Sben Korsh

Sben Korsh is a PhD Candidate in Architecture at Taubman College and an affiliate with the Center for Inequality Dynamics at the Institute for Social Research. He holds a B.A. from the City University of New York’s Spitzer School of Architecture, an M.S. in Architecture from UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design, and an M.Phil. from the University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Architecture.

Korsh’s teaching and research focus on the political economy of architecture. His current research examines how neoliberalization shapes the cultural institutions of architecture, such as doctoral programs, museums, and research centers. His past research has focused on spaces of financial work and the urban development of coastal landscapes.

He has taught thesis preparatory and pro-seminars for the M.Arch program at Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids. As a graduate instructor, he has taught architecture coursework at the undergraduate and master’s level across multiple universities, including courses on professional practice and design ethics, as well as a range of surveys on architectural history and theory. He has been invited to studio reviews at the University of Minnesota, the University of Detroit Mercy, and the Lawrence Institute of Technology.

Outside of academic teaching and research, Korsh has curated and organized initiatives that address space and power amoung wider publics. As an Emerging Curator at the Canadian Center for Architecture, he co-created Market Landscape, a series of public programs and an audio documentary on the ties between financial districts and the global climate crisis. Korsh played an early and long-term role in establishing the Architecture Lobby, a network that foregrounds working conditions in the field. His efforts helped to create chapters in both the Bay Area and the Twin Cities. He co-edited the book, Asymmetric Labors: The Economy of Architecture in Theory and Practice (2016), and served recently as the Lobby’s elected Research Coordinator.