The award-winning architecture and urban design firm Cooper Robertson has announced that Mike Aziz, AIA, LEED AP, has joined the firm as their new Director of Urban Design. An experienced architect and planner, Aziz has worked on large-scale urban design, waterfront revitalization, and campus master-planning projects for over 15 years. He has returned to Cooper Robertson, where Aziz had worked for eight years previously as an associate.

“It is a pleasure to welcome Mike Aziz back to Cooper Robertson in a significant new leadership role, which will take advantage of his experience and talents,” says Donald Clinton; AIA, MRAIC, LEED AP, Partner at Cooper Robertson. “Mike is a respected member of the architecture and urban design communities nationally, and his experience in a wide range of market sectors will bring valuable perspective and management capabilities for our clients.”

Drawing on his early experience at the University of Maryland’s planning department to his more recent work with leading firms in Washington, D.C. and New York City, Aziz joined Cooper Robertson in 2008. During his eight years with the firm, he played a significant role on several large-scale urban design and campus planning projects, including the Research Triangle Park Master Plan, which envisaged a transit-oriented, mixed-use
research center near a planned commuter rail station. Other works included the Longwood University Master Plan in Virginia as well as the Hunters Point/Candlestick Point Streetscape and Public Realm Plan in San Francisco, designed for a 700-acre waterfront site.

Over his 15 years collaborating with varied firms and clientele, Aziz has gained a reputation as a focused and creative architect and planner committed to design excellence in the service of the larger client vision. Prior to rejoining the Cooper Robertson team, Aziz served as a project architect with Ayers Saint Gross and later as senior urban designer and campus planner at Perkins+Will, where he managed large-scale planning projects and work on varied campus plans at public and private universities.

Aziz received his Master of Science in Architecture from Savannah College of Art and Design, and prior to that earned a Bachelor of Science in Architecture at the University of Maryland. In his professional capacities, he has lectured frequently on resilient design and other critical design topics and has been a guest lecturer and critic at Columbia University, Yale University, Bard College, and the University of Pennsylvania. As an active member of New York City’s planning community, he currently serves on the steering committee for the American Institute of Architects (AIA) New York Chapter’s Planning and Urban Design committee. Aziz is also a member of several other advisory groups focused on waterfront planning, water quality, and resiliency.

“I’m excited to be working once again with Cooper Robertson, which has a vibrant and growing practice in the kinds of work that truly make an impact on cities and educational communities,” says Aziz. “With the firm’s energetic team and their shared belief in integrating architecture and planning with a focus on resiliency and a dynamic urban public realm, I believe our work will continue to make a deep and lasting impact.”