World-traveled architect's interests range from anthropology to building design

Jim Kalinski saw more of the world while growing up than most people see in a lifetime.

One of four children of a father working in government service, the California native spent years 2 through 7 in Spain, then five years in Aurora, Colorado, and the last five years of his childhood in Germany, where he attended a high school for children of U.S. government employees and service men and women.

But of all the places he had been, apparently Colorado made the biggest impression not only on Jim, but on his brother, sister and mother, who live here also.

Yet before he discovered his true home and career - architecture - in Boulder, Jim took a detour to pursue an interest he thought might lead to a career, earning a degree in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania

"It was really archaeology - a branch of anthropology - that interested me," he says. "I had visited Mesa Verde and other places in southwest. It's kind of like CSI (crime scene investigation), only of branches of civilization. I still find it compelling, but it's hard to make a living at it."

Jim was enticed to move to Colorado to earn a master's degree in geology - another interest of his - at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and because his brother, RE/MAX of Boulder Inc. Owner/Broker Tom Kalinski, was already living here.

Colorado also had a few other attractive characteristics, such as great weather and outdoor activities including backpacking and canoeing, and "of course, the geology is very well exposed here in Colorado," Jim says.

But it didn't take long before his brother had him learning how to oversee building projects, and Jim discovered a new interest. After a year and a half of graduate school, Jim left the study of geology and went into construction full time.

"I worked with a couple of other builders early on and learned from them," Jim says, noting he did some hands-on work, as well. "It evolved over time into mostly managing as the projects got bigger and bigger.

"Eventually I decided I enjoyed the design side more than the brain-damage side of construction management and got a degree in architecture," he says.

Jim earned a master's degree in architecture from the University of Colorado at Denver in 1990 and worked with a couple of other firms to earn his license before starting Left Hand Design Group LLC in the early 1990s.

"It's creative and every job is different; (architecture is) art and science combined, and that's kind of nice," he says. "It's challenging and constantly changing; you're working with different people all the time. There are a lot of fun things about it."

Having a brother in Boulder who was already established in real estate and who "dabbles" in development also helped get his firm off the ground.

"It's always harder when you get started until you make some connections and build up some relationships," Jim says.

Just as his career in architecture was beginning, Jim married his wife, Kim, in 1990. A few short years later, they became parents of now 14-year-old twins, Quinn and Amy.

Jim says while his children haven't had the same opportunity to live abroad as he did growing up, he hopes to take them to see more of the world than what they have already with trips to Canada and Mexico.

"I think it is important to see how the rest of the world lives; it helps to keep your own life in perspective," he says.

For him, his experiences as a child as well as an adult - he has returned to Europe a couple of times, and traveled to Canada, Mexico and around the U.S. - have helped him in life as well as in his work as an architect.

"I guess living all around has made me realize that there are a lot of good ideas and a lot of different ways of doing things," he says. "Of course, it's helpful to have firsthand exposure to some of the great classic architecture - Greek, Roman, Renaissance, Modern - of the world and I'm sure it has influenced me."

Left Hand designed the Flats, a multifamily residential project on 28th Street across from the CU Events Center, as well as numerous other local projects and homes. Jim jokes, "I'll design anything for money."

Left Hand Design LLC is located at 1526 Spruce, #201, in Boulder. Call (303) 447-2926 or e-mail lefthanddesign@1526spruce.com.