JOSEPH STEPHEN CRONK, AIA experienced the traditional architecture of the south through the work of Classicists Phillip Schutze, Neil Reed, and Edward Vason Jones while growing up in Atlanta. This exposure grew into a passion leading to formal training at the University of Florida College of Architecture. Within this modernist curriculum, he expanded his architectural spectrum, but also continued to study the traditional language, focusing on historical preservation. After graduation, Cronk learned the Master-Builder philosophy at The Haskell Company where he held positions in both the architectural and construction management divisions. It was there that he collaborated with his business/design partner Clifford Duch and shared a passion for traditional architecture.
This work led Cronk to complete a Masters of Architecture at The University of Florida with a focus on Historical Preservation. There he developed his interest in Caribbean vernacular architecture and its influences on building and place-making. After graduation, Cronk Duch Architecture was formed in 1997 with Cliff Duch and a talented team of architects and craftsmen. Cronk has participated as a juror at the University of Florida, the University of Miami and the University of Notre Dame. He is also a teaching assistant with The Institute of Classical Architecture & Art Florida Palladio Program,traveling with students and professionals throughout the Veneto region of Northern Italy. He is a past Florida Chapter President and a member the Classical Caribbean committee of the ICAA, which is currently studying the architecture of Havana, Cuba and other colonial cities of the Caribbean Basin.