Thom Mayne

Architect / United States / Morphosis Architects

www.morphosis.com

Thom Mayne founded Morphosis in 1972 as a collective practice of architecture, urbanism and design, rooted in rigorous research and innovation. Working globally across a broad range of project types and scales, Morphosis is recognized for its innovative and sustainable designs for cultural, civic and academic institutions, including the Bloomberg Center at Cornell Tech, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, and 41 Cooper Square, the academic building for The Cooper Union.

Throughout his career, Mayne has remained active in education and academia. In 1972, he helped to establish the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). Since then, he has held teaching positions at Columbia University, Yale University (the Eliel Saarinen Chair in 1991), the Harvard Graduate School of Design (Eliot Noyes Chair in 1998), the Berlage Institute in the Netherlands, the Bartlett School of Architecture in London, and many other institutions around the world. He was a tenured professor at the University of California Los Angeles in Architecture and Urban Design (UCLA A.UD) from 1993 to 2019. There has always been a symbiotic relationship between Mayne’s teaching and practice, evidenced in his concurrent position as Executive Director of the Now Institute, Morphosis’ research arm that collaborates with academic institutions to create design-based solutions for the pressing issues of the day, from mobility, urban revitalization, and sustainability, to public policy, planning, and community outreach.

Mayne’s distinguished honors include the Pritzker Prize (2005) and the AIA Gold Medal (2013). He served on the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities under President Obama. With Morphosis, Thom Mayne has been the recipient of 29 Progressive Architecture Awards, over 120 American Institute of Architecture Awards and numerous other design recognitions.

Mayne received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Southern California in 1968 and his Master of Architecture from Harvard University in 1978.

(Portrait photo: Reiner Zettl)

Contributed Articles

Daily Features

One Book and Why: Architect Thom Mayne Recommends . . .

By Thom Mayne April 6, 2023

This month on “One Book and Why,” architect Thom Mayne recommends Italo Calvino’s reflection on what makes great writing, Six Memos for the Next Millennium.

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