Mario Gandelsonas

Mario I. Gandelsonas (born December 14, 1938 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is an American architect and theorist whose specializations include urbanism and semiotics.

Gandelsonas is a founding partner of Agrest and Gandelsonas Architects, based in New York City, with Diana Agrest. In addition to his professional work, Gandelsonas is a scholar. He currently serves as the Class of 1913 Lecturer in Architecture at Princeton University and previously taught at Yale University and Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Mario I. Gandelsonas was born on 14 December 1938 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the son of Lithuanian immigrants. He was educated at the University of Buenos Aires where he received a Diploma Architect in 1962, and at the in Paris, from 1967-1968. In 1971,the American Architect Peter Eisenman invited Gandelsonas to travel to New York as a Visiting Fellow to the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies(IAUS). Gandelsonas became a fellow in 1972 and served as one of the founding editors of the Institute's architectural journal, Oppositions. Gandelsonas currently serves as the acting dean and the Class of 1913 Lecturer in Architecture at Princeton University's School of Architecture.

In 1980, Gandelsonas became a founding partner of Agrest and Gandelsonas Architects with Diana Agrest. A unique perception of the city has formed the basis of his work. As a theorist, Gandelsonas is known for his approach to urbanism based on reading the plans of cities like they are text. His striking analytical diagrams of American cities have become a trademark for investigations into urban morphology. In the early 90's, he developed the concept of "Vision Planning" as a new approach to his urban planning work for the city of Des Moines. The Des Moines Vision Plan contained two major propositions: Western Gateway Park and the Martin Luther King Parkway. In 2007 Gandelsonas built upon his original vision plan by developing a new Downtown Des Moines Planning Project and completing Gateway Park with the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park. Other projects by Agrest and Gandelsonas Architects are Liberty Street in Liberty Harbor, Jersey City; the master plan and urban design for Xu Jia Hiu in Shanghai, China; and the master plan for the West Side of Manhattan and the Melrose Houses Community Center in New York City.

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