Sam Hanson Sheffer

sam.h.sheffer@gmail.com
ssheffer@risd.edu

Sam Sheffer (they/them, he/him) is a designer based in Providence, Rhode Island. Their work bridges architecture, material research, and environmental response, focusing on the body as a site of architectural extension. Drawing on a background in geology, their practice explores adaptable, lightweight, and layered material systems shaped by fabrication, wearables, and extreme environmental conditions.

Sam holds a Master of Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor’s degree in Geology from Whitman College. They are a Project Designer at MALL and serve as a design critic in the Architecture departments at the Rhode Island School of Design. Their research and design work has been published in Thresholds and Paprika, and recently featured in the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.

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Education

Harvard Graduate School of Design
Cambridge, MA
Masters of Architecture

Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation
Shape of Two Cities: New York / Paris
New York, NY & Paris, France
Certificate

Whitman College
Walla Walla, WA
Bachelor of Fine Arts
Bachelor of Science with Honors in Geology

Teaching

2025	Rice School of Architecture, Co-Studio instructor with Jennifer Bonner
	Department of Architecture, Rice University. Houston, Texas.Co-Instructor for Advanced Studio, Cuteness Contradictions, and Concrete.

2022-Pres	Rhode Island School of Design, Critic, Department of Architecture and Industrial Design
	2025 Critic, Department of Architecture, Rhode Island School of Design. Providence, RI. Instructor for Summer Foundations Spatial Dynamics Studio,
	2025 Course Coordinator, Department of Architecture, Rhode Island School of Design. Providence, RI. Coordinator and Instructor for Models Studio.
	2024 Course Coordinator, Department of Architecture, Rhode Island School of Design. Providence, RI. Coordinator and Instructor, Summer Design Studio
	2024 Critic, Department of Architecture, Rhode Island School of Design. Providence, RI. Instructor for graduate studio: Models.
	2023 Critic, Department of Industrial Design, Rhode Island School of Design. Providence, RI. Instructor for advanced undergraduate studio: Body-Build-ing
	2023 Critic, Department of Architecture, Rhode Island School of Design. Providence, RI. Instructor for Summer Foundations Design Studio.
	2023 Critic, Department of Architecture, Rhode Island School of Design. Providence, RI. Instructor for graduate studio: Models.
	2022 Critic, Department of Industrial Design, Rhode Island School of Design. Providence, RI. Instructor for advanced studio: Post-Corporeal Post-Thetic.

2024	Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lecturer, Department of Architecture
	Lecturer, Department of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Cambridge, MA. Lecturer for 4.021 How to Design IAP.

2022	Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Early Design Education
	Architecture Instructor, Design Discovery. Harvard Graduate School of Design. Cambridge, MA. Early Design Education Program.

Guest Lectures

2025
GENS Public Programme: Venice Architecture Biennale
“Soft Tactics: Tailored Assemblies”
Team: Sam Sheffer, Stephanie Lloyd, and Emily Wissemann

2024
“The Remake”. MODEL(ING)
ARCH 490 mod. Prof. Gideon Schwartzman
University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign

2023
Guest Lecture and Workshop, “Filming through Design”
Foundations Department, Rhode Island School of Design. Providence, RI.

2022
Digital Media: Errors and Omissions,
Harvard University, Graduate School of Design
“After the Fact” with Stephanie Lloyd, Invited by Ian Miley

Exhibitions

2025
“Spacesuits.US: A Case for Ultra-Thin Adjustments.”
19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale Di Venezia,
Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective,
curatore: Carlo Ratti.

2025
“Spacesuits.US: A Case for Ultra-Thin Adjustments.”
19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale Di Venezia,
Constructing la Biennale, Venice, Italy.

2022
“AFTER THE FACT” installation, Kenzo Tange Chair Pavilion,
Harvard Graduate School of Design. Cambridge, MA.

2026
R-Value Accessories: A Case for Ultra-Thin Adjustments
Curators: Emily Ezquerro and Sam Sheffer
Rhode Island School of Design BEB Gallery
Providence RI

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