Shigeru Ban was born in Tokyo Japan but studied at the Southern California Institute of Architecture and the Cooper Union School of Architecture. He has previously taught at Columbia University and currently teaches at Keio University in Japan. In 1996 he office Shigeru Ban Architects was awarded the Kansai Architect Grand Prize. Ban focuses much of his design services to underserved communities throughout the globe. He is well known for his paper tube architecture structures and has been a major force in the efforts to help house refugees after such disasters as the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 and Hurricane Katrina.
office | designboom | archrecord | time | wiki


Bryan Bell is one of the modern pioneers of socially conscious design and the founder of Design Corps, a practice dedicated to providing architectural services to promote positive change in communities. Bell, an architect, author and activist, holds degrees from both Yale and Princeton. He previously taught at the Auburn Rural Studio in Alabama and currently serves as a visiting faculty member at North Carolina State Universty.
work | metropolis1 | metropolis2 | newraleigh | book





Phil Bernstein is currently the Vice President of Autodesk and Professor at the Yale School of Architecture. He was formerly a principal at Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and a magna cum laude graduate from Yale. Phil is one of the forerunners of computer technology in the design field. He is a senior fellow of the Design Futures Council and former chair of the AIA National Documents Committee.
yale | autodesk | archrecord | secondlife | quote






Peter Bohlin is a seasoned architect who started his firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (BCJ) 42 years ago which has since grown to a practice of 150 people in six cities. His office is well known today for their work designing the flagship Apple Stores.
office | AD100 | bio |newsweek | apple 5th ave store








Joe Brown is the Chief Executive Officer of EDAW as well as CEO of AECOM”S global planning, design, and development group. He has a Masters of Science in Landscape Architecture and Urban Design from Harvard University. He often writes for Urban Land, Metropolis and Landscape Architecture.
office | allbusiness | worldlandscapearchitect







David Byrne is the founding member of the famed rock group the Talking Heads. Before the succes of his musical career, he attended the Rhode Island School of Design where he studied art. Unimpressed with art school, David traveled around the United States exploring different musical opportunities. Today, beyond his array of musical endeavors he has becom very involved with civic planning and design. He recently worked with Lance Armstrong and Mayor Bloomberg to create “Summer Streets Day,” a day dedicated to car-free streets in New York City.
website | wired | designboom | wired | NYCbikeracks | wiki




Sway grew up in Oakland, California where he started out staging breakdance and rap shows. After much fan-fare for his ability to find musical talent he took a position with MTVnews. He has since continued to produce, make and promote music while becoming a major personality for the MTV network. He's been a longtime champion of the Choose or Loose campaign which has helped educate and register millions of inner city voters.
bio | wiki | video





John Cary is the Executive Director of Public Architecture. His organization is a major advocate for pro bono design work and the 1% solution which seeks to collect one percent of all design offices' services to then provide back to their local community at no fee. John has a long history of progressive work relating to architectural education and practice leading back to his days when he co-founded Archvoices.org with Casius Pealer. John and key interviewee, John Peterson together were named Designers of the Year for 2009 from Contract Magazine for their work with Public Architecture.
office | 1% solution | archvoices | video | award



Maurice Cox is currently the Director of Design for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). He is also a professor, an architect, and former Mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia. He currently teaches community based architecture at the University of Virginia. Maurice's honors include being the recipient of the Loeb Fellow from Harvard University as well as the John Hejduk Award for Architecture.
UVa | NEA | metropolis1 | article | architectmag






Kenneth Frampton is a revered architect, professor, critic and historian who currently works at Columbia University. Mr. Frampton was a great source to discuss the historic evolution of the profession of architecture and where the architect sits in today's society. His depth of experience in academia and critical perspective on the profession proved invaluable in his commentary for the documentary.
Modern Architecture | Le Corbusier | Studies in Tectonic Culture | wiki






It goes without saying that Zaha Hadid and her firm Zaha Hadid Architects is one of the most well known architects of our time. She is the first and only female winner of the Pritzker Prize, architecture's highest achievement. Zaha was originally born in Iraq and currently lives in London where she has her own practice. She was once heavily criticized for not having built work, but has gone on to play a significant role in expanding the boundaries of our built environment. Hadid recently teamed up with Chanel and the fashion industry and produced an innovative mobile exhibit in major cities around the world including a stop in New York's Central Park.
office | designmuseum | guardian | inhabitat |wiki | chanel exhibit


Jim is an extremely well known author and critic of the American suburban lifestyle and its impact upon the national and global environment to be sustained by the finite resource of oil. He is best known for his books The Geography of Nowhere, a history of American suburbia and urban development, and The Long Emergency, where he delves into the decline in oil production and its pressure to force Americans to live in smaller scale, regionally dependent communities. His interview provided a fiery perspective of outside criticism to the insular architectural establishment and their continued lack of self-evaluation for what he considers a professionally induced and ignorant global tipping point.
kunstler.com | wiki | TEDtalk | Geography of Nowhere

Steve is currently the acting President of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) and has a long been a promoter of a more diversified profession. The son of a founding member of the organization and architect, Steve has had design in his blood since birth. He has been a Loeb Fellow at Harvard's Graduate School of Design and has led many forums on race within the profession of Architecture and mentoring tomorrow's generation of leaders.
NOMA message | Q&A | GSD forum





Thom Mayne is the co-founder of the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) and the Santa Monica-based studio Morphosis. He is the 2005 recipient of the Pritzker Prize and the 2001 recipient of the Chrysler Design Award. One of the recently establish elite firms in the world, Mayne's work has long been seen as too progressive. Though with many recent completed work such as the San Francisco Federal Building and Caltrans Headquarts in LA, his practice is
office | slate | archinect | TEDvideo | CharlieRose | wiki





Toshiko Mori is the founder of the New York based design firm, Toshiko Mori Architect. She has previously taught at Columbia University, Yale University and was the Chair of the Department of Architecture at Harvard University. She is currently working on a publication titled, Textile Tectonic in Architecture and is an advisor for A+U Magazine. Mori has been awarded the Cooper Union Inaugural John Hejduk Award and the Academy Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
office | harvard | cooperhewitt |archidose | book




John Peterson is the founder of Peterson Architects as well as Public Architecture, which is a organization dedicated to providing design services with the public interest in mind. John attended the Rhode Island School of Design for undergrad and went on to become a Loeb Fellow at the Harvard School of Design. His expertise include mixed-use development, institutional design, and private residential architecture.
office | sfgate | bostonglobe | award1 | award2






Joe Riley has been Mayor of Charleston, South Carolina for 33 years. He is responsible for creating the Mayor’s Institute of City Design (MICD) and has received many awards including the Thomas Jefferson Award, the J.C. Nishols Prize for Visionay Development, as well as the President’s Award. He has played a vital role in historic preservation both locallly and nationally. Mayor Riley continues to use his politcal power for the growth and well-being of the citizens of Charleston, South Carolina.
mayor | MICD | ballpark