Across geographic regions and typologies, Sean Ragasa creates architecture that is purposeful, intelligent, and, in subtle ways, delightful. His design approach is rigorous, often leveraging expertise across many disciplines to conscientiously respond to the environmental and social conditions of a site. With agile design sensibilities, Sean is known for delivering complex and significant projects elegantly.
Whether designing a large-scale mixed-use development abroad or a K-12 school locally, Sean’s approach results in design that resonates with the communities it serves.
Humility is essential; it allows you to be surprised by your clients and, in turn, to create unexpected moments in the architecture—details where the community can see themselves reflected in the space.
Harmonizing the architecture’s visual identity with sustainability measures is an important part of Sean’s work. When designing a low-carbon community for Jiuzhou Bay, he integrated allusions to local mythology with neighborhood-scale passive cooling strategies. Similarly, the passive air and water filtration systems in the Ningbo Guohua Financial Tower are integrated with traditional local design concepts around porosity, procession, and the relationship to water. As a lead designer in the master planning effort for the University of California Merced’s 2020 Campus Expansion, Sean drew references from the agrarian building styles of California’s Central Valley to create a cohesive campus identity. The project led UC Merced to be the first public university to achieve carbon neutrality, and it is the largest social infrastructure project achieved through a public-private partnership in U.S. history.
Sean is a member of SOM’s Talent, Equity, Diversity, and Development (TEDD) committee, which advances an inclusive, productive, and creative firm culture.
