Assistant Professor
Greene Building, Room 104

518-276-4066

Doctor of Design, Harvard University; Master of Design, Harvard University; Bachelor of Architecture, Pratt University

Dr. Arta Yazdanseta is an Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Her research explores Bioclimatic and Biogenic Envelopes at the intersection of design, building performance, and plant biophysical ecology. Her work aims to enhance socia-natural systems by cultivating their self-organizing potentials. 

Arta earned her Doctor of Design and Master of Design in Energy and Environments from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and her professional architectural degree from the Pratt Institute. As a researcher at the Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities, she developed environmental design strategies and provided performance analyses for the Center’s headquarters’ Zero Carbon Retrofit project. Her research contributions have been published in Empire, State & Building, Essays on Thermodynamics: Architecture and Beauty, and Phyto: Principles and Resources for Site Remediation and Landscape Design. As an architect and designer, she has worked at SHoP Architects and hMa.  

She has taught at Northeastern University, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Boston Architectural College, and Pratt Institute. Before RPI, she was an Assistant Professor of Environmental Design and Technology at the Parsons School of Constructed Environments (SCE) where she also served as the Faculty Leader of Environmental Design and Director of the Master of Architecture Program. 

Dr. Yazdanseta was the first prize winner of the International Building Performance Simulation Association Competition Award in Chambery, France. She was the recipient of the Harvard Sustainability Award, Circle Award Fellowship, and AIA Women’s Architectural Auxiliary Eleanor Allwork Scholar. Her work has been exhibited at the New York Chapter of the AIA and has been published in Metropolis magazine.