The Pratt Institute’s School of Architecture has just announced the appointment of urban designer and academic Quilian Riano as its new Dean. 

Riano, who has been serving as the school’s Interim Dean since last August, will officially step into the role on May 8th. He joined Pratt’s faculty as an Assistant Dean in 2021 after previous teaching positions at Kent State University, Columbia, Syracuse, and Boston’s Wentworth Institute of Technology, among other campuses. Riano is also a board member of the Architectural League of New York, and holds degrees in architecture from both the Harvard GSD and University of Florida. 

An advocate for design equity, social justice, and fair labor practices within the architecture industry, Riano was an active writer, collaborator, and former senior editor for Archinect in its early days. Some of his writings include his popular blog post "Design and Agency" and his 2016 feature "Gaming the System: role-playing spatial and political change," among others. Riano has also been a guest on the Archinect Sessions podcast, where he discussed how games can be found in  "pedagogy, practice and protest."

Earlier on Archinect: Better than SimCity: how architects benefit from games, ft. special guest Quilian Riano on Archinect Sessions #79

As one of the founding members of Dark Matter University, Riano has made a name for himself as a champion of racial justice causes within academia. He was also an early figure in the development of the Architecture Lobby, and has also worked around environmental causes as one of the lead researchers and contributors of Architecture 2030, founded by Edward Mazria. In 2009 he started his own studio practice, DSGN AGNC, an "architectural, urban design and art studio that experiments with new forms of space creation through political engagement."

“Quilian brings to his role as dean a deep respect for the school’s historical strength as a leader in design, planning, and management of the built environment, along with a commitment to lean into a future that advances disciplinary excellence and to ensure that the school is a leading voice in addressing major issues of our time,” Provost Donna Heiland said in a statement. “He is a generous and generative leader who will work collaboratively with students, faculty, and staff, building on the strong foundation he created during his time as interim and assistant dean.”

“I am honored to have been selected as the new dean of Pratt Institute’s School of Architecture,” Riano added finally. “For the last couple of years, as both interim and assistant dean of the school, I have had the pleasure of seeing firsthand the great work of our students, faculty, and staff. The energy and passion I see coming out of studios and classrooms from students and faculty is palpable, as our community is busy addressing the most important social and environmental issues we face through design, technology, planning, and management—all while using both established knowledge as well as experimenting with the latest technologies, scholarship, methods, and models.”