Etien Santiago is a historian of modern architecture and construction, an educator, and a licensed architect.
He researches the history of concrete architecture, mass-produced housing, and innovative construction techniques—from the late nineteenth century through the twentieth century.
Etien’s publications demonstrate how explorations of new building technologies are inextricably bound up with contemporaneous social, political, and intellectual debates. He has uncovered previously overlooked impacts of World War I on modern architecture and construction, the seminal role of the United States in fueling the rise of concrete housing, and the complex connotations of exposed concrete architecture in 1920s France.
His first book, A Barrage of Houses: World War I and Mass-Produced Housing for France, will be published in 2026 by Yale University Press.
Biography
Etien is an assistant professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology Hillier College of Architecture and Design, where he teaches courses in architectural history and theory.
He received a Ph.D. in Architecture from Harvard University, an 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.
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 James Templeton Kelley Thesis Prize at the Harvard GSD, a Distinction in Teaching Award from the Derek Bok Center for Learning and Teaching at Harvard, the AIA School Medal at the Rice School of Architecture, and the Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts at Rice University.