Agrest and Gandelsonas Architects is an internationally renowned New York-based partnership founded in 1980 by Diana Agrest and Mario Gandelsonas. The firm has developed a distinctive approach to architecture and urbanism, working across scales from city planning and urban design to architecture and interior design. Their work combines disciplinary expertise, form-making always attuned to social and cultural forces and inventive modes of representation. In addition to their practice, both Diana Agrest and Mario Gandelsonas have made significant contributions to theoretical and critical discourse, as well as pedagogical innovation. Their work has profoundly influenced contemporary architecture and urbanism, challenging traditional methods and advancing innovative frameworks. Their transdisciplinary approach integrates semiotics, cultural studies, critical theory, and social and environmental studies to reimagine the field.
Diana Agrest is widely recognized for her groundbreaking contributions to architectural and urban theory, and its relationship to practice. Her work is characterized for a transdisciplinary approach incorporating other discourses to formulate new critical concepts such as her work with film, science, semiotics, etc. Her approach and pedagogies take a critical position of reading the city as a generator of architecture through a transformational process, focusing on themes such as the city, film, nature, science, representation, and the body.
Mario Gandelsonas has made a lasting impact on urban theory, with a particular emphasis on the spatial and visual grammar of cities. His work delves into the semiotics of urban spaces, exploring how visual systems and symbolic structures shape our understanding and experience of the urban environment. In his approach to urbanism each city offers unique formal structures and processes that can become the point of departure for the exploration of potential architectural and urban futures.
Together, Agrest and Gandelsonas have transformed architectural and urban practice with their innovative projects and critical concepts. They have explored issues of representation through drawing as a fundamental tool for architectural thinking, using it to critically reassess architecture and urban discourse. Their ideas and methodologies have influenced generations of architects and urban planners. Since the 1990s, they have applied their distinctive Vision Planning approach to urban projects across various scales, from large metropolitan centers to small towns. Their methodology emphasizes creating meaningful urban spaces by identifying the systems of activity that animate these environments while crafting identities, images, and atmospheres uniquely tailored to each locale.
Their work has earned numerous awards and widespread recognition in the fields of architecture and urbanism. Both have also received individual accolades: Diana Agrest for her contributions to urban discourse and the city through film and Mario Gandelsonas for his work in urban planning. The firm’s diverse portfolio includes urban projects, buildings, houses, and interiors, globally across the United States, Europe, South America, and China. Their work has been extensively published in books, encyclopedias, and magazines, and exhibited in major galleries and museums worldwide, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, MoMA, Frankfurt Architecture Museum, Milano Triennale, Centre Canadien d’Architecture, The Walker Art Center, and Leo Castelli Gallery.
Exhibitions, Collections
Agrest and Gandelsonas: Fabric Object II, The Cooper Union, April–May, 2025
Fabric Object: Agrest and Gandelsonas, Princeton University School of Architecture, March–May, 2024
Agrest and Gandelsonas, Works in the Collection, SFMOMA
Agrest and Gandelsonas, Works in the Collection, Canadian Centre for Architecture
Dave Elbert, Des Moines Vision Plan (BPC, 2021).
‘The World’s Best Public Spaces,’ Dwell, 2015.
Roger L. Kemp, Carl J. Stephani, Agrest and Gandelsonas in Cities Going Green: A Handbook of Best Practices (McFarland, 2011).
Agrest and Gandelsonas in XXth Century Architecture (Taschen, 2009).
Betsy Rubiner, ‘Cure for Urban Blight: Plant Lots of Sculpture,’ New York Times, October 30, 2009.
‘Des Moines Art Center Opens New Sculpture Park in Heart of Downtown Des Moines,’ Art Daily, accessed October 2009.
Peter Gossel, Modern Architecture (Taschen, 2007).
Antoinette Martin, ‘Two Projects Claim Street Savvy,’ New York Times, December 9, 2007.
Robert A. M. Stern, David Fishman, and Jacob Tilove, New York 2000: Architecture and Urbanism Between the Bicentennial and the Millennium (The Monacelli Press, 2006).
Ariella Masboungi, ‘Des Moines, de la theorie a la pratique,’ Urbanisme, 2004.
Herbert Muschamp, ‘The Year in Review: Art/Architecture; The Deadly Importance of Making Distinctions,’ New York Times, December 30, 2001.
Suzanne Stephens, ‘Melrose Community Center Bronx, New York: Agrest and Gandelsonas Enrich a Landscape of Brick Public-Housing Towers with Bold, Gleaming Forms,’ Architectural Record, March 2001, 130–135.
‘Melrose Community Center,’ de Architect, December 2001.
‘Melrose Community Center,’ Oculus 64–4, December 2001.
The Municipal Art Society, First Annual New York City MASterwork Award, Oculus 63–10, Summer 2001.
Diana Agrest and Mario Gandelsonas, Agrest and Gandelsonas Works, (Princeton Architectural Press, 1995).
Paul Goldberger, ‘Houses As Art; The Masterpieces They Call Home,’ New York Times Magazine, March 12, 1995.
A+U, Special Issue, Fall 1994.
Elizabeth Smith, ‘The Des Moines Vision Plan,’ Urban Revisions: Current Projects for the Public Realm (MIT Press, 1994).
Joseph Giovannini, ‘Haus der Sechs Tuerme,’ Architektur & Wohnen, January 1994.
‘The AD 100 Architects: Agrest and Gandelsonas,’ Architectural Digest, 1991.
‘Masters of New York Material Culture,’ Architectural Digest, November 1990.
‘Revisionist History,’ House and Garden, November 1989.
‘Homage to Loos,’ Architectural Record, October 1989.
‘Agrest and Gandelsonas,’ Architectural Digest, April 1989.
Cesar Pelli, ‘On Agrest and Gandelsonas,’ Five Choose Five (AIA, 1988).
Werner Oechslin, ‘The Beautification of the City,’ La Ricostruzione della Città. Berlino–IBA 1987: XVII Triennale di Milano. (Milano, 23 febbraio–31 marzo 1985), (Electa, 1987).
Pierluigi, Nicolin, ed., ‘Project for the Renewal of the Area of Port Vittoria, Milano,’ Le città immaginate. Un viaggio in Italia, nove progetti per nove città (Electa, 1986).
Diana Agrest, ‘Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas. A Project by Agrest & Gandelsonas, Machado & Silvetti, C. Hubert,’ On the Traces of the American City, Lotus International 50, 1986.
Herbert Muschamp: ‘Ground Up: The Piazza in the Living Room. Communion by Communication,’ Art Forum, December 18, 1985.
‘Urban Fragment—Building I, Agrest and Gandelsonas,’ A+U 84:08, August 1984.
Alan Colquhoun, ‘Creative Design and Critical Discourse,’ Lotus International 44, 1984.
H. W. Hammer and J. P. Kleihues, ‘Idee Prozess Ergebnis,’ Die Reparatur und Rekonstrunktion der Stadt (International Bauausstellung, 1984).
Kurt Forster, ‘A Sense of Building,’ Lotus International 41, I, 1984.
Alan Colquhoun, ‘On Writing Architecture,’ Progressive Architecture, June, 1983, 80–85.
Martin Filler, ‘Harbingers: Ten Architects,’ Art in America, Summer 1981, 114–123.
Suzanne Stephens, ‘City Report: New York. Tradition of the New,’ Skyline, December 1981, 4–5.
Ada Louise Huxtable, ‘Architecture View; Classicism in a Contemporary Context,’ New York Times, September 6, 1981, Section 2, 21.
Diana Agrest and Mario Gandelsonas, ‘City Segments: Architecture Between Memory and Amnesia, Proposal for a Suburban Center for Minneapolis, on the Edge of the Mississippi, 1976-79,’ Design Quarterly No. 113‑114, January 1980, 22–23.
‘On Practice: An Architecture of Criticism, Production of Place, The Mirror of Enigmas,’ A+U: Special Issue—Diana Agrest, Mario Gandelsonas 80:03 No. 114, March 1980.
Agrest & Gandelsonas, ‘Urban Fragments: Three Buildings in Buenos Aires,’ International Architect 1, 1979.
Ivor Indyk, ‘Literary Theory and Architectural Practice, A Note on Agrest & Gandelsonas on Practice,’ International Architect 1, 1979.
‘A Suburban Center for Minneapolis,’ Architecture d’Aujourd’hui 202, April 1979.
‘La Villette Competition Project,’ Architecture d’Aujourd’hui 187, October‑November 1976.
‘Roosevelt Island Competition Project,’ Architecture d’Aujourd’hui 186, August–September 1976.
Paul Goldberger, ‘How Architects Develop Ideas,’ New York Times, December 27, 1976, 58.
‘Roosevelt Island Housing Competition Project,’ Controspazio 4, December 1975.
Diana Agrest is widely recognized for her groundbreaking contributions to architectural and urban theory, and its relationship to practice. Her work is characterized for a transdisciplinary approach incorporating other discourses to formulate new critical concepts such as her work with film, science, semiotics, etc. Her approach and pedagogies take a critical position of reading the city as a generator of architecture through a transformational process, focusing on themes such as the city, film, nature, science, representation, and the body.
Mario Gandelsonas has made a lasting impact on urban theory, with a particular emphasis on the spatial and visual grammar of cities. His work delves into the semiotics of urban spaces, exploring how visual systems and symbolic structures shape our understanding and experience of the urban environment. In his approach to urbanism each city offers unique formal structures and processes that can become the point of departure for the exploration of potential architectural and urban futures.
Together, Agrest and Gandelsonas have transformed architectural and urban practice with their innovative projects and critical concepts. They have explored issues of representation through drawing as a fundamental tool for architectural thinking, using it to critically reassess architecture and urban discourse. Their ideas and methodologies have influenced generations of architects and urban planners. Since the 1990s, they have applied their distinctive Vision Planning approach to urban projects across various scales, from large metropolitan centers to small towns. Their methodology emphasizes creating meaningful urban spaces by identifying the systems of activity that animate these environments while crafting identities, images, and atmospheres uniquely tailored to each locale.
Their work has earned numerous awards and widespread recognition in the fields of architecture and urbanism. Both have also received individual accolades: Diana Agrest for her contributions to urban discourse and the city through film and Mario Gandelsonas for his work in urban planning. The firm’s diverse portfolio includes urban projects, buildings, houses, and interiors, globally across the United States, Europe, South America, and China. Their work has been extensively published in books, encyclopedias, and magazines, and exhibited in major galleries and museums worldwide, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, MoMA, Frankfurt Architecture Museum, Milano Triennale, Centre Canadien d’Architecture, The Walker Art Center, and Leo Castelli Gallery.
Exhibitions, Collections
Agrest and Gandelsonas: Fabric Object II, The Cooper Union, April–May, 2025
Fabric Object: Agrest and Gandelsonas, Princeton University School of Architecture, March–May, 2024
Agrest and Gandelsonas, Works in the Collection, SFMOMA
Agrest and Gandelsonas, Works in the Collection, Canadian Centre for Architecture
Publications
Dave Elbert, Des Moines Vision Plan (BPC, 2021).
‘The World’s Best Public Spaces,’ Dwell, 2015.
Roger L. Kemp, Carl J. Stephani, Agrest and Gandelsonas in Cities Going Green: A Handbook of Best Practices (McFarland, 2011).
Agrest and Gandelsonas in XXth Century Architecture (Taschen, 2009).
Betsy Rubiner, ‘Cure for Urban Blight: Plant Lots of Sculpture,’ New York Times, October 30, 2009.
‘Des Moines Art Center Opens New Sculpture Park in Heart of Downtown Des Moines,’ Art Daily, accessed October 2009.
Peter Gossel, Modern Architecture (Taschen, 2007).
Antoinette Martin, ‘Two Projects Claim Street Savvy,’ New York Times, December 9, 2007.
Robert A. M. Stern, David Fishman, and Jacob Tilove, New York 2000: Architecture and Urbanism Between the Bicentennial and the Millennium (The Monacelli Press, 2006).
Ariella Masboungi, ‘Des Moines, de la theorie a la pratique,’ Urbanisme, 2004.
Herbert Muschamp, ‘The Year in Review: Art/Architecture; The Deadly Importance of Making Distinctions,’ New York Times, December 30, 2001.
Suzanne Stephens, ‘Melrose Community Center Bronx, New York: Agrest and Gandelsonas Enrich a Landscape of Brick Public-Housing Towers with Bold, Gleaming Forms,’ Architectural Record, March 2001, 130–135.
‘Melrose Community Center,’ de Architect, December 2001.
‘Melrose Community Center,’ Oculus 64–4, December 2001.
The Municipal Art Society, First Annual New York City MASterwork Award, Oculus 63–10, Summer 2001.
Diana Agrest and Mario Gandelsonas, Agrest and Gandelsonas Works, (Princeton Architectural Press, 1995).
Paul Goldberger, ‘Houses As Art; The Masterpieces They Call Home,’ New York Times Magazine, March 12, 1995.
A+U, Special Issue, Fall 1994.
Elizabeth Smith, ‘The Des Moines Vision Plan,’ Urban Revisions: Current Projects for the Public Realm (MIT Press, 1994).
Joseph Giovannini, ‘Haus der Sechs Tuerme,’ Architektur & Wohnen, January 1994.
‘The AD 100 Architects: Agrest and Gandelsonas,’ Architectural Digest, 1991.
‘Masters of New York Material Culture,’ Architectural Digest, November 1990.
‘Revisionist History,’ House and Garden, November 1989.
‘Homage to Loos,’ Architectural Record, October 1989.
‘Agrest and Gandelsonas,’ Architectural Digest, April 1989.
Cesar Pelli, ‘On Agrest and Gandelsonas,’ Five Choose Five (AIA, 1988).
Werner Oechslin, ‘The Beautification of the City,’ La Ricostruzione della Città. Berlino–IBA 1987: XVII Triennale di Milano. (Milano, 23 febbraio–31 marzo 1985), (Electa, 1987).
Pierluigi, Nicolin, ed., ‘Project for the Renewal of the Area of Port Vittoria, Milano,’ Le città immaginate. Un viaggio in Italia, nove progetti per nove città (Electa, 1986).
Diana Agrest, ‘Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas. A Project by Agrest & Gandelsonas, Machado & Silvetti, C. Hubert,’ On the Traces of the American City, Lotus International 50, 1986.
Herbert Muschamp: ‘Ground Up: The Piazza in the Living Room. Communion by Communication,’ Art Forum, December 18, 1985.
‘Urban Fragment—Building I, Agrest and Gandelsonas,’ A+U 84:08, August 1984.
Alan Colquhoun, ‘Creative Design and Critical Discourse,’ Lotus International 44, 1984.
H. W. Hammer and J. P. Kleihues, ‘Idee Prozess Ergebnis,’ Die Reparatur und Rekonstrunktion der Stadt (International Bauausstellung, 1984).
Kurt Forster, ‘A Sense of Building,’ Lotus International 41, I, 1984.
Alan Colquhoun, ‘On Writing Architecture,’ Progressive Architecture, June, 1983, 80–85.
Martin Filler, ‘Harbingers: Ten Architects,’ Art in America, Summer 1981, 114–123.
Suzanne Stephens, ‘City Report: New York. Tradition of the New,’ Skyline, December 1981, 4–5.
Ada Louise Huxtable, ‘Architecture View; Classicism in a Contemporary Context,’ New York Times, September 6, 1981, Section 2, 21.
Diana Agrest and Mario Gandelsonas, ‘City Segments: Architecture Between Memory and Amnesia, Proposal for a Suburban Center for Minneapolis, on the Edge of the Mississippi, 1976-79,’ Design Quarterly No. 113‑114, January 1980, 22–23.
‘On Practice: An Architecture of Criticism, Production of Place, The Mirror of Enigmas,’ A+U: Special Issue—Diana Agrest, Mario Gandelsonas 80:03 No. 114, March 1980.
Agrest & Gandelsonas, ‘Urban Fragments: Three Buildings in Buenos Aires,’ International Architect 1, 1979.
Ivor Indyk, ‘Literary Theory and Architectural Practice, A Note on Agrest & Gandelsonas on Practice,’ International Architect 1, 1979.
‘A Suburban Center for Minneapolis,’ Architecture d’Aujourd’hui 202, April 1979.
‘La Villette Competition Project,’ Architecture d’Aujourd’hui 187, October‑November 1976.
‘Roosevelt Island Competition Project,’ Architecture d’Aujourd’hui 186, August–September 1976.
Paul Goldberger, ‘How Architects Develop Ideas,’ New York Times, December 27, 1976, 58.
‘Roosevelt Island Housing Competition Project,’ Controspazio 4, December 1975.