Sami Kirkdil advances urban housing in the Nation’s Capital and beyond. His inventive mixed-use residential designs demonstrate architecture’s power to revitalize neighborhoods and transform the way we live in the 21st-century city. Leading over 100 large-scale urban projects, Sami is a nationally recognized housing expert who has designed and built more than 35,000 residential units in the National Capital Region and he plays a critical role in developing best-in-class design standards. His architecture has earned widespread recognition and received praise from publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

Sami has launched many of the area’s most successful urban communities and for over 30 years, he has led the design of buildings that create an urban edge, balance density, and have a dynamic mix of uses with innovation and tradition. His designs draw from deep and personal experiences growing up in a small apartment in Turkey where he says the “living room was a piazza.” That is, housing is connected to and enhanced by the city.

With his management, concepts move beyond paper architecture and talking points: more than 95% of Sami’s designed projects are built. As a leader in urban residential architecture who shares his expertise with fellow architects inside and outside of SK+I, Sami serves on several organizations ranging from the AIA National Committee for Housing to the City of Alexandria’s Department of Planning and Zoning. He has strengthened relationships between architects and builders and created platforms for architectural excellence both locally and nationally.

EDUCATION

Master of Architecture,
The Catholic University of America

Bachelor of Architecture,
Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

American Institute of Architects (AIA), Member

CERTIFICATIONS

American Institute of Architects, Fellow (FAIA)

National Council of Architectural Registration Board (NCARB)