Empowering Architecture to Address Homelessness

In 2020 Suman Sorg, Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, founded a non-profit architecture firm, A Complete Unknown, to address the issues of homelessness and economic displacement through “intelligent design.” Sorg will show us examples of how her ideas and built infrastructure have influenced and helped to relieve the problems resulting from the gentrification taking place in so many cities.

Born in New Delhi, India, Sorg emigrated to the US in 1968 and settled in Washington, DC. She started her practice in 1986, which has grown to be one of the largest solely woman-owned architecture firms in the US. Sorg guides Sorg Architects as Principal-in-Charge and Chief Designer. In 2010, Sorg expanded her practice in a branch office in New Delhi. Her work has been recognized with numerous honors and awards. She has lectured for the National Building Museum, the Urban Land Institute, the Center for Architecture in New York, the US Department of State, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.