Sean Canty

Sean Canty is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and the founder of Studio Sean Canty (SSC), an architecture practice based in Cambridge, MA. SSC choreographs unconventional relationships between spaces of contemplation and collective gathering. The work of the studio engages formal combination and juxtaposition at a variety of scales—from objects to interiors—and explores a range of programmatic types—from domestic environments to cultural spaces.

Canty is also one of the founding principals of Office III (OIII), an experimental architectural collective that spans New York, San Francisco, and Cambridge. Selected as a finalist for the 2016 MoMA PS1 Young Architects competition, OIII has completed a Welcome Center for Governors Island and exhibited work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Prior to founding these studios, Canty was a Project Designer at IwamotoScott Architecture in San Francisco.

Canty’s work and writing has been published in domus, Harvard Design Magazine, MAS Context, and the forthcoming publications BLANK: Speculations on CLT and Inscriptions: Architecture Before Speech. Canty is the recipient of the 2020 Richard Rogers Fellowship.

Prior to joining the faculty at the GSD, Canty held teaching positions at the Cooper Union, University California Berkeley, and California College of the Arts. In addition to architectural design, Canty has taught classes on descriptive geometry and design media. Canty received an M.Arch from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and a B.Arch from California College of the Artsn and a B.Arch from California College of the Arts.