing is one of the keys.” Tucker was among those in the first class of a city of Memphis diversity development incubator that began four years ago.

A groundbreaking was held April 20 for a new project aimed at redeveloping the north Memphis neighborhood known as New Chicago. The Leath Street initiative will create new affordable housing in the area. Once built, the homes will be offered for sale for about $70,000. The New Chicago Community Development Corporation says currently, quality affordable housing isn’t as available as it once was. The group hopes the project will bring in new residents and make the neighborhood a desirable place to live.

A cluster of five new houses will soon rise on vacant property in economically distressed New Chicago thanks to a partnership by the city, community development corporation and a fledgling developer. Mayor A C Wharton led the ceremonial groundbreaking Friday for the infill development on vacant property on Leath, just north of Chelsea. “We’re going to do it on three,” Wharton told his fellow shovel-bearers. Actual work on the three-bedroom, two-bath homes for low- to moderate-income families should start in August, said Jimmie Tucker, who’s both the architect and developer.

With design plans completed, a major new addition to the UT-Baptist Research Park is now targeted for groundbreaking this fall. The $22 million Memphis Specialized Operations Lab will be a 26,000-square-foot facility that will be used for research and development for biotechnology companies trying to get products approved by the FDA. Construction should take 14 to 16 months including time for commissioning, or testing and balancing air-handling equipment and making sure the building operates up to standards – a critical step for bioscience laboratories.

Jimmie Tucker is Managing Principal and Co-Founder of Self + Tucker Architects. The firm’s slogan is “Designing a Better Memphis” and STA has successfully designed numerous projects, such as the National Civil Rights Museum, the Stax Museum and Academy and the College Park, Uptown and Heritage Landing Hope VI projects that have had a positive impact on the City of Memphis.

Local business leaders are hoping to turn a productive business briefing into definitive benefits for the Memphis business community. More than 30 local business leaders traveled to Washington, D.C. on Feb. 3 to participate in a Business Leader Briefing at the White House as part of the White House’s Business Leader Briefing Series. The series selects business people from various cities to interact with administration officials about issues including health care reform implementation, infrastructure development and access to capital.

WASHINGTON – Today is “Memphis Day” at the White House. Obama Administration officials scheduled a four-hour briefing for 28 Memphis-area business leaders – no politicians – to offer guidance but also to engage in an exchange of ideas about what the federal government can do to move the economic agenda forward, according to an administration official speaking on background. The discussion was informed by a survey completed by the Bluff City business leaders that told the White House they were most interested in workforce development, infrastructure and innovation, the official said.

Choosing a new name, finding a more focused direction and meeting a looming deadline for federal grant money were the objectives of a public meeting on Monday to present ideas for the Memphis Heritage Trai Redevelopment Project.

The project area is bound by Beale Street on the north, Main Street on the west, Crump Boulevard on the south and Manassas Street on the east. It includes significant African-American historical and cultural sites from Robert R. Church Park, Beale Street, the National Civil Rights Museum, the Universal Life Insurance building and Clayborn Temple.

The Memphis Heritage Trail Redevelopment Plan captures the ‘Story’ by promoting Heritage Tourism as means of cultural and economic revitalization. The proposed redevelopment area includes four major neighborhoods of downtown Memphis: the South CBID, the Downtown Core, the Medical District and the South Memphis. The goal is to revitalize the physically distressed areas of housing and community by rebuilding the infrastructure and linking individual cultural components together in the celebration of the past. Healthy neighborhood practices and sustainable development are key in future development.

Memphis Heritage Trail comprehensive planning effort brings together numerous organizations and individuals who want to contribute to transforming Memphis into a rich cultural hub of the South. Our client, the City of Memphis Housing and Community Development (HCD), headed by Director Robert Lipscomb, in this planning effort promote cultural and economic development by encouraging business partnerships, creating opportunities for financing and grants, and advancing education through arts and culture. STA is pleased to take the lead in this important master plan and major transformation effort. We encourage the community to step forward and participate in this celebration of our past.

The proposed renovation of the Universal Life Insurance Building is a unique project in which a historic building is to be preserved and restored utilizing the latest in environmental design and technology.  Self + Tucker Architects has approached the revitalization of this historic building as an opportunity to show leadership in green design by pursuing LEED Core & Shell Certification for their future offices and design studio.  Approximately 80% of the building also will be leased to other tenants.

The Universal Life Insurance Company building is a three-story 33,000 square foot office building designed in the Egyptian Revival style.  It was built in 1949 by the architectural firm of McKissack & McKissack of Nashville. This building housed the national headquarters of the Universal Life Insurance Company.  Because of the prominence of the site, the Universal Life Insurance Company erected a notable free-standing, post-mounted neon sign at the intersection, which has itself, become a local landmark.

Inferno has been awarded three platinum and three gold awards from the 2011 MarCom Awards, an international competition honoring excellence and creativity in marketing and communications.

The agency also was recognized with two honorable mentions.

Mayor Mark H. Luttrell, Jr. appointed the Green Building Task Force to conduct an extensive review of local building codes and relevant technical codes to identify existing regulatory or administrative obstacles to green building, sustainable development, and adaptive reuse. The Task Force, which held its first meeting on September 20, 2011, is comprised of architects, designers, builders, developers, construction project managers, and other interested parties. Self+Tucker Architects is serving as consultant and will assist the Task Force in conducting a best-practices review of existing model green building codes, making recommendations for the local adoption of a model green building code, and looking at any barriers in the development process.

Inferno has received a Best in Show Award from the 2011 Davey Awards for its work for the Recording Academy.

In addition to the top honor, inferno also received one Gold Award and five Silver Awards, which represent seven clients in a broad array of categories.

In the wake of the Great Recession, one local architecture firm is maintaining its focus of designing a better Memphis. Self+Tucker Architects was founded in 1995 by Juan Self and Jimmie Tucker. Overtime, the firm at 505 Tennessee St. has grown to a staff of 20, including eight registered architects. The full-service firm offers architecture-related services from planning to interior design. Its body of work includes the Stax Museum, Stax Music Academy, FedExForum and the National Civil Rights Museum.

Self + Tucker Architects’ sustainable PHILOSOPHIES/PROJECTS are featured in Shades of Green Tennessee, a fine book by Panache Partners. The publication features vivid photographs and interesting editorial celebrating the state’s most earth-friendly businesses and practices. The exquisite coffee-table book includes a foreword by the United States Green Building Council, Tennessee.

Self + Tucker Architects is proud to announce that founding partner and managing principal, Jimmie Tucker, was recently featured in Memphis Business Quarterly magazine’s “2011 Power Players” issue as a top local business leader. The “MBQ Power Players” is an annual feature that highlights the city’s movers and shakers. The editorial board consists of MBQ staff, along with informed business and community leaders.

In recognizing Jimmie the MBQ highlighted the FedExForum, Stax Museum and Academy along with three Memphis Hope VI sites among significant local projects. Throughout his career Jimmie has remained highly committed to designing and building better communities.

Memphis awning and canopy maker Parasol Awnings recently took first place honors for “new and unusual” and “industrial applications” at the annual convention for the Southwest Industrial Fabrics Association.
The winning project for “new and unusual” is the Family Home Health Agency’s new headquarters, highly visible from Lamar Avenue and Interstate 240. The building’s plan had so many different components that each one had a different name.

Among the modest but mainly well-cared-for homes in the area of Barron and Semmes in Orange Mound, there is a huge blot on the landscape: the abandoned Barronbrook Apartments. That situation soon will change, as city officials and business partners unveiled a $3 million redevelopment of the complex on Tuesday, a strategic move to bolster an old and largely stable area. Half of the dilapidated 200-unit complex will be demolished, leaving a mixed-income development called Melrose Place Apartments.

As a teenager more than 70 years ago, Martha Rogers was baptized at First Baptist Church-Broad in what eventually became the basement but was back then the only floor. Built in 1917, the baptismal pool was under the raised platform at the front of the church where the minister stood to preach. The platform was removed when the church baptized on Sunday afternoons, said Rogers, 93.

After a couple of years of delays, the developers of University Place and Legends Park are ready to break ground on 30 single-family residential lots in the new McKinley Park subdivision near Downtown Memphis. Two model homes were finished in January by builder Populace Homes using designs by Self Tucker Architects, says Community Capital LLC president Archie Willis III. Memphis-based Community Capital is the co-developer of the project along with St. Louis-based development and property management firm McCormack Baron Salazar.

First year Master of Architecture students Jerry Coleman and Mario Walker were among the winners in the Playable10 ART category of the Playable10 International Design Competition for a creative playground in downtown Atlanta. Coleman was the runner-up and Walker received one of two honorable mention awards. The other categories were Playable10 SITE and Playable10 DIY. Both students completed their projects in the graduate architecture design studio taught by James Williamson.

In August, the Department of Architecture opened its Downtown Design Studio in Memphis’ Uptown Neighborhood. The studio is a key element in the department’s community engagement efforts. During fall 2010, fourth-year architecture students in two sections of the Architectural Design 5 Studio, taught by adjunct professors Andy Kitsinger and Jimmie Tucker, worked out of the new space.

The long-awaited renovation of the National Civil Rights Museum will begin this spring with a $1 million first hase that will expand the museum’s introductory gallery and add more than 3,500 square feet of space at the Lorraine Motel site that is currently unused. During the initial phase, the museum’s office and administrative staff will move into a building purchased last year by the J.R. Hyde III Family Foundation at 409 S. Second St. that is currently being renovated. According to a deed filed with the Shelby County Register of Deeds, the property was purchased for $590,000.

Clouds blotted Monday’s sky, but 29 students at the University of Memphis thought mainly about the sun and how to capture it.
These students began what will be a weeklong course from the Tennessee Solar Institute to learn the basics of solar equipment design and installation.

The National Civil Rights Museum (NCRM), located at the Lorraine Hotel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, will undergo an estimated $20 million renovation updating it’s facilities and exhibition spaces.

The demolition of the 460-unit Cleaborn Homes will begin before the end of the year, with construction on a $93 million, 400-unit apartment complex beginning next July. The project, first announced in 2007, is expected to be completed by September 2015.

Self+Tucker Architects, Inc. (STA) is an award winning full service firm offering architecture, interior design, planning, urban design and sustainable design expertise. STA was founded by principals Juan R. Self, AIA, NOMA, CSI and JimmieE.Tucker, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP in 1995.

The 40-year-old Vasco A. Smith Administration Building is getting a long-needed $12 million renovation. The 157,000-square-foot Downtown building houses about 500 Shelby County employees, but has several code and Americans with Disabilities Act issues that must be resolved, as well as an HVAC system with old water pipes that has deteriorated “and is springing leaks all over the place.” “Once we touch it, we have to bring the entire building up to code,” says Cliff Norville, deputy administrator of support services for Shelby County government.

It took four years of patient labor to accumulate enough submissions from individuals to open the Paul R. Williams exhibit at the Art Museum of The University of Memphis. Set to open Sept. 24, the project will continue through Jan. 15, 2011 when it will hit the road as a traveling exhibit.

Before St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital became the sprawling complex of medical buildings in Uptown Memphis, the original facility was more modest, but no less important to the city’s landscape.

As an architect, Kumar believes his major role should be focused on addressing social and environmental needs of the society.

Benson Hall and the Library’s Archival Storage Facility have received certification by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program of the U.S. Green Building Council.

In an attempt to further public knowledge on the life and accomplishments of African American architectural pioneer Paul Revere Williams, the Memphis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the University of Memphis, and the Memphis Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) launched this week The Paul R. Williams Project.

The Memphis and Shelby County Airport Authority unveiled its $89 million Ground Transportation Center Wednesday at the Memphis Hilton.

The seven-story facility at Memphis International Airport will house parking and rental car operations within walking distance of the main terminal.

Self Tucker Architects Inc., Looney Ricks Kiss Architects Inc. and Walker Parking Consultants are designing the facility while Flintco Inc. is the general contractor.

Memphis airport officials unveil plans for ground transportation center that amounts to a new front door for Memphis International Airport. They said the center, which combines passenger parking and rental cars next to the terminal building, will create a dramatic and attractive new first impression for people driving to the airport.

The gala held at the Peabody was designed as a tribute to 50 Memphis-area African-American men. Tri-State Defender breaks ground with first Men of Excellence salute The first edition of the Tri-State Defender is dated Nov. 3, 1951. It came off the presses under the guidance of a man of excellence – Lewis O. Swingler, publisher and editor.

Family Home Health Agency, Inc., a not-for-profit that specializes in providing home health services for homebound patients, is moving into a newly renovated 12,000-square foot, four-story office on Minna Place, between Lamar, Bellevue and I-240.

Archie Willis III, president of financial advising firm Community Capital, had ownership in the home offices of nearly every company he had ever been involved in, so it was a foregone conclusion that he would own Community Capital’s new home.

The dynamics of a bleak economy render a simple equation when applied to the architecture and design industry.

If financing is tight, then fewer construction projects are started. If fewer construction projects are started, then the need for architectural firms to create blueprints and design buildings also diminishes. And if there’s a decreased need for architectural firms, then some companies are forced to cut staff and many more to implement hiring freezes.

The Memphis Housing Authority submitted a HOPE VI grant application requesting $22 million for Cleaborn Homes located in the center of the Memphis Heritage Trail area. The revitalization of Cleaborn Homes will be accomplished by the complete redevelopment of the site, transforming it from dilapidated, outmoded, and expensive to maintain barracks-style public housing into a new neighborhood of elegant, stately, and modern homes and apartments typical of the best neighborhoods in Memphis.

May brought 19 additional firms and 7 new nonprofits into The 1% program. This month brought many firms to the program who had particularly interesting approaches to pro bono work.

NASHVILLE - The State Review Board will meet on Wednesday, May 27, 2009, to examine Tennessee’s ten newest proposed nominations to the National Register of Historic Places.

Before the small army of volunteers was turned loose onto the streets of South Memphis Saturday, they received marching orders from their general.

The Memphis Regional Chamber was recognized by Diversity Memphis with a 2008 Award of Excellence at a ceremony held on Thursday, August 28. Given annually, Diversity Memphis recognizes businesses that are utilizing and promoting diversity and in doing so, strives to make a better community.

Amid the racial and economic tensions of 1957, a humble recording studio was launched in a garage in South Memphis. The music made there soon outgrew its small home and was relocated to the neighborhood’s 1930s Capitol Theater. This was the birthplace of Stax Records, an energetic center for a musical fusion of blues, country, rock and gospel. The Stax splendor lasted until 1975 when the business went bankrupt, but the spirit of the music never died. 

Diversity Developer Incubator, a city-sponsored program designed to train women and minorities to develop significant real estate projects in the city, has resulted in three projects that could give lower-income families or senior citizens new housing options.

Once the home of R&B legends like Isaac Hayes and Earth Wind & Fire, the Soulsville neighborhood saw its share of hard times before the opening of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in 2003.
The next step in the rejuvenation of the neighborhood, located along East McLemore between Neptune and College streets, is construction on the new Towne Center at Soulsville, which will begin later this month.

Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center broke ground at a Feb. 14 ceremony, celebrating the beginning of construction for the new children’s hospital. The 610,000 square foot, 12-story hospital is the largest investment by a non- profit organization in a free-standing facility in Shelby County.

The motto at architecture, planning and interior design firm Self Tucker Architects Inc. is “Designing a Better Memphis.”

Professional Master of Architecture Degree Approved

The Tennessee Higher Education Commission approved the creation of a new professional Master of
Architecture (M.Arch) degree at the University of Memphis at its meeting on 26 July in Nashville.

Picture being in a wheelchair and trying to access a school building 20 years ago. More often than not, getting into the school, let alone navigating through its halls once you were inside, posed significant challenges.

As a local Memphian and native business owner, Jimmie Tucker has watched his Downtown blossom into an economic and cultural hot spot in recent years.

Riding a bike or pushing a metal grocery cart, Jimmie Tucker delivered copies of the Memphis Press-Scimitar to about 100 South Memphians every afternoon from 1965 to 1968. A sixth grader who enjoyed drawing and listening to Memphis soul music from the local recording mecca, Stax Records, Tucker learned the aesthetic nuances of his neighborhood as he made his way down cracked sidewalks on his daily route.

Self Tucker Architects, Inc., plans to renovate the Universal Life Building at Danny Thomas and Linden in a move that will add 20,000 square feet of available office space Downtown.

Hidden beneath the canopy of trees that shades the Evergreen Historic District, something fairly unusual in Midtown Memphis is discreetly taking place. Among some of the city’s oldest homes, architect Jimmie Tucker and his crew are building a brand-new house. Yet the traditional, red-brick three-bedroom residence at 1634 North Parkway is not just a new house.

Winning the opportunity to work on any given project means more to these architects than money or prestige. For Juan Self and Jimmie Tucker of Memphis, each project provides a chance to build a stronger community -  their community. That personal perspective has proven a great formula for their firm’s success.

April 5, 2006—The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis will honor four outstanding architecture alumni at its 13th annual Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner April 6.

A good title for a book about real estate development in Shelby County might be “The Rise and Sprawl of the American Dream.”

Self Tucker Architects Concrete history - Architects to reshape black success symbol to office building - As architects, Juan Self and Jimmie Tucker, principals of Self Tucker Architects, have helped design a host of historic spaces with connections to the city’s rich African-American heritage.

While it’s been nearly 30 years since Elvis Presley left the building for good, his spirit lingers like a beloved house guest all over town. Elvis’ heady essence pervades restaurants like the Arcade, where he occasionally held court in a corner booth, and holds fast to the Midtown theater seats where he’d sit and stare at the silver screen.

This progressive and award-winning architecture, planning and interior design firm celebrated its 10th anniversary on September 18, 2005. A celebration party is planned for Saturday, October 8, 2005 from 6-9 pm at STAX Museum of American Soul Music, 926 E. McLemore Avenue, Memphis, TN 38106

Self Tucker Embraces Diversity, Individuality - You dont have to look far to see the influence of Self Tucker Architects Inc. on Memphis architectural landscape. Several of the city’s most prominent landmarks bear the firms fingerprint, including the refurbished Stax Museum of American Soul Music in South Memphis and FedExForum, the new crown jewel of Downtown Memphis. The firm also has completed work for the National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis International Airport and other high-profile properties and organizations

Self Tucker Architects, Inc. received the Award of Excellence from the Memphis American Institute of Architects for Design of the Expansion of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. The 2002 Design Awards were presented at the AIA Annual Celebration of Architecture Banquet on Saturday, January 25, 2003.

When Memphis-born Jimmie Tucker was a boarding student at the Lawrenceville, New Jersey, he’d take the train into New York City and marvel at the skyline that was “world different from Memphis.” Now he’s back home, 30 years later, to make a mark on the hometown cityscape.