Elgin Cleckley

Education

Princeton University, Master of Architecture
Fontainebleau School of Visual Arts, Fontainebleau, France
University of Virginia, Bachelor of Science in Architecture

Biography

Elgin Cleckley, NOMA, is an Associate Professor of Architecture and the Undergraduate Program Director. He leads _mpathic design, a multi-award-winning pedagogy, initiative, and professional practice. After studying architecture at the University of Virginia ('93), Fontainebleau School of Visual Arts, and Princeton University ('95), he collaborated with DLR Group (Seattle), MRSA Architects (Chicago), and Baird Sampson Neuert Architects (Toronto) on award-winning civic projects. Elgin was a Muschenheim Fellow at the University of Michigan and has taught at the University of Illinois, Chicago. 

Before returning to teach at UVa in 2016, Elgin served as the 3D Group Leader and Design Coordinator at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, within the Science Content and Design Department, and was part of the Agents of Change Initiative from 2001 to 2016. This $47.5 million project produced the world’s first museum and design thinking architectural space—the Weston Family Innovation Centre (WFIC). WFIC featured award-winning architecture in collaboration with Toronto's Diamond + Schmitt Architects, along with exhibitions, educational facilities, and public art, with works by David Rokeby, Michael Awad, Steve Mann, and Stacy Levy receiving several Canadian Association of Science Centres Awards. 


Elgin has received UVa’s Alumni Board of Trustees Teaching Award (the highest teaching honor an Assistant Professor can earn at the University), UVa’s School of Architecture Research + Scholarship Award, UVa’s Distinguished Public Scholar Award, and the Armstead Robinson Faculty Award. He has also earned four Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Awards—one for Creative Achievement (for an _mpathic design advanced studio), one for Diversity Achievement, and two for Faculty Design. Additionally, he was nominated for a State Council of Higher Education for Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award, received a US Department of Education Blue Ribbon Award, Campus Compact Virginia’s Community Engagement Award, and an AIA Virginia Award. 

His scholarship was recognized with a Dumbarton Oaks Mellon Fellowship in Urban Landscape Studies at Harvard University (with ongoing collaboration), supporting a recent book, Empathic Design: Perspectives on Creating Inclusive Spaces (Island Press), which an NEA Grant funded. Elgin’s research and scholarship have also earned design fellowships from MacDowell, Loghaven, Art Omi, The Anderson Center, and Good Hart. 

Selected writings include Kunstall KADE, Empathy Pedestals (LSU Press), Site Lines: A Journal of Place, International Journal of E – Planning Research, Next City, Medium, MANIFEST: A Journal of the Americas, the Journal for Interprofessional Education and Practice, AMPS (Architecture, Media, Politics, and Society) Greenwich + Stevens, and Bridging the Gap: Emergent Ideas on Architectural Pedagogy and Practice Design (Routledge / Manchester School of Architecture). 

_mpathic design has presented at over 100 national and international conferences in architecture, design, education, and health, including the World Congress of Architects. _mpathic design’s practice includes collaborations with UVa’s School of Medicine, Dartmouth, The Trace (NYC), Farmers Footprint, Albemarle County Public Schools, City of Lynchburg, the Anne Spencer House and Garden (Lynchburg), and the City of Charlottesville for the Charlottesville Memorial for Peace and Justice (with the Equal Justice Initiative). 

_mpathic design has been exhibited at the University of New Mexico School of Architecture, Toronto Metropolitan University’s Creative School (School of Interior Design), and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. The work is permanently installed at the Royal Museum Greenwich’s National Maritime Museum in the Atlantic Worlds Gallery. Future projects include the Charles Wright African American Museum (2028) and the Royal Museum Greenwich's National Maritime Museum (2029).

Elgin has served on the Editorial Board of the Journal for Architectural Education, the Design Futures Forum Board, was the Design Director for UVa's Center for Community Partnerships, and has held various ACSA Committee positions. He is currently a member of several international design boards.