Altaf Engineer

Background

About Altaf Engineer

Altaf Engineer is an Associate Professor at the University of Arizona School of Architecture and Institute on Place, Wellbeing, and Performance (UA IPWP). He is Chair of the Master of Science in Architecture Degree Program (MS.Arch) at the School of Architecture and faculty advisor of the Health and Built Environment concentration. Altaf holds a Ph.D. in Architecture and Master of Architecture from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he was an Illinois Distinguished Fellow for three years and awarded the ARCC King’s Merit Medal for Excellence in Architectural + Environmental Behavior Research. He is a registered architect in New York, USA, NCARB certified, and a LEED Accredited Professional with ten plus years of experience in sustainable higher education buildings, institutional buildings, adaptive re-use, and residential projects. Altaf received the 2018 Emerging Legacy Award from the College of Fine & Applied Arts, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This award recognizes alumni and friends who have impacted their fields in transformative ways—catalysts with a distinguished service to the arts. Altaf’s scholarship, teaching and practice are informed by his interest in social, cultural, and behavioral factors in design with a special focus on daylighting, health and wellbeing. He is first author of the book Shedding New Light On Art Museum Additions: Front Stage and Back Stage Experiences, published in 2018. Altaf is a co-founder of Architects For Society, a non-profit design practice of allied professionals from all over the world formed in 2015 with a mission to serve disadvantaged communities through innovative architecture and design. The Hex House, a housing prototype for displaced populations around the globe developed by the group, has received the German Design Council Iconic Award 2016 and American Architecture Prize 2016, Bronze medal in Architectural Design/Social Housing Category.