MATTHEW AKIRA OKAZAKI
(b. Oakland, California)

Okazaki’s work centers around a creative practice of “making do.” Using found objects, existing conditions, ready-mades, off-the-shelf products, and discarded items, Okazaki seeks to engage issues of preservation in the overlooked and amplify lesser-known narratives in our built environment. Privileging tactics over strategies, his work is fundamentally rooted in a deep understanding of context, history, and site.

His research, writing, and projects have been featured in  publications such as the Journal of Architectural Education and The Boston Art Review, and in galleries including Pao Arts Center, Gallery 263, and Galatea Fine Art. His public installation work has been exhibited at the Boston Public Library, the Charlestown Navy Yard, and in Cambridge, MA’s Central Square. In 2023, his outdoor installations for the Boston Public Library received two American Institute of Architects Design Excellence Awards, including the Roberta Feldman Architecture for Social Justice Award.

Okazaki’s work has been supported by the the Boston Public Art Triennial, The City of Boston, the Cambridge Arts Council, Cambridge’s Business Improvement District, the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics (MONUM), Boston Public Library,  Densho,  the Wagner Foundation, and The Society of Architectural Historians.

His recent project, TORII, is part of the City of Boston’s “Un-monument | Re-monument | De-Monument: Transforming Boston," a program of temporary artworks, public talks, and engagement activities supported by the Mellon Foundation’s Monument Project.

Okazaki is a founding partner of Field Office LLC, and a principal at Architecture for Public Benefit, a benefit corporation providing design services for non-profit and mission-driven organizations in Greater Boston.  He received a Master of Architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics from UCLA. 

He is a Professor of Practice in Architecture in the History of Art and Architecture Department at Tufts University.
links
Architecture for Public Benefit
Field Office LLC
Tufts University


contact

okazaki.matthew@gmail.com  \\  




























collaborators

Organizations
Aaron’s Presents
Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence
BosNOMA
Boston Public Art Triennial
Boston Public Library
Bridges Homeward
Cambridge Arts Council
The City of Boston
The City of Cambridge
The Designery
EBPREC
Just-A-Start
YouthBuild Boston

People
Elyse Ayoung
Gabe Cira
Tiffany Cogell
Leo Crowley
Peggy Deamer
Bri Feliciano
Maria Fong
Palmyra Geraki
Ashton Hamm
Nate Imai
Chana Haouzi*
James Heard
Michael Karmody
Madeline Lee
Jane Long
Ian Miley
Quilian Riano
Shawhin Roudbari
Jasper Sanchez
Abby Satinsky
Nada Shuaib
Joshua Ssebuwufu
Danyson Tavares
Mel Teng
Natash Varner
MATTHEW AKIRA OKAZAKI ©