Mia Zinni joined the Architecture faculty in the fall of 2017 to teach design studios in the undergraduate program.   Mia is an architect licensed in New York, and is currently working with the San Francisco based practice IwamotoScott Architects.  Previously she was an Associate at SHoP Architects, in New York City. She holds a B.A. in Architecture from the University of California Berkeley and an M.Arch from Columbia University where she was the recipient of the Charles McKim Prize For Excellence In Design / Saul Kaplan Traveling Fellowship.  In 2012 she was named AIANYS Student of the Year.

Mia is the Co-Founder of Empower Design collaborative.  Empower Design’s work is dedicated to creating safe and resilient environments through an impact oriented design approach that utilizes emerging technologies and design to empower communities.  The core belief of the collaborative is that safe and resilient environments aid their inhabitants in achieving contemporary goals and in turn impact broader environmental, social, political, and economic change. Empower Design worked with SHRI (Sanitation Health Right in India) on the design and organization of a Women’s Community Space  in-conjunction with public toilet blocks in the community of Nimua, Bhiar India.

A story about Mia and her design work in India was published on the CED website. You can read it here.