About
Andrew Watkins, AIA LEED, is an architect, planner and urban designer at SWA in Southern California, having over 10 years of professional experience. His current work focuses on large-scale urban design projects that explore the confluence of ecology and urbanism. Andrew has been Project Manager for three community plans on the west coast totalling over 1400 acres and 5000 dwelling units as well as new city designs internationally. He is involved in local and national projects having worked in the United States, China, Indonesia, India, South Africa, Botswana, Ethiopia, Germany, Italy, and Mexico. Andrew has researched contemporary urban conditions related to infrastructure and grassroots organization in both developed and developing nations. Past research projects have included ‘Social Entrepreneurship” with SWA; ‘Ecologies of Gold’ in Johannesburg, South Africa; ‘Villages in Development’ in the rapidly developing Pearl River Delta in China; ‘Opportunities of Contemporary Urban Transformations’ in of Eastern Germany; and ‘Tall Buildings in the City,’ a research fellowship with Moshe Safdie that explored the potentials of connecting tall buildings. Andrew’s research has been published in Inmobiliare, Places, 306090 and Architecture Plus. He is actively involved in the AIA and ULI, serving as a co-chair for the 2013 YLG Technical Assistance Panel and as a member of the Places of Commerce Initiative Council.
Andrew completed a Master’s of Architecture in Urban Design degree at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design where he graduated with distinction and received the Award for Academic Excellence in Urban Planning and Urban Design. He received a Bachelor of Architecture Degree, Magna Cum Laude from Syracuse University in 2002 with the Luther Gifford Prize in Architecture for Highest Rank in Scholarship. After graduating he won the Mark and Pearl Clements Internship Award and spent the summer working with Andrea Ponsi Architetto in Florence, Italy.
Past professional office experience includes positions with Chan Krieger Sieniewicz, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, Andrea Ponsi Architetto, and Childs Bertman Tseckares. Andrew is also a founding member of Design-Lab, an inter-disciplinary collaborative actively pursuing research and practice in design—focusing on architecture, graphic design and photography. He has entered multiple design competitions including the Trapelo Road Transit Shelters with Design-Lab which was awarded first prize in a competition sponsored by Demios (formerly MacPhail Architectural Collaborative) of Belmont, MA in 2003. In 2004, Andrew won the Stewardson Keefe LeBrun Travel grant from the AIA NY.
Teaching experience includes instructing design studios at Wentworth Institue of Technology and The Boston Architectural College , instructing drawing with the Environmental Design and Interiors program of Syracuse University in Florence Italy, and as a guest critic at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Northeastern University.
Andrew enjoys playing soccer, squash, sailing, reading, cooking and games.