Cambridge Seven Associates, Inc. was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1962 by a group of seven designers with varied interests and backgrounds who believed their collaborative efforts would be far more effective than those of any individual. The original seven partners: Lou Bakanowsky, Ivan Chermayeff, Peter Chermayeff, Alden Christie, Paul Dietrich, Tom Geismar, and Terry Rankine applied their diverse skills in architecture, planning, exhibit design, graphics, industrial design, and filmmaking to create a single design studio founded on the conviction that each assignment, at any scale, would be an opportunity to apply fresh thinking in search of creative solutions. After Alden Christie left the firm, the founders promoted Charles Redmon to Principal in 1970, and he led the C7A design team to complete an affordable housing project in Memphis. Chuck retired from the firm in 2014. As the firm matured and the original founders retired or moved on to pursue different interests, C7A’s current generation of Principals have propelled C7A into the modern age, applying the firm’s collaborative approach to design excellence on several exciting new commissions while carrying forward the ideals that launched the firm more than fifty years ago.
