Dean, School of Architecture

We are pleased to announce that Pratt Institute has selected Quilian Riano to serve as the next Dean of the School of Architecture, effective May 8, 2023. 

An accomplished urban designer and academic with over 15 years of teaching and practicing architectural, urban, and landscape design, Riano joined Pratt in July 2021 as assistant dean. He has led the School of Architecture as interim dean since August 2022. 

Riano earned a Master of Architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Design: Architecture from the University of Florida’s School of Architecture, in addition to an associate degree in arts and another in applied science. Over the course of his career, he has emerged as a leader whose commitment to architecture and design is inextricable from his commitment to collaborative practice and social justice. 

In addition to his work at Pratt, Riano has taught at a range of institutions, including Kent State University, Columbia University, Syracuse University, and Wentworth Institute of Technology. He is a frequently invited speaker, and his publications include edited, collaborative, and single-author works. He is the founder and lead designer of DSGN AGNC, a studio that brings art, architecture, and urban design together in the public interest. He is also an initiator and core member of Dark Matter U, a national democratic network of educators that seeks to create anti-racist courses and studios, as well as public programming and curriculum. Riano currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Architectural League of New York, where he is vice president for architecture, and is a board member of the journal Places.

Read the full press release here.

Ben Tobin led this search with Nella Young and Alaine Small.