Gary Handel, FAIA

Managing Partner

Gary Handel FAIA is the founder and Managing Partner of Handel Architects. Since starting the practice in 1994, Mr. Handel has overseen its growth to a firm of over 150 architects, designers, and planners around the world. His work has been recognized by the American Institute of Architects, the Urban Land Institute, the Society of American Registered Architects, and the Chicago Athenaeum, among others.

Mr. Handel leads the firm’s direction by placing an emphasis on enriching the urban environment and improving the lives of people through positive urban design. His work has benefited cities throughout the United States, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia. He is a leader in sustainable building strategies, and recent work includes some of the largest and tallest Passive House buildings in the world.

Mr. Handel makes significant pro bono contributions to local urbanism, including supporting non-profits and community-serving organizations in the cities in which he works. He serves as a Founding Board Member of Friends of the High Line in New York City, as well as a Board Member and Chair of the Real Estate Committee of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, which tells the story of immigration in America.

Mr. Handel’s work has appeared in numerous publications nationally and internationally, and he has lectured extensively on how architecture can work to create positive urban and social change.