Mehrdad Hadighi

Mehrdad Hadighi is a Professor in the Department of Architecture at the Pennsylvania State University, where he also holds the Stuckeman Professorship in Advanced Design Studies. Mehrdad holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from SUNY-Buffalo, a post-professional graduate architecture degree from Cornell University, a professional degree in architecture and a degree in studio arts from the University of Maryland. His scholarly work focuses on drawing parallels between 20th century art, critical theory and the constructive principles of architecture.

A licensed architect and founding principal of the Studio for Architecture, his premiated collaborative design competition entries include the Studentenheim + Bauernmarkt, Glockengasse, Public Space in the New American City, Atlanta, Berlin Alexanderplatz Design Competition, Austrian Cultural Institute in Manhattan, and the Peace Garden Design Competition. Hadighi has been selected as one of “25 most intriguing, innovative and intrepid architects, from all over the world” by Wallpaper* magazine; and as one of “10 Young Firms Reshaping the Globe” by the Architectural Record magazine in their Design Vanguard issue. His work is the subject of a monograph by ACTAR and another by SHARESTAN. He is the author of Tschumi’s Architectural Manifestoes, and Le Corbusier’s Millowners’ Association Building (Forthcoming January 2025). His work has been featured in the following books: Architecture Today; Concrete; Conversions; Small Structures, Green Architecture; Xs Green: Big Ideas, Small Buildings; Extensions and Renovations; Up, Down, Across: Domestic Extensions; House Plus, New House Design; and Architecture In Detail.

• PhD in Comparative Literature, SUNY-Buffalo
• Post-professional graduate architecture degree, Cornell
• Professional degree in architecture, University of Maryland
• Studio arts degree, University of Maryland

• Selected as “Visiting Scientist” by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey.
• Selected as THE LASKEY AWARD Designer, Moderator, and Juror, Washington University’s Sam Fox School, 2013.

• “Concrete Twist” selected as “Best of 2012” by Domus.
• “Lafayette 148” selected as “Best of the Week” by Domus.

• “Lafayette 148” selected as one of the ten “High Notes from 2010,” from over 500 international entries: e-architect.co.uk.

• “Beyond Surface” American University of Sharjah, UAE.
• “Labor and Material as Context,” “Pantheon and Phaeno,” “Corbusier’s form-finding,” Three lectures delivered at the “CROSSROADS” workshop, June 24–28, Yildiz University, Istanbul, Turkey.

• “The relationship of Architecture and Art”; “The relationship of Architecture and Construction”; “The relationship of Architecture and Education”; 3 lectures delivered at the University of Tehran, July 12.
• “SlipSphere” lecture delivered at ORDER-DISORDER workshop, July 13.
• “White Mythology, White Paintings,” Athens Institute for Education and Research, June.

• “Repetition” Beginning Design Education, ACSA Administrators Conference, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, invited.
• “Labor and Material,” University of Arkansas, Department of Architecture.

• “Form of Knowledge/Knowledge of Form,” Institute of Art, Tehran, Iran.

• Mehrdad Hadighi, "llAW of Wall", Applied Research + Design Publishing, July.

• Mehrdad Hadighi, "Tschumi's Architectural Manifestoes", Kasra Art & Architectural Publishing.

• Warren Ashworth, Angelyn Chandler, Dennis Cope, John Kleinschmidt, THE LASKEY AWARD, A Design Challenge, Studio L, Washington University’s Sam Fox School. (on a workshop Hadighi conducted in/at Wash University in St. Louis).
• Mehrdad Hadighi, Buffalo Experiments, under review.
• “Nine Manifestoes”, Architecture and Culture, Forthcoming.
• Mehrdad Hadighi, “White Mythology, White Paintings,” Proceedings of the Athens Institute for Education and Research conference, Forthcoming.
• Mehrdad Hadighi, “Artist as Analyst, The Relationship of Architecture and Art,”The Architect’s Role, winter 2013, pp.69–74.
• “Concrete Goes Green in China,” Phaidon, March 6.
• Amir Taheri and Reza najafian, “Interview with Mehrdad Hadighi,” The Architect’s Role, winter 2013, pp.65–68.
• Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan, “A Modern Chinese Factory Made Using Local Traditional Building Techniques,” FastCompanyDesign, February 18.
• Mahyar Hadighi, “Hadighi’s Workshop in Tehran, 2012,” The Architect’s Role, winter, pp.11–18.

• Seda Gul, “The Movement of Light Coming from the façade,” the Lafayette 148 Headquarters, TASIRIM, Volume 223, July/August, pp. 50–51.
• Editors at Domus, “Best of the Week,” Domuswebnews, May 13.
• Marc Veveu, “Concrete Twist,” domusweb.it/d/380658, May 10.
• Marc Veveu, “Lafayette 148 Headquarters”, DOMUS, Volume 958, May, pp.112-113.
• Mehrdad Hadighi, “Problem Solving through Problem Seeking” Mehrdad Hadighi in interview with HAMSHAHRI, HAMSHAHRI MEMARI, Vol 19, August, pp. 60–71.

• Mehrdad Hadighi, Banham in Buffalo, ORO Editions, San Francisco.
• Adrian Welch, “A Few High Notes from 2010,” e-architect, volume #86, January 4.

• Yuan Jing, “Architecture of Fashion,” in Numéro, le magazine international de mode, November.
• Isabelle Lomholt, “Lafayette 148,” e-architect, volume #84, November 9.
• Elizabeth Licata, “Art on View,” Buffalo Spree, April.
• Tom Buckham, “Cravens’ Copious Art Collection,” The Buffalo News, April 30.
• Jack Foran, “Object Lessons”, ARTVOICE, Vol 9, issue 14, April 8–14, 2010, p.9.
• Mehrdad Hadighi, “Introduction” Ways of Working, O’Donnell & Tuomey, buffaloBOOKS, State University of New York at Buffalo.
• Mehrdad Hadighi, “Architecture-Archaeology-Archive,” CRAVENS WORLD, UB Art Galleries, Buffalo, NY, pp.34-37.

• Mehrdad Hadighi, “Introduction” Beginnings, MOS, buffaloBOOKS, State University of New York at Buffalo.

• Simone Schleifer, ed, Ristrutturazioni da Vivere, “Tall Acres,” FKG Publications, Barcelona, Spain.
• Mehrdad Hadighi, “Introduction” The Continuity of Contradiction Thom Mayne, buffaloBOOKS, State University of New York at Buffalo.
• Ramin Safari Rad, Mehrdad Hadighi, Sharestan, Tehran.
• Maria Scrivani, “Preserving the Invisible,” Buffalo Spree, March.

• Paley Memorial Library, CDs Completed.

• Catskills 1300, New Construction, Weekend house, Catskills Mountains, New York, 4,000 SF.

• Cravens’ World, Interior Renovation with a permanent exhibition structure, Anderson Gallery, Buffalo, NY, 600 SF.
• Concrete Twist, New Construction, Headquarters building for a New York-based fashion designer, Shantou, China. 320,000 SF.

• House of Doors, Interior renovation, Upper East Side residence, NYC. 1200 SF.
• Mobile, A mobile living unit within an existing residence, Buffalo, NY. 96 SF.