About Us | Able City

To contribute meaningfully, the profession and practice of architecture needs to pledge to fulfill a purpose beyond the production of buildings.
able city staff
Viviana Frank
Partner/Co-founder
able city logo architecture urbanism city making

Able City is a South Texas-based, majority-bilingual family of architects, designers, planners, economic developers, writers, and community engagement specialists, committed to connecting people with  the kinds of places and policies designed to bring everyone in.

Our Shared Value Proposition

The built environment has a high purpose, it can provide better social, environmental, and economic outcomes in the lives of citizens.  We named the company Able City because in two words it describes what cities should do; be able to serve the whole citizen. 

The company’s corporate purpose is to advance the quality of life and place that citizens for a more just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive society want in the built environment through the practice of architecture, planning, and economic development.

c. 1978

Able City’s predecessor firms (Turner Hickey Architects and Frank Architects) began practicing in 1978 and 1990 respectively, where for forty years they brought architecture toward the work of building longstanding community partnerships.

 

 In 2016, Able City officially folded in the specialized planning, city-making, and economic development services that have come to define its industry-leading design approach.  

2018

Able City opened its headquarters in San Antonio to serve as a central location for the communities we serve around South Texas. The office on Broadway joined the Laredo office on Victoria St, which, as a converted tire store, is an in-house example of the opportunities for sustainability made possible by rehabilitation and reuse. 

2020

Able City dedicated its third office, following the beginning of a major city-making, architecture, and planning project in the Rio Grande Valley. Across our three offices and four service areas, Able City’s work has always come back to one shared value initiative.

CityMakery is Able City’s non-profit affiliate. The core expertise of CityMakery is to help communities develop quality of life from the ground up, empowering citizens to advocate for their own diverse, equitable, accessible, livable, and sustainable cities.

 

CityMakery is the solution-builder for citizens — through a methodical path of discovery and definition, we help them assemble a community of like-minded individuals driven toward a common goal. CityMakery works from either end, helping city governments and other public entities implement the policy and programs the citizens have defined for their city. 

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