The Ahmad Tehrani Symposium
Sara Zewde + Najha Zigbi-Johnson
Part of the MIT Fall 2026 Architecture Lecture Series
The Practice of Possibility
Beginning with her master’s work at MIT nearly two decades ago, Sara Zewde has explored how culture, memory, and ways of knowing can shape contemporary design practice. Through the presentation of select recent projects of Studio Zewde, she and Najha Zigbi-Johnson will reflect together on the reciprocal movement between theory and making, and how dialogue across forms of knowledge can push the boundaries of what design can imagine and make possible.
Sara Zewde is founding principal of Studio Zewde, a design firm practicing landscape architecture, urbanism, and public art. Named to TIME Magazine’s TIME100 Next, Architectural Digest’s AD100, and a United States Artists Fellow, her work is celebrated for design methods that sync culture, ecology, and craft. In parallel with practice, Sara serves as Associate Professor of Practice at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. She holds a Master of Landscape Architecture from Harvard University, a Master of City Planning from MIT, and a BA in Sociology and Statistics from Boston University. She is also currently writing a book on Frederick Law Olmsted’s travels through the Slave South, to be published by Simon & Schuster in 2027.
Najha Zigbi-Johnson is a writer, educator, and cultural organizer. Her Harlem-based practice explores the intersections of contemporary Black art, the built environment, and social movements. She is the editor of Mapping Malcolm, a transdisciplinary publication that brings together artists, community organizers, and scholars to consider the politics of Black space-making in Harlem and across the diasporic world. Najha is a graduate of Guilford College and Harvard Divinity School, and was subsequently a Research Fellow at the Graduate School of Architecture Preservation and Planning at Columbia University.
Currently, Najha’s work explores how Black political movements give way to cultural production and institution building. This ongoing inquiry is shaped by her roles lecturing in architecture and political science at the City College of New York, as well as her curatorial work and writing practice. Najha’s work has been published in New York Magazine, Artforum, SEEN Journal, Essence, White Cube Gallery and more.
This lecture will be held in person in the Sidara Auditorium (W41- 1216) and streamed online on YouTube.
Lectures are free and open to the public. Registration is required.
