Seattle, Washington, United States
A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and the United States Green Building Council, Bert serves as a strategic design consultant on select, mission focused, urban design and architectural projects. Bert’s design leadership has resulted in four AIA COTE Top 10 Green Project awards, two ASLA National Honor Awards, an AIA National Honor Award for Regional & Urban Design, and the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Award of Excellence. Under his 15-year leadership as Mithun’s CEO, the firm was honored with over 165 design awards and was named to the top 15 of all US design firms by Architect Magazine. In 2017 he received the AIA Seattle Gold Medal, the chapter's highest honor, recognizing distinguished lifetime achievement in architecture. In recognition to a firm that has consistently produced distinguished architecture for at least 10 years; Mithun was honored with the 2023 AIA Architecture Firm Award. Bert serves as an international leader, speaker and advocate for sustainable building and urbanism, with lectures in Beijing, Jerusalem and Sarajevo. His research initiatives include leading a carbon accounting effort for Seattle’s 2040 regional growth “Reality Check,” one of the first web-based materials carbon calculators, buildcarbonneutral.org, in collaboration with the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Washington; and the “Model Resilient Zoning Code with Equity,” formulated with Vivian Loftness of Carnegie Mellon and Alasdair McGregor of ARUP, and a R+D project with Mithun on above grade power line housing capacity impact; "Wired to Eliminate Housing." He served as Co-Chair of the ULI's Climate, Land Use and Energy Advisory Committee, Vice Chair of USGBC LEED® for Neighborhood Development committee, advisor to the National Building Museum’s Intelligent Cities Initiative, and as faculty of the EcoDistrict Institute. Bert has served on the Forterra Board of Directors as Chair, the ULI Building Healthy Places Advisory Committee, the AIA Design and Health Leadership Group, the Global EcoDistricts Protocol Advisory Committee, the Clinton Climate Initiative’s Project Review Committee, and the Cascadia Congress of the Living Future Institute. He is active in the ULI TOD Council, the AIA, the USGBC, biophilic design, climate issues, and currently serves as a Planning Commissioner for the City of Manzanita, Oregon, the Historic Seattle Council, and the ULI NW Strategic Oversight Committee on Sound Transit Joint Development. Specialties: Resilience, Sustainable Design, Transit Oriented Design, Mixed Use, Urban Design, Integrated Design
Mithun’s architects, landscape architects, urban designers, planners, and interior designers are working to inspire a sustainable world and positive change through leadership, innovation and integrated design.
After several years as a student at the College of Environmental Design at the University of Colorado, nature and the beautiful crystal white ski slopes under the blue sky beckoned. I took an extended break to manage several ski shops for a few years. When I realized I wanted to go back into architecture, after considering several institutions, I chose Montana State University in Bozeman, which allowed me the important connection to nature, as well as both ski and focus on advancing my skills in the theory and practice of architecture.