//Sameena Sitabkhan|Principal CA Registered Architect | NOMA

she/her

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.

Over the past 19 years, she has designed and led projects spanning a range of public serving building typologies from schools and affordable housing to urban/art installations. She has held leadership positions at local firms including David Baker Architects where she  focused on housing for the formerly homeless. Additionally, she has designed and managed complex 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:
  • California Licensed Architect C34580
  • Leed Accredited
  • Member, National Organization of Minority Architects

  • Co Founder & Board of Directors Elysian Valley Arts Collective| Frogtown Artwalk
  • Board Of Directors Los Angeles Forum For Architecture And Urban Design
  • Workshop Lead: Bosnia Green and Clean Workshop, US State Department
  • Workshop Lead: Artlight Parikrma School Workshop , Bangalore India 
  • Yerba Buena Center For The Arts Fellow, Citizenship Cohort

  •  AIA SF Sandra I. Vivanco Community Alliance Education Award
  • “Everyday heroes Award” 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 Panel”  Ethics and Leadership Panel Speaker at Academy of Art San Francisco
  • “We belong here” ACSA paper and 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)

CV
Artwork
//Tammy Ho|Principal

she/her

Tammy is a first generation Chinese American from the SF Bay Area. She has designed and managed a wide range of built work including high end hospitality, commercial, retail and single family residences. She previously worked in Beijing, Los Angeles, Oakland and San Francisco on all aspects of residential and retail work including interior renovations to ground up construction. Since 2009, Tammy co-founded Kupa Studios, based in Oakland CA and Beijing China, and has designed multiple hospitality projects located throughout Beijing. Her projects have been published in Dwell, Casa Abitare, Los Angeles Times, Timeout Magazine, Brutus, and New York Magazine. With a background in dance, she often thinks about architecture as a choreographed story, focused on moments in the built environment.

Tammy co-teaches a community based design-build studio at the Academy of Art SF.

Tammy holds a Masters degree in Architecture from SCI-Arc in Los Angeles and a BA in history of art and visual culture from UC Santa Cruz, CA.

Professional Credits:
  • Social Impact Shine on San Francisco / Love Letters to San Francisco. Honorable Mention
  • 18th Architecture + the City Festival, San Francisco, CA “Kapwa Gardens: Designing Public Space During the Pandemic” Panel Speaker
  • A+D/Architecture and Design program at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in San Francisco. Master Class Lead.
  • Best New Restaurant Award.  Modo Restaurant with Kupa Studios, Beijing, China
  • Best New Restaurant Award.  Susu Restaurant with Kupa Studios, Beijing, China
  • Restaurant of the Year Award.  Mosto Restaurant with Kupa Studios, Beijing, China
  • Design Award. Susu Restaurant with Kupa Studios, Beijing, China


Updates coming soon.

CV available upon request.