Saba S. Salekfard

Saba Salekfard is an architectural designer, educator, editor, and founding member of the design practice SomeHow Studio. She holds an M.Arch from the Yale School of Architecture and a B.Arch from California Polytechnic State University, Pomona. Her teaching experience includes appointments at Syracuse University, Cal Poly Pomona, and the Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design, where she has led design studios, theory courses, and introductory architecture programs. In practice, she has contributed to projects at Robert A.M. Stern Architects, Douglas C. Wright Architects, and 5+ Design, alongside an independent artistic practice that spans interiors, objects, installations, and publications. She is also a member of Cilantro, a design collective  rooted in community engagement and collaborative making. 

Her personal research investigates the intersection of the human body, ritual, and architectural space, positioning ceremony and “event” as generative elements in design. This work—deeply informed by explorations of domesticity, housing, and cultural identity—seeks to integrate memorial and ceremonial acts into everyday life. Through public, participatory projects, she examines how culturally specific rituals inform the design of domestic and urban spaces. Her ongoing projects include Home as Neighborhood: Embracing New Density in American Suburbs, supported by the Paul Katz / KPF Fellowship.

Salekfard’s design and editorial work has been featured in Design Milk, World Architecture Festival, and Archinect. She has exhibited at the Architecture + Design Museum in Los Angeles, NeoCon in Chicago, and independent galleries across Los Angeles and New York. Her recognitions include the David M. Schwarz Good Times Award, the Alpha Rho Chi Medal, the Common Bond Scholarship, and finalist placement in the KROB Drawing Competition. Across her practice, research, and teaching, she is committed to an architecture of care—an approach shaped by how traditions of care, commemoration, and communal participation can meaningfully shape the built environment.