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 In Universal Design

Kessler McGuinness & Associates, LLC (KMA) is pleased to announce that Josh Safdie, Associate AIA, has joined founders Katherine McGuinness and David Kessler as a Principal. Mr. Safdie has launched KMA’s new Universal Design services with several private residential and commercial clients. He is currently developing Universal Design standards for Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly and an aging-in-place concept plan for Peter Cooper Village / Stuyvesant Town in New York City.

josh-safdie
Josh Safdie, Assoc. AIA

Mr. Safdie first joined KMA in 2014 as Associate Principal, managing and directing projects for higher education, multi-family housing, senior housing, health care, cultural facilities, commercial facilities, and historic preservation clients.   Prior to joining KMA, Mr. Safdie spent seven years directing the IHCDStudio at the Institute for Human Centered Design, where he led Universal Design and ADA compliance projects throughout the United States, Europe, and Russia. As a KMA Principal, Mr. Safdie continues to direct a wide variety of accessibility planning projects with government and private clients, including the Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, Northeastern University, and Linear Retail.

A nationally-recognized expert in his field, Mr. Safdie currently serves as a Co-Chair of the Boston Society of Architects Access Committee and is a Member of the City of Somerville’s Zoning Board of Appeals. Mr. Safdie has received design awards from the Boston Society of Architects, Massachusetts Architectural Access Board, and Boston Preservation Alliance for projects successfully merging preservation and accessibility. Mr. Safdie has served on the Architecture faculties of Rhode Island School of Design and the Boston Architectural College. As a Visiting Associate Professor of Architecture at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, his Universal Design course was recognized with a Berkeley Prize Teaching Fellowship. Mr. Safdie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Design from Brown University and a Master of Architecture from Rhode Island School of Design.