INFO
gulaidsofia@gmail.com
@madebygulaid
Sofia is a Kenyan-Somali and American urban designer and mixed media artist based in Los Angeles. She primarily uses sculpture and cartography to explore hidden spatial histories.
Her process centers on listening, collective imagining, and material exploration rather than pursuing a fixed outcome. Her work has been featured by the City of Redmond, Where Are The Black Designers, the Data Feminism Lab, and in books and academic articles.
Master in City Planning (MCP)
Certificate in Urban Design
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
B.A. in Environmental Studies
Concentration in Urban Environment
Yale University
Licence 3 (Exchange)
Universite Paris-IV La Sorbonne
Grants and Awards
Tacoma Vision Zero Action Plan
ITE Project of the Year, Planning
2022
Council for the Arts at MIT (CAMIT)
Art Grant
2021
Black DUSP Thesis Grant
2020
DUSP Social Impact Fellow MIT
2020
Princeton in Africa Fellow
2018
You Are Here
City of Redmond Downtown Art Walk
2023
City of Mandela, Massachusetts: A Speculative Map
Where Are The Black Designers
2021
House
for Kate Krier
2018
Projects and Publications
Freelance Writing, Dispatches in Architecture and Urban Design
New York Review of Architecture (NYRA)
2021 - 2023
Our Recipe for Active Streets
APA Washington Conference
2022
Freelance Cartography
2021 - Present
Mandela, Massachusetts: Design Futures for a Proposed City
Public art project supported by Data Feminism Lab and MIT DUSP
2021
Industrial Remix: Integrating Manufacturing in Torino
Design Framework for Regio Parco
2020
Food Justice and Labor
MAD x Yale Summit
2016