Faculty

Profile

David Gissen is an author and designer who works in the fields of architecture, landscape, and urbanism.

David is the author of The Architecture of Disability (University of Minnesota Press, 2022) -- a work of history, theory, and memoir. His other books include a materialist exploration of architecture and urban environmental degradation, Subnature: Architecture’s Other Environments (Princeton Architecture Press, 2009) and a history of New York City told through the design of the city’s air, Manhattan Atmospheres (University of Minnesota Press, 2014). He is also the author of essays in journals such as Artforum, Grey Room, Art in America, Log, AA Files, and Domus, and in numerous edited books and catalogs. His designs have been exhibited in the Venice Biennale (2016, 2020), Canadian Centre for Architecture, and the Yale University Architecture Galleries, and are published widely.

David was the 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 former Professor at the California College of the Arts (CCA), where he was based for twelve years. In addition to the above, he has been appointed Visiting Professor of Historic Preservation at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation; 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; and Curator of Architecture and Design, The National Building Museum, Washington, DC.  

His publications, research and collaborative projects have received several awards and grants, including four Graham Foundation grants, 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