SCE faculty member and KPF Principal, Hana Kassem, was one of the 10 architects elevated from AIA’s New York City chapter to Fellowship, and one of only two in the Design category.

The 2024 Jury of Fellows for the American Institute of Architects (AIA) elevated 96 new members to its esteemed College of Fellows nationwide. The fellowship program was developed to elevate architects who have achieved a high standard of excellence in the profession and made a substantial contribution to architecture and society. Out of more than 91,000 AIA members, only three percent are recognized as fellows. The New York Chapter Fellows will be celebrated at the Center for Architecture on March 20. The full 2024 Class will be inducted into the College of Fellows at the 2024 AIA Conference on Architecture in Washington, D.C.

Hana has applied a human-centric approach to design across various project typologies around the world over nearly three decades as an architect, examining how we affect our environment and how, in turn, our built environment affects us. Hana’s design approach embraces belonging, sustainability, wellness, and resiliency. In NYC, Hana led the design of the historic Farley Post Office repurposing for Meta’s offices, and in Ithaca, the design of SouthWorks, an AIA New York State award-winning adaptive reuse project that transforms the historic Morse Chain Industrial site into a research, fabrication, and commercial hub that includes mixed-income housing. For the New York City Housing Authority, she and her team developed an infrastructural resiliency and renewal plan for the Red Hook Houses, a model project that has been widely published and awarded. She led the design of key buildings at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s new campus in Guangzhou, as well as the University of Michigan Center for Innovation, both projects aim to be carbon neutral and highly sustainable. 

Hana serves on the AIANY Board of Trustees as VP for Design Excellence and the Van Alen Institute Board of Trustees as Nominating Chair. She is the co-editor of Architect d.b.a. | On Re-defining the Roles of the Architect Today, a book published by AIANY. Hana shares her design approach in speaking engagements and publications world-wide. She has taught at Yale and Parsons and maintains strong ties with academia and research as a visiting critic at the nation’s most highly regarded architecture schools.