Brian Garcia, Ph.D., is an urban designer with experience leading large development projects in the United States, Hong Kong, India, Kazakhstan and Malaysia. He currently provides design guidance and research with
Brian Garcia's written work has appeared in The Guardian, the Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, Area, Urban Research and Practice, Urban Design International, and the Urban Design Group Journal. He has presented his research widely and internationally including for the Society of Architectural Historians, the American Association of Geographers, the European Urban Research Association, AMPS (Architecture, Media, Politics, Society) and the International Seminar on Urban Form.
Dr. Garcia recently led the urban studies program at Loyola Marymount University. He has also taught environmental management and environmental justice at Scripps College, Claremont and Soka University. Dr. Garcia has been a visiting scholar at the UCLA Department of Urban Planning. Prior to that, he was a visiting researcher at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and the Hong Kong University School of Social Work and Social Administration.
Dr. Garcia was previosuly an Assistant Professor at Cal Poly Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ in Urban and Regional Planning where he taught a wide range of urban design studios, courses on housing, sutainability, internationalism and social justice.
Dr. Garcia studied for his Ph.D. at the Bartlett School of Planning, University College London (UCL) and the Yale University School of Architecture. His field work took place in Berlin, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles and Medellin. Dr. Garcia’s Ph.D. supervisor was Professor Sir Peter Hall.
At the Bartlett, UCL, Dr. Garcia taught Urban Regeneration as well as Transport Policy and Planning. He was also a studio critic for the Building and Urban Design in Development graduate program within the Development Planning Unit, UCL.
In Los Angeles, Dr. Garcia has worked at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LAMetro) in Metro Art and Design as well as the Environmental Compliance and Sustainability Program. Prior to that, he worked as an architectural designer on a variety of projects including portions of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit system and within the Executive Architect team for the Office for Metropolitan Architecture’s (OMA) Prada expansion.
Dr. Garcia is currently involved with the American Institute of Architect’s political efforts to address the housing crisis. He is regularly involved in the City of Los Angeles Urban Design Studio’s design review process. He has advised the American Planning Association’s national policy guides on energy and smart growth. Brian has also been a Virtual Fellow for the United States Department of State.
A native of Central California, Brian grew up aware of the importance of the environment and resource management. However, he was always fascinated with cities and their cultural institutions. These experiences motivated his interest in environmental policy and urban design.
At Cal Poly Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Brian teaches architecture housing design studio.
