Safdie Rabines Architects


Safdie Rabines Architects is an American architecture, interiors and urban design firm based in San Diego, California. The firm works in public and private sectors on projects of varying contexts and scales, including municipal; academic; bridges and infrastructure; single and multifamily/mixed-use residential; and large urban master plans.

History and Leadership

Safdie Rabines Architects was established by Ricardo Rabines and Taal Safdie, AIA, who met while enrolled in University of Pennsylvania School of Design’s Master of Architecture program. Rabines is of Peruvian descent; and Safdie, daughter of architect Moshe Safdie, had spent years living in Montreal, Quebec, Canada at Habitat 67, the model community and housing complex designed by her father. The pair graduated in 1986 and landed in New York, working with firms such as Kohn Pedersen Fox and Pei Cobb Freed. They married in 1989, moved to San Diego, CA in 1990, and established Safdie Rabines Architects in 1993. An Interiors division, SRI, was added in 2010. Architect Eric Lindebak became a firm partner in 2017. As of late 2017, the firm employed 38 architects, designers and administrative personnel.

Select Projects

Completed Projects

Publications

The firm's work has been featured in the New York Times, Domus, ARCHITECT Magazine, ArchDaily, Sunset Magazine, , and several other publications.

Books

In 2006, Safdie and Rabines received the Residential Architect "Rising Stars" Leadership Award. Since then, the firm's work has been recognized with over 75 awards for architecture, urban design and master planning by entities including the American Institute of Architects, American Society of Landscape Architects, American Planning Association. In 2017, the National City Aquatic Center was awarded an Orchid for Architecture by the San Diego Architectural Foundation.