Sameena Sitabkhan
Undergraduate Assistant Director
School of Architecture

Sameena Sitabkhan is a California licensed architect deeply committed to empowering the next generation of architects through an emphasis on spatial justice. As the assistant undergraduate director at the Academy of Art SF,  she has served in the roles of Licensing Advisor, AIAS faculty advisor, and NOMAS faculty advisor. 

Since 2018, she has been directing and teaching at B.Lab, the undergraduate department’s community-based design initiative. The student-designed and constructed projects have won numerous awards using creativity, listening and empathy to meeting the needs of underserved communities in the Bay Area. The program relies on a robust participatory model with neighbors, local youth, city agencies, and nonprofits. 

In her own practice, she has designed and led projects spanning a range of public serving building typologies from schools and affordable housing to urban/art installations throughout the Bay Area since the early 2000s. She was previously an Associate at David Baker Architects, focused on housing for the formerly homeless and has completed ground-up charter and public school buildings throughout California. 

Sameena has a Masters degree in Architecture from SCI-Arc in Los Angeles and a BA in urban planning from UC San Diego. She is an honoree of the 2023 Community Alliance Awards // Sandra I. Vivanco Education Award and  a Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Fellow.

Professional Credits:

• AIA SF Sandra I. Vivanco Community Alliance Education Award
• “Everyday heroes” San Francisco Housing Development Corporation
• SF Design Week Award Student Innovation award : Guerrilla Coffee Unit w/ARH 250 students + Doron Serban
• “Micro Intervention and Co-creation at a Family Shelter”
• ACSA paper and presentation at Disrupters on the Edge Conference (w/ Karen Seong)
• “Participatory Design” – Ethics and Leadership Panel Speaker at Academy of Art San Francisco
• “We belong here” ACSA paperand workshop: Less Talk | More Action (w/ Doron Serban. Gabriela Sotomayor, Cristo Staedler)
• “The Guerilla Coffee Unit: Ad-hoc Activism through Architecture” Article in Plat 7.0 Journal (with Doron Serban)
• “Unsheltered” AIASF Next Conference Panelist and Presenter (with Doron Serban)
• Member, National Organization of Minority Architects
• California Licensed Architect C34580
• Leed Accredited
• Co Founder & Board of Directors Elysian Valley Arts Collective| Frogtown Artwalk
• Board Of Directors Los Angeles Forum For Architecture And Urban Design
• 2019 Bosnia Green and Clean Workshop
• Invited by the US State Department to create and teach (2)3 day workshops with local high school students to design and build green stations to raise awareness about air quality in Bosnia.
• 2018 Artlight Parikrma School Workshop Conceived and taught a 5 day architecture workshop for marginalized youth in Bangalore India resulting in a built exhibition.
• Yerba Buena Center For The Arts Fellow, 2017 Citizenship Cohort