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Samantha Josaphat: Architect and Educator by Ryan Sorensson

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Samantha Josaphat, an African-American architect, is the founder of Studio 397 in New York. An adjunct associate professor at City College of New York, she holds a bachelor of architecture from Penn State University. With her practice, she aims to achieve both the high end and affordable end of architecture. Additionally, she hopes to blur the lines between industrial design, interior design, and architecture. Her work, by no means radical, is inclusive and thoughtful, which reflects the core principles her firm was founded on. 


Josaphat's interest in architecture came during high school when her family decided to move from New York to Georgia. As she toured potential homes with her mother, she realized her interest in architecture and pursued this passion into college. The architecture program at Penn State is incredibly competitive, with only 5 out of 1000 applicants being admitted into the 5-year long program. From there, she gained more experience at a firm before leaving to start her own. She was miserable at the firm, and as a dual minority, wanted to start her own company with a more diverse team. In her own words, she noticed that a "large portion of the profession was miserable about pay, exhaustion, diversity, industry fees and accountability at all levels, and I had no interest in waiting any longer to realize I needed to make a drastic change" (Source 2). Shockingly, only 0.3% of architects are black women, and Josaphat has taken her position as a role model to BIPOC people in design seriously and successfully. She serves as the president-elect for the National Organization of Minority Architects and is involved with the American Institute of Architecture (Source 1). 




Josaphat's style is one inspired by the modern movement, with restrained use of color and mass-produced furniture. Her style continues a movement of interior design seen in office spaces that emphasizes order, comfortability, and efficiency. Josaphat had said that "being available to students and young professional who don't have the necessary resources, network, or motivation during their professional development process" has been the biggest highlight of her career. Her firm signals a more inclusive future where BIPOC people are business and design leaders. Josaphat gives us an example of what the future of design history will be based upon; just in the same way the Bauhaus revolutionized design education, Josaphat, along with many others, will teach the next generation of designers with an emphasis on diversity and inclusion. 

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