When it comes to contemporary style being introduced to New Orleans, his is the name that is being penciled in on everyone’s short list. Locals consider this 30-something developer, a visionary entrepreneur who is tapping into design elements that unite traditional architecture with daring futuristic themes. The man in question is Sean Cummings, President of Ekistics, Inc., a real estate development company. Even the given name of his company suggests something of who Sean is as a person. The word ekistics literally means "of settlements" or, says Cummings, "the study of where and why people live where they do in an urban setting."

For this developer, understanding the where and why of urban life is not just an interest, it’s a passion. Described by his peers as someone making an unprecedented impact on contemporary New Orleans, Cummings remains curiously aloof from the frenetic pace of city life, socializing mostly with his family and closest friends. Once introduced as "the simple Buddhist real estate developer," Cummings combines a contagious entrepreneurial spirit with abiding social conscience.

Sean Cummings graduated summa cum laude in 1987 from Brown University with a degree in Urban Studies and Economics. It was at Brown, during a stint at the London School of Economics and during summers working for a lower-income neighborhood development foundation, that Cummings discovered a passion for sounds, sights and rich sense of community of the urban environment. This became the foundation for any of his future accomplishments.

Now, nearly fifteen years later, a Sean Cummings renaissance for New Orleans is surely underway. However, not wanting to be a temporary challenge for New Orleanians and visitors, he mirrored the signature components of New Orleans that sets this city apart from others.

This young master of the twenty-first century began to make his mark in 1987, when he joined the team with his father, attorney and part-time developer John Cummings. In the years that followed, Sean began to take on more responsibility and to re-building historic places with a simple philosophy: low over-head projects that marry the need for upscale habitat with the promise to make the barest modifications. Ekistics, Inc. "took off running" in the Central Business District and a select neighborhood called the Warehouse, developing Soho style lofts in an area without all the trimmings and stylish character of the Garden District.

Many of the residential properties in the warehouse district were originally erected around the turn of the century and were previously used for commercial activity. Throughout the process of restoration and conversion of these properties, much attention has been given to the original function of each structure, allowing each to tell its own unique story.

"I just love cities, the energy of great cities," says Cummings, "and in these buildings I think that somehow we all find comfort in a sense of human ‘connection’ with those who have come before us, those here today and those who will come after us. Our approach is much like Wright’s notion of ‘organic architecture’ designed to rise naturally and appropriately from the time, place, and people it is intended to serve or Rossi’s similar idea of the ‘urban artifact,’ which brings in far more than the physical building via a connection to general human life. People respond to the buildings because in them they discover authentic and imaginatively designed spaces that celebrate life. It is a spiritual practice for us, and I think that people respond to it." Cummings’ friend and architect for the project, Brooks Graham, describes Cummings "arguably the most brilliant developer of his generation."

In fact, most of the innovative interior designs, lighting, and timely furnishings owe much to the revelation of Brooks Graham. "I cannot take credit for discovering him," Sean says. "I don’t want people to just see me, but to think of Brooks as an integral part of the concept. My friend’s renewed interest was apparent in the exceptional quality maintained during the building of our first official project together, despite the volume of projects he takes on during the course of a year."

Adding to Sean Cummings’ reputation is one of the most the most talked about re-developments this year in New Orleans. Cummings’ overhaul of the legendary International House, the first world trade center in America, was a project shrouded in mystery. Although Cummings worked mostly behind the scenes, the clarity and authority of his imagination is unmistakable. Sean is nothing short of a perfectionist and task-master when it comes to executing precise instructions. And as a result of this singular focus, International House opened its doors to the public in September 1998, the most intriguing hotel of its kind for New Orleans, if not all of North America.

Industry observers were impressed with the exacting standards and scholarship (Cummings and Graham amassed volumes of data their research of interior design and architecture of Louisiana homes and buildings). Indeed, the 119-room boutique hotel would no present the details it showcases today without the contributions of the New Orleans and Louisiana arts communities, from furniture makers, artisans, and vendors to partners and advisors in interior decoration. Magazines such as Conde Nast Traveler, Metropolitan Home, Food & Wine, Travel Holiday, and Travel & Leisure immediately took notice of the native New Orleans style historically correct color schemes. And despite a decade of repetitive, over-the-top contemporary looks of other boutique properties, Cummings’ says he will never allow International House to become a cliché. "International House celebrates the soulful essence of New Orleans," he says. But beyond that, the hotel is a romantic testimony to one man’s affection for his native city.

In April, 2002, Cummings opened the first all-loft hotel, Loft 523, around the corner from International House in the Central Business District. Housed in an old carriage and dry-goods warehouse, the space has been converted into 18 lofts (3 of which are penthouses) with 12-foot ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, ceiling fans, and architectural details kept from the original structure. The hotel’s wireless/cableless 3mg Internet access system allows guests to stay connected anywhere throughout the hotel and bar. At the same time, a high-tech state-of-the-art conference center was opened across the street from International House, to serve both properties. It, too, boasts high-speed wireless internet access, with uninterrupted connection for guests walking the short distance from Loft 523 to the conference center.

Cummings allows only one interruption from his professional and family life and that is active participation in the education of the less unfortunate and the homeless. He has been a Big Brother since 1987 and co-runs Aid for the Homeless, New Orleans based volunteer organization which feeds more than 250 homeless people each week, conducts summer camp each June for critically ill children, and pays tuition for academically talented, but financially disadvantaged inner-city children. Sean also coaches a basketball team in one of New Orleans public housing developments. Says Cummings of these efforts, "I am blessed and it seems obvious to me that a life service, in whatever form, is the life we are each meant to live. Whether creating a unique hotel or teaching someone to shoot a better jump shot, I try to model this belief and help, if only in a small way, to make New Orleans a better place in which to live."