BIO:
Stephen Phillips, FAIA, Ph.D. is a British-born American architect, theorist, and educator based in Los Angeles, California. He is principal architect at Stephen Phillips Architects (SPARCHS) and Professor of Architecture at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Born in Oxford, England, Phillips was raised in Loughton, Essex; Berkeley Heights, New Jersey; and Pasadena, California. Phillips received his B.A. from Yale University with Distinction in Architecture and his Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania where he was awarded the Paul Philippe Cret Medal for best thesis. Phillips received his professional training in the offices of Charles Moore (Moore Rubel Yudel), Cathy Simon (Simon Martin-Vegue Winkelstein Moris), and William Turnbull Jr. (William Turnbull and Associates /Turnbull Griffin Haesloop) prior to launching his own architecture firm in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Upon earning his Master’s Degree and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from Princeton University School of Architecture, Phillips was awarded prestigious residential fellowships from The J. Paul Getty Foundation and the Smithsonian American Art Museum alongside research and publication grants from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and the Canadian Centre for Architecture. He was awarded an artist-in-residence at the MuseumsQuartier in Vienna.
In 2021, Phillips was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects for his "exceptional work and significant contributions to architecture and society on a national level.” As the Founding Director of the Cal Poly Los Angeles Metropolitan Program in Architecture and Urban Design, Phillips was awarded The Studio Prize from Architect Magazine and The Creative Achievement Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. A feature article was written about Phillips’s nationally recognized contribution to architecture education in Archinect’s “Dean’s List” in 2020.
Phillips’s firm Stephen Phillips Architects (SPARCHS) has received American Institute of Architecture Honor and Merit Awards for their work and has been published internationally in DOMUS, Der Spiegel, The Architect’s Newspaper, Dezeen, 7x7, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Sunset Magazine, among many other notable newspapers, magazines, and journals.
Phillips has taught as visiting faculty at U.C. Berkeley, UCLA, SCI-Arc, CCA, and the Art Center College of Design. He is the author of the prominently reviewed books L.A. [Ten]: Interviews on Los Angeles Architecture 1970s-1990s from Lars Müller Publishers, 2014; and Elastic Architecture: Frederick Kiesler and Design Research in the First Age of Robotic Culture from MIT Press, 2017.
EDUCATION:
Princeton University
Ph.D., School of Architecture, 2008
M.A., School of Architecture, 2003
University of Pennsylvania
M.Arch., School of Architecture, 1994
Yale University
B.A. with Distinction in Architecture
Magna Cum Laude, 1991
University of California, Berkeley
Undergraduate Studies in Architecture, 1985-1987
CAREER:
Stephen Phillips Architects (SPARCHS)
Principal
Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo
June 1999 – Present
William Turnbull Associates / Turnbull Griffin Haesloop
Project Architect and Manager, Senior Designer
San Francisco, CA
February 1997 – June 1999
Simon Martin-Vegue Winklestein Moris
Designer
San Francisco, CA
July 1994 – February 1997
Moore Ruble Yudell
Junior Designer
Santa Monica, CA
Summer 1992; Summer 1990
TEACHING:
California Polytechnic State University, SLO
Founding Director, Cal Poly Los Angeles Metropolitan Program in
Architecture and Urban Design
Professor, 2015 – Present
California Polytechnic State University, SLO
Full Professor, 2016 - Present
Associate Professor, 2010 – 2015
Assistant Professor, 2005 – 2010
Art Center College of Design
Visiting Faculty, 2018 – 2022
HTC Environmental Design — Gaming, Media, Entertainment and Product Design
Southern California Institute of Architecture
Visiting Faculty, 2004, 2010-2016
University of California, Los Angeles
Visiting Assistant Professor, 2007-2008
University of California, Berkeley
Lecturer, 2004
California College of the Arts
Lecturer, 2004
Princeton University, Dept of Architecture
Assistant in Instruction, 2001-2003
University of Pennsylvania, Dept of Architecture
Teaching Assistant, 1992-1993
LEAP, Imagination in Learning
Redding School of Synergy School
Architecture Teacher, 1995-2000