Mehrdad Hadighi is a professor in the Department of Architecture. He served as the head of the department until 2022 and was named the Stuckeman Professor in Advanced Studies in 2023. Prior to his appointment at Penn State, he served two terms as chair of the Department of Architecture at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Hadighi has been an academic for more than 30 years, teaching at both public and private universities and serving as a visiting professor in the United States and abroad.
Hadighi completed his post-professional graduate studies at Cornell University and holds a professional degree in architecture and a degree in studio art from the University of Maryland. A licensed architect, he is founding principal of the Studio for Architecture, a design practice that is engaged in research and experimentation through building projects of different scales and scopes, site-specific gallery installations, and design competitions.
Hadighi’s premiated 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 its Design Vanguard issue. The Architectural League of New York selected Hadighi as one of the six notable “Young Architects” in their “Young Architects Forum” series. His work is the subject of a monograph by SHARESTAN, and his most recent work has been featured in the following books: 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. More recently, a project designed by Studio for Architecture was named one of the 10 “High Notes from 2010” by e-architect.co.uk, the Lafayette 148 headquarters building commissioned by the New York-based fashion design company was selected from a pool of more than 500 international entries.
His scholarly work focuses on drawing parallels between 20th century art, critical theory, and the constructive principles of architecture. This work has been celebrated with prestigious research awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York Foundation for the Arts.
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Education
Mehrdad Hadighi completed his post-professional studies at Cornell University and holds a professional degree in architecture and a degree in studio art from the University of Maryland.
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Honors + Awards
2013
- 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.
2012
- “Concrete Twist” selected as “Best of 2012” by Domus.
- “Lafayette 148” selected as “Best of the Week” by Domus.
2011
- “Lafayette 148” selected as one of the ten “High Notes from 2010,” from over 500 international entries: e-architect.co.uk.
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Exhibitions + Productions
2013
- “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.
2012
- “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.
2009
- “Repetition” Beginning Design Education, ACSA Administrators Conference, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, invited.
- “Labor and Material,” University of Arkansas, Department of Architecture.
2008
- “Form of Knowledge/Knowledge of Form,” Institute of Art, Tehran, Iran.
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Publications + Presentations
2015
- Mehrdad Hadighi, “llAW of Wall”, Applied Research + Design Publishing, July.
2014
- Mehrdad Hadighi, “Tschumi’s Architectural Manifestoes”, Kasra Art & Architectural Publishing.
2013
- 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.
2012
- 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.
2011
- Mehrdad Hadighi, Banham in Buffalo, ORO Editions, San Francisco.
- Adrian Welch, “A Few High Notes from 2010,” e-architect, volume #86, January 4.
2010
- 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.
2009
- Mehrdad Hadighi, “Introduction” Beginnings, MOS, buffaloBOOKS, State University of New York at Buffalo.
2008
- 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.
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Built Works
2013
- Paley Memorial Library, CDs Completed.
2011
- Catskills 1300, New Construction, Weekend house, Catskills Mountains, New York, 4,000 SF.
2010
- 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.
2008
- 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.
Collected Works
