Jay Marshall Strabala is an American architect who has participated in the design of notable buildings, including as a member of the team that designed the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. However, in June 2011, two of Strabala's former architectural firm employers sued him alleging that he had "misrepresented" his role in various projects, though one of the lawsuits was since dismissed.

Education
Strabala received his bachelor of arts in design from the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1988, Strabala graduated with an Master of Architecture from Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Career
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
After graduating with his master's degree, Strabala worked at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) in Chicago, Illinois, for 19 years. He ultimately was made an associate partner in charge of design.

While at SOM, Strabala served as the studio head under lead architect Adrian Smith in working on the design of Burj Khalifa (Dubai, 2009), which is the tallest building in the world. Strabala also worked under Smith as one of the two studio heads over the course of the project in designing the 828 m. tall Nanjing Greenland Financial Center (Nanjing, China, 2010). Also while at SOM, Strabala participated in the design of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (Hong Kong, 1997).
Strabala left SOM in 2006. In a 2007 interview, Adrian Smith said that Strabala was one of several architects up for partner at SOM who did not make it, in what Smith described as "a power move by the New York office."

Gensler

Houston Ballet Center for Dance

After leaving SOM, Strabala joined the Houston, Texas, office of the architectural firm Gensler in 2006. Strabala has been reported to have led the design of the 128-story Shanghai Tower while at Gensler and to have completed the "bulk of the design work". Gensler, however, claims that the tower is not Strabala's design. According to Gensler in an unsuccessful lawsuit, "Gensler, not (Strabala), is the source of the architectural and design services rendered in designing the Shanghai Tower."

Strabala also has been credited for leading Gensler's efforts in designing Hess Tower (Houston, 2010) and the Houston Ballet Center for Dance (2011). However, Gensler has claimed that "'Gensler, not (Strabala), is the source of the architectural and design services rendered in designing Hess Tower'", and that Strabala was but "'one of many members of that Gensler team'" that designed the Houston Ballet Center for Dance.

Strabala left Gensler in 2010.

Formation of new firm
After leaving Gensler, Strabala started his own architectural firm, 2DEFINE Architecture, with offices in Shanghai, Seoul, and Chicago. According to Strabala, he "continues to be involved in the Shanghai Tower project at the behest of the client".

In 2012, Strabala and 2DEFINE have been assigned to work on the design of the Yingkou Convention and Exposition Center in Yingkou, China, projected to cost $68 million. The project's architect of record and national partner will be the Dalian Urban Planning and Design Institute.

 Lawsuits
In June 2011, Gensler, sued Strabala alleging in a complaint that after founding his own firm Strabala publicly misrepresented his role in several projects while "'intentionally minimizing or entirely omitting the nature of Gensler's contribution.'" Gensler claimed that Strabala's actions violated the Lanham Act and various state laws.

In February 2012, Judge Ronald A. Guzman of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois dismissed Gensler's complaint via Rule 12(b)(6), ruling that the allegations Gensler made against Strabala do not constitute a violation of the Lanham Act or related state law. Gensler has appealed the dismissal.

The day after Gensler sued Strabala, SOM sued Strabala alleging that he was "falsely claiming credit for work that originated with the company, including the designs for three of the 10 tallest buildings in the world."

 Local involvement
In 1999, Strabala, speaking as a private citizen as part of a community group, testified before the Chicago City Council Zoning Committee against a high-rise development at 840 Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois. Strabala lived nearby and was concerned that the high-rise would be "out of scale with the neighborhood". Despite opponents' efforts, and that the project would "flout existing law", the Zoning Committee amended the ordinance allowing the project to proceed even though it contradicted existing zoning ordinances.