Spatial justice advocate Liz Ogbu will join the University of Virginia's School of Architecture as an inaugural University Fellow

The University of Virginia has announced the addition of designer and urbanist Liz Ogbu to its School of Architecture as part of the new University Fellows residency program, which aspires to attempt solutions to the era’s “most challenging problems and inspiring opportunities.” 

The Studio O founder received her B.Arch from Wellesley College and an M.Arch from Harvard GSD. She has served as faculty at Stanford University since 2013, lecturing at UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design, writing and presenting on topics related to her scholarly focus on spatial justice and urban design.

Ogbu had previously served as the Visiting Porter Chair in Urban and Environmental Planning at UVA School of Architecture during the spring 2017 semester and sat on the board of advisors for the Design Futures Forum that was held last year. She was named one of four winners of the AIANY’s 2022 Arnold W. Brunner Grant for Architectural Research for her project, Design as a Tool to Support Community Healing. In addition to her design research, Ogbu's studio recently delivered an affordable housing tract called Friendship Court in collaboration with a Charlottesville-based non-profit. 

“We are thrilled to host Liz Ogbu as an inaugural University Fellow this spring and to support the significant partnerships she has already built in the Charlottesville and UVA communities, including with the Equity Center, the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center and the Piedmont Housing Alliance,” UVA’s School of Architecture Dean Malo A. Hutson said in a statement. “Liz and her practice Studio O are a model for our students and faculty on effective methods toward spatial justice that leverage the power of design to foster environments that support people’s capacity to thrive.”

Ogbu is be joined by engineer Greg Olsen as two of the program’s inaugural University Fellows.