Aaron is a designer, planner, and writer based between NYC and the Boston area. He is most interested in affordable and multifamily housing design, public architecture, urban design, and participatory planning practices.
Aaron is pursuing a Master of Architecture (M.Arch I) and a Master of Urban Planning (MUP) at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He graduated with a BA magna cum laude in urban studies and architectural history from Columbia University, where he received departmental honors in both departments, the Presidential Global Fellowship, and the Philip E. Aarons Prize for the best thesis in art or architectural history. While at the GSD, he has received the Dean’s Merit Scholarship, the Gramlich Fellowship in Community and Economic Development, a Community Service Fellowship, 1st place in HUD’s Innovation in Affordable Housing Competition, 2nd place in the GSD’s Plimpton Poorvu Design Prize, and 3rd place in the FHLB’s Affordable Housing Development Competition.
Aaron’s writing—which ranges from journalism and report writing to personal narrative—has been published by Architectural Record, Dwell, The Architect’s Newspaper, and the Museum of Modern Art, and is forthcoming from Colorado Review, Urban Omnibus, and the Joint Center for Housing Studies. He has practiced and researched with firms and agencies in New York, New Orleans, Melbourne, and the Boston area, including Utile, the Boston Housing Innovation Lab, the Cambridge Community Development Department, Office of Jonathan Tate (OJT), the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, the NYC Department of City Planning, French2D, MoMA’s Department of Architecture & Design, Sage & Coombe Architects, Project for Public Spaces, CoDesign Studio, and the Architectural League of New York.