Michael Bell

Michael Bell is a Professor of Architecture at Columbia University’s School of Architecture, where he directs the Core Design Studios and coordinates the Housing Design Studios. He chairs the Columbia Conference on Architecture, Engineering, and Materials and has extensive experience in urban planning, housing design, and architectural research.

His work spans academic leadership, design practice, and urbanism, including founding the low-income housing program '16 Houses' in Houston and leading mixed-income housing projects in New York City. He has taught at the University of California at Berkeley, Rice University, and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

Research interests include housing policy, urban planning, glass material engineering, and public-private spatial design. His projects emphasize affordability, sustainability, and integrating technical innovation with social equity.

• Recipient of four Progressive Architecture Awards
• Emerging Voices Award from the Architectural League of New York

Bell’s design work has been exhibited at institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Venice Biennale, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He co-founded the urbanism journal 32 and authored books including Engineered Transparency and Slow Space.