Sean Canty is an American architect, cultural activist and academic. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design in Cambridge. Canty is co-Director of Office III, an experimental architectural collective, and founder of Studio Sean Canty based in Boston.^[1]

Early life and education

Sean Canty received a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the California College of the Arts.^[2] During his academic tenure, he taught at the Cooper Union^[3] in New York City, University of California Berkeley,^[4] and California College of the Arts.^[5] Before establishing his own firm, he was a Project Designer at Iwamoto Scott Architecture in San Francisco.

Career

In 2020, Canty created a widely published list of 200 black creatives practicing in the United States as a response to Black Lives Matter.^[6] The list was a compilation of designers, artists and architects including Thelma Golden, Germane Barnes, Olalekan Joyifous, V.Mitch McEwen and many others.^[7] In 2017, as part of Office III, Canty designed and constructed an all timber visitors' center for Governors Island in New York City.^[8]

Canty's current design focus is on residential work which he has presented during several academic lectures across the United States including public talks at the University of Pennsylvania,^[9] AIA New York Center for Architecture,^[10] Ohio State University,^[11] Le Laboratoire,^[12] CU Denver,^[13] California College of the Arts,^[14] Cal Poly Pomona^[15] and Cornell University^[16] to name a few. His work has been exhibited in several institutions and museums including the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York.^[17] In June 2021, his work titled “Drawing Doubles” was exhibited at the SoHo’s a83 gallery as part of the “Architectural Drawing: Not for Construction” exhibition.^[18]

Public talks

Sean Canty has been a frequent speaker and lecturer at several academic institutions across the U.S. and globally including University of Pennsylvania,^[19] California College of the Arts,^[20] Ohio State,^[21] Center for Architecture,^[22] Wentworth Institute of Technology,^[23] CU Denver,^[24] CalPoly Pomona,^[25] Woodbury University,^[26] Cornell University,^[27] University of Johannesburg,^[5] Harvard University,^[28] SoCal NOMAS.^[29]

Awards

In 2020, Sean Canty was awarded the Richard Rogers Fellowship established by Harvard University alongside fellow architect Michelle Chang.^[30]

The MoMA Young Architects Program shortlisted Canty in 2017 as one of four designers to envision a pavilion for the P.S.1 Museum courtyard.^[31]

As part of the annual Times Square Valentines Heart program, Canty was shortlisted to create a design proposal for the 2020 competition.^[32]

He was also finalist in the Civitella Ranieri Architecture Prize competition with the focus to invite one emerging architect each year to the Civitella Ranieri Center in Italy.^[33] Pin-Up Magazine featured Canty as one of eight emerging firms.^[34]

References