Moto has been featured in various prominent publications, including The New York Times, Dwell, and the internationally renowned Italian publication, The Plan.
PHILADELPHIA, PA, February 12, 2024 /24-7PressRelease/ — Adam Montalbano, AIA, has been included in Marquis Who’s Who. As in all Marquis Who’s Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
As a Founding Partner and Managing Director of Moto Designshop, a progressive architecture and interior design firm with contemporary craft at its core, Mr. Montalbano ensures the mission and vision of the studio is met across each project, ranging from residential to commercial, to spaces of mixed-use, higher education, and public, cultural, and institutional.
At its inception, Moto Designshop was a design-build development company, focused on bringing their own residential projects to market. As the company progressed, Mr. Montalbano and his co-founder Roman Torres, expanded the company to work with single-family homeowners. As their influence in the industry burgeoned, the partners made a strategic shift to add a new partner, Eric Oskey, and expand into the commercial market, ultimately specializing in the delivery of highly detailed, design focused, contemporary projects across a range of types and scales.
Moreover, the firm seamlessly balances its higher-end design work with impactful community projects. Through their collaboration with a local real estate developer, they contribute to the creation of approximately 100 affordable homes annually through Philadelphia’s Turn-The-Key program, simultaneously rebuilding the city’s workforce housing stock, while promoting long-term wealth generation through home ownership. Each project Moto has undertaken since its establishment nearly two decades ago, begins with an investigation into the contextual identity of place, as well as the values of its clients in order to provide design solutions executed with a practical elegance and human-centered resilience. It is this investigative process which has yielded the diverse range of compelling work for which the firm is known.
Over the twenty-year history of the firm, Moto has won extensive awards for design excellence. Recently, they accepted the honor of the 2023 Architecture Firm Award, given by the American Institute of Architects (AIA Pennsylvania), adding to their already impressive array of awards and media coverage, including winner of the Residential Architect Design Award by Architect Magazine in 2022, an AIA Philadelphia Gold Medal in 2022, and an AIA Philadelphia Silver Medal in 2019 both for the St. Joseph’s University Arrupe Hall project, among many others. Additionally, Moto has been featured in various prominent publications, including The New York Times, Dwell, and the internationally renowned Italian publication, The Plan.
Prior to the establishment of Moto Designshop in 2004, Mr. Montalbano initiated his architectural journey during high school by gaining valuable, early experience with several architecture firms solidifying his passion for the field and providing him with clarity in his collegiate and career pursuits. He attended Lehigh University, where he held the role of assistant curator at the university’s art galleries throughout his undergraduate years, which broadened his eye for design. Upon graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in architecture and a minor in architectural history, Mr. Montalbano applied his talents working as an architect in New York City before gaining his Master of Architecture degree the University of Pennsylvania.
During his graduate studies, at the age of 25, Mr. Montalbano went on to co-found Moto Designshop, underscoring his entrepreneurial spirit, dedication to craft, and astute business acumen. As an architect, he is licensed in the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards and the American Institute of Architects, where he also holds membership. In 2017, Mr. Montalbano was honored with the Young Architect Award by AIA Philadelphia, recognizing his exceptional achievement and future promise as an architect.
While exposure has certainly played a role in Mr. Montalbano’s success, a key driver lies in having co-built a company that demonstrates a strong conviction for design in its mission and approach. Moto Designshop’s distinct body of work resonates with many individuals, thereby offering its clients a unique experience, which sets the firm apart from others in the industry. Beyond the success of his company, Mr. Montalbano derives a great sense of accomplishment from the alternative approach he and his partners undertook in shaping their firm.
By embarking on their own projects without pre-existing clients, Mr. Montalbano and his partners patiently and gradually built their clientele over time based on sheer quality of work and the positive reputation that ensued. Witnessing the evolution and recognition of Moto Designshop, along with the trust and belief it has garnered over time from not only their clients but the broader community, stands to be one of the most rewarding aspects of Mr. Montalbano’s career to date. The journey to this success not only validated the unorthodox approach he took along with his partners, but also showcased their innovation, adaptability, and proficiency in tackling diverse architectural challenges and projects of various types and scales.
As the company continues to progress in notoriety, Mr. Montalbano envisions sustained growth for his studio. He and his team remain driven to explore even more ambitious endeavors and hope to consistently push the boundaries of project scale and sophistication. Looking ahead, he aspires to expand the firm’s intimate team of ten in an effort to enhance the studio’s capacity and skill set and continue to take on increasingly impactful projects across the country and ultimately, internationally.
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