Michael Smith-Masis graduated from Veritas School of Architecture (Hons) Costa Rica and the AA in London where he specialized in Sustainable Environmental Design. He became a LOEB Felow at Harvard GSD in 2018.

 

In 2010 he co-founded Entre Nos Atelier, a social collective design workshop. The architecture of Entre Nos Atelier encourages participation, collaboration, cooperation, and ownership by low-income residents, rural and indigenous communities, and informal settlements, the true protagonists in the city. Michael has facilitated projects from housing to public space, guided by principles of replicability, efficiency, functionality, feasibility, and environmental sustainability. He is committed with a social design agenda within community empowerment, environmental awareness and hands-on experiences based on inclusive design processes mostly developed upon low-income environments.

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His work has received significant awards and honours, including the 2017 CICA Award for Young Architects Practice and the 2015 International Architecture Award at the Buenos Aires Biennial of Architecture. He also won the 2016 Grand Biennial Prize and the 2016 and 2014 Icomadera Prize at the International Biennial of Architecture in San Jose, Costa Rica, and the 2015 Sustainable Construction Award from the Costa Rican Chamber of Construction, among others. Alongside his architectural practice, Smith has taught and lectured worldwide to build capacity for transformation processes within distressed communities.