Faculty

Profile

David Gissen is an author, designer and educator based in New York City. Over the past two decades, David has developed a body of work that reassesses design ideals of physiological and biological normality, healthfulness, and stability. This work includes historical research, theoretical and critical writings, and projects from the artifactual to urban scale. His scholarly work has been translated and republished in over a dozen languages in international books and journals. 

David's books include The Architecture of Disability (Minnesota, 2023); Subnature (Princeton Architectural Press, 2009); and Manhattan Atmospheres (Minnesota, 2013). His essays have been published in Artforum, Art in America, Greyroom, Eflux, Domus, Abitare, The Harvard Design Magazine, AA Files, Log, et al. His architectural and urban design work has been exhibited at the Venice Biennale (2016 & 2021), the Canadian Centre for Architecture, and the Centre for Architecture in New York, among other venues.   

In addition to his role at Parsons, David has held distinguished faculty positions as Dean's Visiting Professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Preservation and Planning (ongoing); Eero Saarinen Visiting Professor of Architecture at Yale University (2019 – 2020); University Professor (2019-20) at the Institute for Art and Architecture, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria; and Visiting Professor of Architecture History in the PhD. program in the History, Theory, & Criticism of Architecture and Art (HTC) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.     

His publications, research and collaborative projects have received several awards and grants, including four Graham Foundation grants, a New York Foundation for the Arts grant, the inaugural SEED and Chalsty Foundation awards, and prizes from the Johns Hopkins University, among other academic institutions. 

Degrees Held

PhD, University College London

M.Arch. Yale University