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Creative Thought Matters defines a Skidmore education, and Gregory Kahn Melitonov 鈥�04 has spent his career proving its power.  

The Skidmore alum is co-founder of Taller KEN, an international architecture practice focused on playful design with social and cultural relevancy. The firm has earned acclaim for its vibrant, socially engaged projects. 

Melitonov returned to campus this spring to speak to students and other Skidmore community members about his unconventional path to architecture at hosted by the .   

Getting his hands dirty  

Melitonov grew up in New York City, immersed in a vibrant art and academic community. Both his parents had careers in the arts, and the private school he attended exposed him to art, art history, and architecture, with trips to Europe. At 16, he ran the school鈥檚 life-drawing club.  

He found Skidmore's approach to learning to be a perfect incubator for creativity.  

鈥淚 was a studio art major who was just getting my hands dirty with anything,鈥� says Melitonov, who received Skidmore鈥檚 Creative Thought Matters Award of Distinction in 2024. 鈥淚 welded furniture, experimented with mathematical paintings, and really explored a range of techniques. My creativity was in the planning and concept work as much as in the execution.鈥� 

As a Skidmore student, Melitonov studied abroad in Rome and Paris. 鈥淭o experience and study in new places and then return to campus with new insight and use all the facilities in Skidmore鈥檚 art program helped me to define what I wanted academically by refreshing my perspective,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something I carry with me today.鈥� 

Melitonov went on to earn his master鈥檚 degree in architecture at Yale University. Completing his graduate studies while the world was still recovering from the Great Recession, Melitonov faced a challenging job market. But an unexpected upside emerged: the Whitney Museum of American Art moved forward with its long-delayed new building to serve as a cultural anchor for Manhattan鈥檚 High Line public park and surrounding neighborhood redevelopment.  

Melitonov landed a coveted spot on architect Renzo Piano鈥檚 team, which designed the Whitney project. He relocated to Genoa, Italy, where he saw up close how vision, craftsmanship, and precision shape large-scale public projects.  

鈥淩enzo鈥檚 office was incredibly international and really good at empowering young people,鈥� Melitonov says. 鈥淚 got to learn what it meant to shepherd a major public building from idea to reality.鈥� 

In Genoa, he also collaborated with fellow young designers on a grassroots public art installation that transformed a neglected overpass into a lively gathering space. T-shirts printed with symbolic graphics were hung like laundry and sold for a euro each, drawing in passersby, sparking dialogue, and fostering unexpected community connections. 

architecture rooted in community 

As the Whitney project neared completion, a colleague invited him to consult on a new Maya museum project in Guatemala. What began as a short-term opportunity evolved into something more profound.  

He found inspiration in the layering of ancient traditions, Spanish colonial architecture, and contemporary cultural movements. The experience reshaped his understanding of architecture as something participatory and inclusive, grounded in cultural empathy and grassroots engagement. 

His vision became the foundation of , established in 2013. One project that remains a favorite is a 4,500-square-foot caf茅 and event space along Guatemala鈥檚 busiest highway, where a 50-foot-tall cube clad in colorful car chassis turned a utilitarian site into a bold public statement.  

鈥淭he entire space was conceived to reflect a playful, yet critical approach to urban sprawl and sustainability,鈥� Melitonov says. 

Taller KEN鈥檚 nonprofit arm, the FUNdaMENTAL Design Build Initiative, further extends its mission by envisioning architecture as a grassroots collaboration. Through immersive internships, young designers team up with local residents to co-create public installations using donated or reclaimed materials. The results: projects like a vibrant arts hub built in a disused Guatemala City parking lot and a modular theater platform fostering cultural exchange at Mexico鈥檚 southern border. 

鈥淲e call them fireworks 鈥� big, bold, and temporary 鈥� meant to spark conversation and community connections,鈥� Melitonov said of the initiative. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about breaking down top-down models and co-creating something meaningful with and for the community.鈥� 

鈥淚t was such a pleasure to see an accomplished former student from the Department of Art share how his undergraduate studies at Skidmore have developed into an architecture career that brings inventive solutions to the design of public spaces,鈥� says Assistant Professor of Art Samantha Haedrich, who attended the event at the Tang Teaching Museum. 鈥淕regory鈥檚 work shows what an important impact that studio art majors can have in shaping and re-imagining the places and communities we inhabit.鈥� 

Looking back, Melitonov credits Skidmore鈥檚 interdisciplinary focus and Creative Thought Matters ethos as a wellspring for his career. He says: 鈥淚t鈥檚 gratifying to look back over 20 years and see how foundational my time at Skidmore has been to the artistic side of my practice.鈥�