Ioana Urma

Artist / Architect (MA & CA Licensed) with a broad range of experience, from public art murals and installations; to educational graphic design for underserved communities; to residential, landscape, and large urban design scale mixed use international architecture projects.

The goal of my work – Social & Experiential Design – is to enrich ordinary environments with meaningful spatial experiences.

To improve social interaction. To raise the kind of curiosity that leads to independent learning. To infuse art into the everyday, integrating it into the built environment from the conceptual level up to form and details. All while respecting nature – the human spirit, its psychology, its senses – and all living things which make up our ecosystem.

• community-based
• sensory engaging
• educational
• sustainable
• accessible
• immersive
• interactive
• reflective
• fun

I am a very friendly designer. I like working with people and listening to their (your!) stories, interests, and concerns.

My multifaceted design experience – over 2 1/2 decades of work – spans a large spectrum of physical scales: from architecture and planning projects across North America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, to art and graphic design projects which have reached audiences through television and print.

In developing this work, I have enjoyed listening to and coordinating the many voices involved: clients, cities, communities, builders, fabricators, and fluctuating international design teams.

Recently, in California, I served on El Segundo’s Art & Culture Advisory Committee, developing and supporting public art initiatives directed at getting the community more involved.

As I believe education is the foundation of equal opportunity/equality, I worked extensively with the STEM non-profit Iridescent (now Technovation) on educational art / design / book+ projects supporting underserved youth.

I have also engaged with students more directly, teaching design studios first as a TA at Cornell and MIT, and later as adjunct professor at Roger Williams University, Boston Architectural College, ArtCenter College of Design, and Otis College of Art & Design; as well as participating as guest critic at these and other colleges.