WORKac is a New York–based architecture and urban design practice founded in 2003 by Amale Andraos and Dan Wood. The practice operates at the intersection of the urban, the rural, and the natural, advancing architecture as a tool to address environmental and social challenges through inventive and collaborative forms of design. Their work spans public, cultural, civic, and educational projects across the United States and internationally, with a strong emphasis on integrating architecture, landscape, ecology, and community-centred design. WORKac has received international recognition for projects including the Edible Schoolyards in New York, the Miami Museum Garage, the Rhode Island School of Design Student Success Centre, and a series of innovative public libraries in Queens, Brooklyn, and Boulder. The office was recognised as the AIA New York State Firm of the Year.
Dan Wood (Rhode Island, USA), FAIA, LEED AP, co-leads WORKac’s international projects, ranging from urban master plans to institutional and cultural buildings throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. He has taught widely and held the 2013–14 Louis I. Kahn Chair at the Yale School of Architecture. His academic appointments have included Princeton University School of Architecture, Cooper Union, Columbia GSAPP, Ohio State University’s Knowlton School of Architecture, and the University of California, Berkeley, where he served as the Friedman Distinguished Chair. Before founding WORKac, Wood worked in Paris and the Netherlands, experiences that continue to inform his global and interdisciplinary approach to architecture and urbanism. He is a licensed architect in the State of New York and a LEED Accredited Professional.
Amale Andraos (Beirut, Lebanon, 1973) is an architect, educator, and writer. She served as Dean of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation from 2014 to 2021 and is currently Dean Emerita and Professor at Columbia GSAPP, where she also advised the university’s Climate School initiatives. Andraos has taught at Princeton University, Harvard Graduate School of Design, the University of Pennsylvania, and the American University of Beirut. Her research and publications explore architecture’s relationship to ecology, representation, and contemporary urbanism, particularly in relation to the Arab city. Her books include Buildings for People and Plants, The Arab City: Architecture and Representation, We’ll Get There When We Cross That Bridge, and Above the Pavement, the Farm!. She serves on several cultural and architectural advisory boards and has lectured internationally on architecture, climate, and the future of cities.
