He is president of Topografis, an urban design and planning firm based in Chicago. Previously he was an Associate Partner with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in Chicago. In his 15-year career he has led town planning, mixed-use urban infill, and large-scale master planning projects. With his training in landscape architecture, Kindel strongly emphasizes environmental systems in his projects. His work has been honored with seven national design awards from the American Institute of Architects, the Urban Land Institute, and the Congress for New Urbanism.