Mohsen Mostafavi is an Iranian-American

Iranian-American

Iranian-Americans are Americans of Iranian ancestry or people possessing Iranian and American dual citizenship.Iranian-Americans are amongst the most highly educated groups in the United States...

 architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 and educator. He currently the Dean

Dean (education)

In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...

 and Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design

Harvard Graduate School of Design

The Harvard Graduate School of Design is a graduate school at Harvard University offering degrees in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning and Design.-History:...

. He was formerly the Gale and Ira Drukier Dean of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning

Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning

The College of Architecture, Art, and Planning at Cornell University was established in 1871 as the School of Architecture with the hiring of Charles Babcock as the first Professor creating the first four-year course of study in architecture in the United States...

 at Cornell University

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

. Previously, he was the Chairman of the Architectural Association School of Architecture

Architectural Association School of Architecture

The Architectural Association School of Architecture, more usually known as the AA, is an architectural school in London, United Kingdom...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

Dean Mostafavi serves on the steering committee of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture

Aga Khan Award for Architecture

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture is an architectural prize established by Aga Khan IV in 1977. It aims to identify and reward architectural concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of Islamic societies in the fields of contemporary design, social housing, community...

, the board of the Van Alen Institute, and on numerous university committees including the Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 Committee on the Arts as well as the Committee on Common Spaces. He has served on the design committee of the London Development Agency

London Development Agency

The London Development Agency is the Regional Development Agency for Greater London, England. It is a functional body of the Greater London Authority...

 (LDA), the RIBA Gold Medal, the Head of the Holcim Awards

Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction

The Holcim Awards is an international competition that seeks projects and visions in sustainable construction – irrespective of scale. A total of USD 2 million dollars in prize money is awarded in each three-year cycle....

 jury for Europe in 2005, a Member of the Global jury in 2006, a Member of the jury for North America in 2008, the Head of the jury for North America and is currently involved as a consultant on a number of international architectural and urban projects.

Mostafavi received a diploma in architecture

Architecture

Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

 from the AA in 1976 and undertook research on Counter-Reformation

Counter-Reformation

The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...

 urban history

Urban History

Urban history is a field of history that examines the historical nature of cities and towns, and the process of urbanization. The approach tends to be multidisciplinary, crossing boundaries into fields like social history, architectural history, urban sociology, urban geography and archaeology.At...

 at the Universities of Essex

University of Essex

The University of Essex is a British campus university whose original and largest campus is near the town of Colchester, England. Established in 1963 and receiving its Royal Charter in 1965...

 and Cambridge. Previously, he was Director of the Master of Architecture

Master of Architecture

The Master of Architecture is a professional degree in architecture, qualifying the graduate to move through the various stages of professional accreditation that result in receiving a license.-Overview:...

 I Program at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. Mostafavi has also taught at the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

, Cambridge University, and the Frankfurt Academy of Fine Arts (Städelschule).

His research and design projects have been published in many journals, including The Architectural Review

Architectural Review

The Architectural Review is a monthly international architectural magazine published in London since 1896. Articles cover the built environment which includes landscape, building design, interior design and urbanism as well as theory of these subjects....

, AAFiles, Arquitectura, Bauwelt, Casabella

Casabella

Casabella is an Italian architectural and product design magazine with a focus on modern, radical design. It includes interviews with the world's most prominent architects....

, Centre, and Daidalos

Daedalus (journal)

Dædalus is a peer-reviewed academic journal founded in 1955 as the Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. It is published by MIT Press on behalf of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Each issue addresses a theme with essays on the arts, sciences, and humanities. Special...

. Some of his publications include: On Weathering: The Life of Buildings in Time (with David Leatherbarrow

David Leatherbarrow

David Leatherbarrow is Professor of Architecture and Chair of the Graduate Group in Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design, Philadelphia, where he has taught since 1984. He received his B.Arch. from the University of Kentucky and holds a Ph.D. in Art from the University of...

, MIT

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

, 1993) recipient of the American Institute of Architects

American Institute of Architects

The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...

 prize for writing on architectural theory

Architectural theory

Architectural theory is the act of thinking, discussing, or most importantly writing about architecture. Architectural theory is taught in most architecture schools and is practiced by the world's leading architects. Some forms that architecture theory takes are the lecture or dialogue, the...

; Approximations (AA/MIT, 2002); Surface Architecture (MIT, 2002) recipient of the CICA Bruno Zevi Book Award; Logique Visuelle (Idea Books, 2003), Landscape Urbanism: A Manual for the Machinic Landscape (AA Publications, 2004), and Structure as Space, (AA Publications, 2006), and Ecological Urbanism

Ecological urbanism

The ecological urbanism project draws from ecology to inspire an urbanism that is more socially inclusive and sensitive to the environment, as well as less ideologically driven, than conventional “green” or sustainable urbanism...

 (Lars Müller Publishers 2010)

Published works

• ”On Weathering: The Life of Buildings In Time” with David Leatherbarrow (MIT Press, 1993), Recipient of American Institute of Architects Commendation 1994, Japanese edition: Kajima Institute Publishing Co Ltd., Tokyo 1999, Turkish Edition: Zaman İçinde Mimari, Ötüken Nesriyat A.S. Istanbul, 2005
• ”Manuel Brullet” with Josep Quetglas (G. Gili, 1998).
• ’“Enriching Identities” The Architecture of Laurie Baker’, (a+u, No. 32, December 2000).
• ”Approximations: The Architecture of Peter Märkli” (editor and contributor) (MIT Press, 2002).
• ”Landscape Urbanism: A Manual for the Machinic Landscape” (AA Publications, 2003).
• ”Surface Architecture” with David Leatherbarrow (MIT Press, 2005).
• ”Architecture is Not Made with the Brain: The Labour of Alison & Peter Smithson” (editor and contributor), (AA Publications, London, 2005).
• "Mathematical Form: John Pickering and the Architecture of the Inversion Principle"(editor and contributor), (Architectural Association, 2006).
• Structure as Space: Engineering and Architecture in the Works of Jürg Conzett and his Partners” (editor and contributor) (AA Publications, 2006).
• ”Ecological Urbanism
  Ecological urbanism
  The ecological urbanism project draws from ecology to inspire an urbanism that is more socially inclusive and sensitive to the environment, as well as less ideologically driven, than conventional “green” or sustainable urbanism...
  
  ” (Lars Müller Publishers 2010).