Viren Brahmbhatt (Principal | de.Sign, New York/Mumbai) is an architect and urban designer based in New York City with a satellite office in Mumbai, India. His work has been focused on architecture, housing, urban design and Cities. In addition to his independent work and projects he has worked with the New York City Housing Authority on design and implementation of the Community Centers Program, GIS, Housing Regeneration, a Master Plan for HOPE VI Project in Brooklyn and various urban design projects aimed at improving and expanding affordable housing in New York City.

Viren holds a Masters degree in Architecture and Urban Design from Pratt Institute and an undergraduate degree from the School of Architecture (CEPT), Ahmedabad, India where he also held a faculty position. He has been an Associate Adjunct Professor/Critic at the Graduate School of Architecture (GSAPP), Columbia University and Pratt Institute, New York. Most recently, he was a Visiting Professor at Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, Washington University in St. Louis. He currently teaches Advanced Architecture Design as an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Spitzer School of Architecture, City College, New York. Previously, he has collaborated on several research and teaching projects with the School of Architecture & Urban Design and the Earth Institute at Columbia University. His published work includes projects such as “The Vacant City: Urban Design Project for The Mont Des Arts”, Brussels (Belgium, 2000), “Developing Strategies: Hell’s Kitchen South” (Research and Urban Design, New York 2002) and “Investigations into Architectural Design: Conceptions and Processes” published in 1988 (School of Architecture, CEPT, India). He writes regularly for reputed national and international publications on issues pertaining to Equitable and Sustainable Cities, architecture and urban design.

Viren’s recent work includes architectural projects for community facilities, master plans for residential developments in New York City and various small and large-scale architectural and urban design projects including the Vintage Cars/Maritime Museum in California. His ongoing work in India includes mixed-use riverfront development project in Calcutta; a large-scale development plan for the Social Economic Zone (SEZ) Development in Gujarat that includes housing, infrastructure, retail, community services and light industry. His other current projects include: Master Planning, Architecture and Urban Design Services for a Seafront Development in Gujarat, two mixed-use projects including an Office Building in Surat, and a 28-story Residential Condominium Building in Mumbai, India. Most of these projects target zero-energy, eco-efficiency, water harvesting and self-sufficiency along with innovative technologies and design that include sustainable labor and construction practices to engender socially and economically sustainable community development.

Furthermore, Viren’s ongoing work in the area of informal architecture in the cities like (Medellin, Rio, Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi) strives to achieve small but implementable change and incremental regeneration of various transitory zones in the emerging cities of the Global South.