Andrea Simitch

Andrea Simitch is the Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow and previous Chair of the Department of Architecture at Cornell University (2017–21). She teaches courses in architectural design, architectural representation, and furniture design.

Simitch served as director of the bachelor of architecture program from 2011–14, as director of undergraduate studies from 2007–08, and as associate dean of AAP from 2002–03. She has been a panelist on the New York State Council on the Arts, a department representative for the Cornell Council for the Arts, and was a faculty collaborator with the Andrew Goldsworthy workshop at Storm King. Student work from her furniture design course has been exhibited at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York City.

Simitch and Val K. Warke partner in a collaborative architectural practice. Their recent projects include the Seneca House, as featured in Architectural Record; Nalati National Park Resort and the Eco-Tourism Strategic Planning Proposal, both in Nalati, PRC; as well as numerous collaborative design competitions that include Arbedo Castione School in Ticino, Switzerland; Center for Promotion of Science of the Republic of Serbia Competition; Benetton for Designing in Teheran Competition; and Stockholm City Library Competition.

Simitch has taught extensively for Cornell University and numerous international venues that include Europe and Central and South America. She is regularly invited to lecture and participate in diploma juries and symposia at peer institutions, most recently in Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. Recently, Simitch delivered the keynote lecture at the Architecture Society of China Annual Meeting in Shanghai, as well as the keynote lecture at the School of Architecture, China Academy of Art’s Architectural Education Leadership Forum in Hangzhou. She is also an advisory board member for ARCHITECTEM, an architecture platform based in Dubai. She was a 2015 Fellow at the Baer Art Center in Hofsós, Iceland. The Language of Architecture: 26 Principles Every Architect Should Know, a book she co-authored with Warke and published by Rockport Publishers (June 2014), has been translated into seven languages. She received her B.Arch. from Cornell University in 1979 and also attended Occidental College and l’École Spécial d’Architecture in Paris, France. In 2017, Design Intelligence (DI) named her one of the 25 Most Admired Educators.