Dana Cuff
Professor, Architecutre and Urban Design, UCLA; Director, cityLAB
Biography
Dana Cuff is Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at UCLA where she is also Director of cityLAB, an award-winning design research center focused on spatial justice (www.cityLAB.ucla.edu). Since receiving her Ph.D. in Architecture from Berkeley, Cuff has published and lectured widely about design and inclusion, the architectural profession, and affordable housing.
She is author of several books, including The Provisional City about postwar housing in Los Angeles, and a co-authored book called Urban Humanities: New Practices for Reimagining the City, about her crossdisciplinary research and teaching funded by the Mellon Foundation. Based on cityLAB studies, in 2016 Cuff co-authored a landmark bill that permits “backyard homes” on virtually all 8 million single-family properties in California, doubling the density of suburbs across the state. She is currently working on innovative affordable housing to be co-located with public schools. In 2019, cityLAB established an off-campus center in one underserved Los Angeles neighborhood, to explore creating more compassionate cities through multi-year engagement with community organizations. Cuff was the recent recipient of three prestigious awards: Women in Architecture Activist of the Year (2019, Architectural Record), Researcher of the Year (2020, ARCC), and Educator of the Year (2020, AIA Los Angeles).