Education

Master of Architecture, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, MA, 1997
Bachelor of Art in Architecture, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 1990

Keywords

Critical Design Thinking, Interdisciplinary Design, Embedded Technologies, Urbanism, Urban Design, Housing, Public Space, Geometry, and Visual Thinking

Biography

Brian Bell is Professor of the Practice of Architecture at Georgia Institute of Technology and founding partner of the firm BLDGS. He most recently has been teaching advanced design studios for graduate-level students, with a focus on developing students’ understanding of the critical reciprocities and potentials between urban and architectural design through mixed-use urban housing projects. He has also taught a workshop focusing on digital “living” walls. Bell has been teaching at Georgia Tech since 2007 and has also taught as the Paul Rudolph Visiting Critic at Auburn University. 

Bell is co-founder and principal of BLDGS, with David Yocum, AIA.  The firm is a full-service architectural practice dedicated to the creation of inventive and enduring works of architecture and urban design.  Recent projects include the Van Leer Interdisciplinary Design Commons at Georgia Tech, the Caddell School of Building Construction at Georgia Tech, offices for Bloomberg LP, showrooms and headquarters extension for Steelcase, private residences, and the adaptive reuse of a former paint and body shop into a new synagogue.  The work of BLDGS has been published numerous places nationally including the New York Times and presented at national and international conferences and lectures.

Previously, Bell practiced for 7 years with Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects where he was a Senior Project Architect for award-winning projects such as the UC Berkeley Hargrove Music Library, the Knowlton School of Architecture at The Ohio State University, and the Gates Center for Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University.

Statement of Teaching Interest

Professor Bell's teaching is focused on the theory and practice of architecture and its interactions with society and culture. He currently teaches and coordinates the Portman Prize design studio, the MArch professional practice course, and a course on the discipline and practice of architectural criticism.

Statement of Research Interest

Professor Bell's research is primarily conducted through professional practice with his firm BLDGS, where he is a Principal together with co-founder and also Professor of the Practice, David Yocum. The firms work is widely published and has received numerous national and international awards.

Recent Scholarly Work

In addition to teaching, Professor Bell is currently producing the School of Architecture's One Building Symposium, as an investigation into singular buildings and architectural/urban design projects that are making significant impacts in the built environment.

Select Publications | Writing

“The Pressures of Paradox:  Michelangelo and the Sforza Chapel”, appeared in Conventions of Architectural Drawings, edited by James Ackerman and Wolfgang Jung, 2000

Select Recent Honors and Awards

Emerging Voices Award, Architectural League of New York, | Brian Bell and David Yocum, 2017
Architecture Merit Award, AIA Georgia | Caddell School of Building Construction, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2017

Silver Medal Firm-of-the-Year Award, AIA Atlanta| BLDGS, 2016

Architecture Honor Award, AIA South Atlantic Region (2016), Architecture Honor Award, AIA Georgia (2013), World Architecture Festival Finalist (2013) | Congregation Or Hadash Synagogue

Architecture Honor Award, AIA Georgia | Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, 2015

Architecture Honor Award, AIA Georgia | Ansley Glass House, 2010

Architecture Honor Award, AIA Georgia | Burned House, 2010