PRACTICE
Four decades in architecture, construction, and real estate development defined by an integrative philosophy: synthesizing expertise across the spectrum of professions in the built environment based on detailed problem analysis, deploying structured process, and precise execution to attain meaningful and profitable outcomes across diverse cultures and geographies in the United States, Israel, and Europe. Underpinning the work: an ability to collaborate with a wide array of colleagues, clients, and partners from diverse fields and backgrounds.
PRACTICE
Background:
- Architectural studies at the University of Arizona, UC Berkeley and SCI-Arc (BArch 1985).
- Start, Los Angeles: I was commissioned by a friend's father to design and build a house in Hollywood, California. Being on site to see my design or another architect's design realized was always part of my practice. Followed by one year designing television and movie sets at Universal and Burbank Studios. Due to a weak economy in California at the time there were few opportunities in architecture.
- Next; New York City: For the next eight years I worked on not-for-profit projects as an architectural designer and then a project manager for a general contractor on homeless shelters, low-income housing, and health facilities. The fast-paced intense and competitive environment of NYC prepared me for the challenging experiences I would face living abroad for the next eighteen years.
- Next; Israel: where for five years, I worked as the Site Architect on the Bahai World Centre in Haifa, a monumental project—with a contract preamble stating it was intended to last five hundred years. This was a masterclass in global collaboration with professionals from all over the world at the highest level of craftsmanship.
- Next; Prague: I was invited to join two partners in starting a project management company in Prague, Czech Republic which was just beginning to develop as a country post its recovery from Soviet rule. The large-scale developments that we were hired to manage from napkin sketch through design and construction was exciting and confounding at times. Among our primary projects were the master plan for the Holešovice Port and its first phase—a 20-story office tower complex and Palác Flóra, a large mixed-use retail and office center.
- Next; Kyiv: One of the partners in the Holešovice Port asked me to start a new development company he was forming based in Kyiv, Ukraine. As the General Manager, I built our staff and led, among others, the development of a 1,200-unit condominium complex, which remains fully intact and operational to this day despite the hardships of war. In parallel, I designed and developed for the company a former IBM manufacturing site in Milan, Italy that we transformed into a Class A office center with fully renovated and new buildings.
-Next; Israel: After a decade of traveling between my home in Israel and Europe, I resigned my position to return to Israel full-time. Being divorced at that point, I decided to spend the next few years spending more time with my daughter while she was in high school and doing her army service. In town near my home, I developed two small condominium projects.
- Next; Small town USA, Indiana: In 2013, I asked to start a real estate development company as managing partner doing multi-family properties in Indiana. Over the next twelve years, I developed, designed and built144 apartments in three properties, helping to reshape and reinvigorate the housing market, architectural relevance and business redevelopment of these small towns.
- Next; Connecticut: in 2025, I resigned my position as managing partner of the Indiana entities to focus on smaller projects and other professional goals. I am now commencing the development of luxury homes in Miami, Florida; and will be launching a consulting practice later this year.
License to Practice Architecture: New York State, 013624
Scott Sivan, AIA