Stefani Danes

Stefani Danes is Adjunct Faculty at Carnegie Mellon Architecture. She has taught at Carnegie Mellon since 1979, in both full-time and part-time capacities.

Stefani has combined a career in architecture and urban design with teaching and public service. Her work includes urban housing, housing for special populations, urban design and planning for neighborhood revitalization. As a principal in the firm of Perkins Eastman, she is responsible for several award-winning housing developments and urban design projects. She has been instrumental in developing the firm’s housing practice with particular emphasis on the design of environmentally responsive housing. She has worked with more than 30 communities on revitalization plans and has designed over 1,000 units of new or renovated housing for both private and non-profit development organizations. Prior to joining Perkins Eastman, she was a founding partner of an architectural office that specialized in community development, where she practiced for 12 years.

As a LEED Accredited Professional, Stefani brings expertise in creating environments that are healthy and enjoyable to live in, economical to operate, and judicious in the use of natural resources. She organized Perkins Eastman’s Green Leadership Group, which advances the firm’s sustainability agenda. She represents Perkins Eastman Architects on the AIA National Roundtable on Sustainability.

Her design for special populations includes shelters, transitional housing and residential environments for the elderly. Among her projects are facilities for dementia care, independent and assisted living, skilled care and retirement communities. She has conducted several research studies on innovative settings for cognitively impaired persons. For three years she was a member of the Advisory Board for the Presbyterian Association on Aging’s Innovative Living Environments project. She heads Perkins Eastman’s firm-wide Research Collaborative, which supports all of the firm’s practice areas and has completed award-winning research on residential environments. Stefani is a member of the AIA Design for Aging Advisory Group and leads its subcommittee on research.

Her earlier experience includes working in the office of Charles Correa in Bombay, India, where she designed a high-density self-help alternative to public housing. She was a VISTA volunteer in community design and a participant in the national R/UDAT program. In Pittsburgh, she helped found a community development corporation and a coalition of 10 neighborhood organizations, for which she served as president for two years. She was a Planning Commissioner for the City of Pittsburgh for six years.

Stefani has published numerous articles, speaks regularly at national conferences, and has been awarded two fellowships for study. She holds a Master’s degree in Architecture from Yale University and a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture and Urban Design from Princeton University, where she graduated summa cum laude.