What do you think of Stratum

http://www.myfonts.com/search?search%5Btext%5D=stratum

You might like one of the contemporary sans designs at Village!
In reverse chronological order...

Arrival by Keith Tam at Type Initiative

Galaxie Polaris by Village

Auto by Underware

Section by Greg Lindy at Lux Typographics

Apex Sans from Thirstype

Mostly neutral, some stylistically-interesting but not over-the-top designs in there.

Klavika
FF Max
Neo Sans

I don’t know if you would be interested in my Align typeface posted here in the critique area:

http://typophile.com/node/15626

ChrisL

Alexander, you should work with a graphic design studio on this.
That would add credibility to your proposal.
I was impressed by Alexander Isley's presentation at this year's TypeCon.
Someone like that.

Neo Tech

Actually, Chris, I think your Now Sans (and its classically proportioned caps) would be a great choice.

http://typophile.com/node/16147

Thanks Mark. I was not sure what Pincus meant by "super contemporary" so I thought the classic proportions of Now might not be what he wanted.

ChrisL

Similar to Propane is Infinity by Thirstype, but I think Apex Sans would be a much better choice, especially for what is probably a long proposal. It's more "professional" than Infinity, but still has the contemporary feel I think you want. It is possible that I see Apex Sans as architecty due to it's use by thirst in a series of posters for IIT's series of lectures on architecture. I stole (uh, aquisitioned?) one of them and hung it over my desk so I could gaze at it. So my vote is for Apex Sans.

small examples
another one

Isn't it funny how we use ambiguous words like professional and contemporary and expect that we know what the other means? Because I don't even know what I mean by them.

I agree with Nick. Hire a graphic designer.
If you know enough to know what you don't know, then you also know that they will know what you don't know. But, by combining what they know and you know, you're more likely to win the bid.

Contemporary, rounded corners:

Vista Sans by Xavier Dupré:
FF Strada by Albert Pinggera

Wow! a Guggenheim museum in Mexico, I didn't know... I was born in Guadalajara so I'll be gald to visit and enjoy it.

FF Signa may be what you are looking for, designed by Ole Søndergaard based in Danish architectural lettering but modulated to do good work on body text. It has a good range of weights and widhts so you can use it for headers as well.

Héctor

Héctor,

I had not seen Signa before. It is VERY nice! Thanks for the link!

ChrisL

Among sans faces, Simian is in the same sort of space as Section, and very stylish. The display versions are a bit weird, but the text versions might work for you.

More self-conscious but very well done is Cholla, which I saw used here in Washington DC at the Hirschhorn Gallery. Also a bit along the self-conscious line, but which I like better is Amplitude, which, like Simian is by Christian Schwartz.

Jeremy Tankard's Aspect is both both architectural and avant-garde.

If you like stuff that is somehow both modern and Baroque you will go nuts over Storm's faces

You might try Fedra Sans. It is part of a very comprehensive family, including two serifs, condensed, alternates and even a monospaced face, making it great for a rich identity.

Alexander, do hire a graphic designer, but since they usually know little about the intricacies of type, tell him to: see/use this thread; and to seriously consider what I think will work really well for you: AF-Generation by Dirk Wachowiak. It goes from round to sharp and light to dark and IIRC narrow to wide - so you can choose exactly what you need, and maybe even mix them depending on things like size, background etc. It's really a uniquely versatile design.

http://www.fontfactory.com/search.php?search=1&mode=0&search_text=genera...

http://www.acmefonts.net/

BTW, that new Gugi doesn't look "Modern" at all... and that's a compliment!

hhp

Fishmonger (hate the name!) is another ridiculously complete sans with a modern feel.

http://www.suitcasetype.com/page.php?lmut=en&section=font&font=fishmonger

I am looking for a sans serif font that could best be described as Franklin Gothic with a modern edge. I'll probably use Fedra but something about it isnt 100% right for this job.
Any suggestions would be welcome...

Architects think they can 'graphic design' and graphic designers think they can 'architect'. It's normal. Some can do both, of course. Most of us can't, but are too stubborn to admit it. ;0)

Like the graphic for the new Gugi and am impressed that an architect is even asking for help -- most of the ones I work with think they know more about graphic design than graphic designers.

I'll add my reco for Signa -- I think it's a superb font for this use.

Cheers
LInda