Tay Othman, AIA: Member Profile

I was born, raised and educated in Iraq, and studied local architecture and urban planning principles at Alnahrain University, prior to interning in post-war reconstruction and infrastructure rehabilitation projects.

Being pushed by the geopolitical turmoil in the area, I moved to Jordan in 2006. Seeking personal safety and hope, I helped co-establish a small animation studio, and worked as an art director for film and TV commercials for few years. In 2010, I was granted refugee status and moved to the United States. Later that year, I Joined AIA Santa Clara Valley as a part of the emerging professionals committee, then started to lead the local ARE study groups from 2012-2013. I also served as the chair of the Emerging Professionals Committee from 2013-2015. In 2016, after obtaining my license in California, I was elected as architect chair for the Bay Area Young Architects, helping with mentorship, license stewardship and the organization of events and firm tours. Recently I transferred to AIA Eastbay to participate in local programs around Oakland and Berkeley.

My career path was native to the Silicon Valley and the Bay Area, starting at Gensler in San Jose as a Job Captain and BIM specialist where my main focus was commercial office buildings for technology companies. Five years later, I moved to DES Architects and Engineers in San Francisco as a project architect to work on education, higher education and mixed-use projects. My current project is a 130,000 sf mixed-use- development with a historical preservation scope in downtown Redwood City.

Aside from my current employment, I’m running a home atelier for weekend enjoyment by working on small design projects and computational exploration and fabrication for buildings and objects.