Biography

Josh Safdie, Associate AIA, has served as the director of the studio at the Institute for Human Centered Design since 2008.  As director, he has primary responsibility for overseeing the studio’s multidisciplinary design and consulting projects, as well as for ensuring their cross-fertilization with the organization’s educational and research mission.  Mr. Safdie’s current work includes projects for the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Mission Park Apartments and Boston Architectural College in Boston; the Giant Steps school for children with autism in Fairfield, CT; the Witkin Senior Living Center in West Hollywood, CA; the National 9-11 Museum and Memorial and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, NY; and the Open Society Foundation Mental Health Initiative in Zagreb, Croatia and Bucharest, Romania. Additionally, Mr. Safdie has completed or is currently working on multiple “green” and universally designed renovations for residential, commercial and institutional clients throughout Massachusetts and greater New England.  One such residential project was recently selected for publication in The Accessible Home, a book to be published later in 2012 by the Taunton Press.

He is currently an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design, having previously served as Director of Foundation Studios at the Boston Architectural College and as the 2008 Scholar-in-Residence at Taliesin, the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture in Spring Green, Wisconsin.  A nationally recognized expert in Universal Design, he regularly presents at professional conferences sponsored by such diverse organizations as the American Institute of Architects, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and AARP.  This past year, Mr. Safdie was invited by the AIA to co-author the Committee on Design / Young Architects Forum 2011 Ideas Competition, which focused on universally designed housing for the proposed 2020 Olympic Village in Tokyo, Japan.

Mr. Safdie lives with his wife and son in Somerville, MA, where he is a musician and youth soccer coach, and where he serves on the Zoning Board of Appeals.  Mr. Safdie holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Architectural Studies from Brown University and a Master’s Degree in Architecture from Rhode Island School of Design.  He is a member of the AIA and the Boston Society of Architects.

Joshua Nathan Safdie

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jsafdie@risd.edu

• BA, Brown University
• MA1, Rhode Island School of Design

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