Etien Santiago is a historian of modern architecture and construction, an educator, and a licensed architect.
He is an assistant professor at NJIT in the Hillier College of Architecture and Design, where he teaches courses in architectural history and theory.
Etien received a Ph.D. from Harvard University, a M.Arch. with distinction from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and a B.Arch. and B.A. cum laude from Rice University. He has previously worked for architectural firms such as the Renzo Piano Building Workshop.
His Ph.D. dissertation retraced how World War I ignited and shaped modern architects’ obsessive search for mass-produced housing based on advanced construction techniques. This research has been supported by grants from the Canadian Centre for Architecture, the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard, and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard.
Etien’s awards include the 2021 Society of Architectural Historians Founders’ Award for his JSAH article “Notre-Dame du Raincy and the Great War,” a Trustee Teaching Award from Indiana University, the Harvard GSD James Templeton Kelley Thesis Prize, a Distinction in Teaching Award from the Derek Bok Center for Learning and Teaching at Harvard, the American Institute of Architects School Medal at the Rice School of Architecture, and the Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts at Rice University.