Stefanos Polyzoides
Francis and Kathleen Rooney Dean of the School of Architecture and Professor
- Phone
- (574) 631-4830
- Office
- 123H Walsh Family Hall
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Biography
The Francis and Kathleen Rooney Dean of the School of Architecture, Stefanos Polyzoides joined the School of Architecture in 2020. His career has engaged a broad span of architecture and urbanism, its history, theory, design and education. He is one of six co-founders of the Congress for the New Urbanism and, with his wife Elizabeth Moule, a partner in Moule & Polyzoides, a Pasadena, California practice since 1990.
His professional experience includes the design of educational, institutional, commercial and civic buildings, historic rehabilitation, housing, and the urban design of university campuses, neighborhoods and districts. Polyzoides has led such projects throughout the United States and around the world, in Canada, Central America, Australia, China and the Middle East.
He is the co-author of Los Angeles Courtyard Housing: A Typological Analysis (1977), The Plazas of New Mexico (2012), A Temple of Science, The 100-Inch Telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory (2018), Civano, From Experiment to Model of Resilient Urbanism (2020), and the author of R.M. Schindler, Architect (1982).
He also helped organize four distinguished exhibitions and exhibition catalogs on the architectural and urban history of Southern California: Caltech 1910–1950: An Urban Architecture for Southern California, Myron Hunt 1868–1952: The Search for a Regional Architecture , Wallace Neff: The Romance of Regional Architecture, and Johnson, Kaufmann & Coate: Partners in the California Style.
Born in Athens, Greece, Polyzoides earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture and urban planning from Princeton University and has lived in Southern California since 1973. He was a faculty member at the University of Southern California School of Architecture from 1973 to 1996, and is a registered architect in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Florida and Texas.
Areas of Expertise
- American Domestic Architecture
- Professional Practice
- Residential Design
- Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism
- Urban Design
- Urban design, history, and theory
Polyzoides’s Latest News
Polyzoides Media Mentions
ND Architecture Names 2026 Award Recipients
February 25, 2026
Notre Dame’s Walsh School of Architecture announced the laureates of the annual Henry Hope Reed and Richard H. Driehaus prizes.
Playa Vista Celebrates 25 Years
January 31, 2026
On January 22, roughly 150 people attended a celebration of Playa Vista’s 25th anniversary to hear some of the community’s extensive and lively history and to review what a recent survey shows about resident satisfaction.
Chicago Tribune
Gary council approves resolution supporting new city comprehensive plan
October 31, 2025
At its Tuesday meeting, Gary Common Council members unanimously approved a resolution regarding a new city comprehensive plan.
Santa Barbara Has Hired a New State Street Consultant
October 23, 2025
“The city has abruptly terminated its consultant contract with MIG, the consultant it hired under a $780,000 contract to manage the State Street Master Plan. The City Council on Tuesday plans to hire a new consultant [architect and urban planner Stefanos Polyzoides] to finish out the remaining part of the contract. The city paid MIG $570,000, leaving about $210,000 on the contract.” The reason cited was “an evaluation of project progress and scope alignment.”
Santa Barbara Switches to New Consultant for State Street Master Plan
October 22, 2025
In a rare unanimous decision on State Street, the Santa Barbara City Council approved a plan to terminate the contract with the MIG — the consultant originally hired at a cost of $780,000 to handle the State Street Master Plan — to change course and bring in world-renowned architect and urban planner Stefanos Polyzoides, known as “the Godfather of New Urbanism,” to lead the city through the final planning stages.
Matthew and Joyce Walsh donate $150 million to the School of Architecture
October 01, 2025
Last week, the School of Architecture announced that it received a $150 million donation from Matthew and Joyce Walsh. Matthew Walsh, a 1968 graduate from the University, which aims to allow for the preservation of the school’s mission for good.
The research is in on New Urbanism—and it’s stronger than you think
July 08, 2025
A survey research project at the University of Notre Dame has painted a remarkably clear picture of the many benefits, but also highlighted the need for smoother implementation pathways.
Donald Shoup had a major impact on cities
February 12, 2025
Donald Shoup died last Thursday at the age of 86, having made a greater impact on cities than all but a few urban planners in the last century.