Sissoko Design Office was founded by Habib Sissoko, an architect licensed in California and in Mali, with the belief that Architecture is a means for learning and teaching. For as long as he has been studying architecture, he has tried to explore the possibilities of using it as a tool to investigate the peculiarities of the relationship between the inhabitants and the inhabited. Among those peculiarities, are the spiritual, the physical, the emotional and the cultural aspects of life.

Habib believes that harmonizing opposites is an important aspect of life that architecture should study and understand. From his understanding of the Bambara proverb

 

“What is not harmonious is conflict; and what is conflict is destruction.” he came to the conclusion that any given culture can make opposites harmonious, and architecture being a form of “culture” should be able to meet that challenge. As an educator and a practitioner, he endeavors to condition opposites through Harmony.

Individuality as the confirmation of the very existence of the larger community, the recomposition of the traditional, the coexistence of simplicity and complexity, conservation and reorganization, being and becoming, unity of opposites are some key elements in his approach to studying, teaching and practicing architecture.

He received his Masters of Architecture at Sci-Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture), where he studied under architects and educators such as Michael Rotondi, Eric Owen Moss. Prior to that he earned a B Arch at Pratt Institute where he studied under Raimund Abraham and a Bachelor of Engineering in Architecture at Southeast University in Nanjing, People’s Republic of China.

Habib's architectural training also took him to the offices of Frank O Gehry, Edward C. Barker and Associates, Cuningham Group, Martinez-Amador Architects, and Prats/Coffee Architects. He was an Adjunct Instructor at Santa Monica College, a guest critic at several schools including Calpoly Pomona, Pasadena City College, Sci-Arc, and the recipient of the

Special Achievement Award in Design from Pratt Institute.

His work was published in “Into the Oven” and included in an exhibit in Torino, Italy.

 

Education

Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc),
Los Angeles, California
Master of Architecture, January 1995

Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York
Bachelor of Architecture, May 1993

Southeast University, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China
Bachelor of Engineering in Architecture, May 1990

Project Experience

Aviva Family High School Building, Hollywood CA

Aviva Family and Children’s Services
Office Building Remodel, Hollywood, CA

The National Academy of the Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) MusiCares Offices, Santa Monica, CA

Tower Management Offices, Los Angeles, CA

ML Stern Trading Island, Los Angeles California

Ulansey Residence, Malibu CA

Inspired Ventures (Parking Structure and Offices)

Euclid Apartments, Santa Monica, California

Montana Condominiums Santa Monica, CA

Costa Mesa Community Gymnasium, Costa Mesa, CA

Rio Del Valle Community Gymnasium, Rio Del Valle, CA

Knott’s Berry Farm (Extensions and Remodels), CA

Disney Anaheim Extension (California Venture), Anaheim California

Water Works Store, Denver, CO

Curry Residence, Los Angeles CA

Mildred Apartment Complex Los Angeles, CA

Normandy Senior Housing, Los Angeles, CA

Philip Temple Housing, Los Angeles CA

Badillo Residence, Walnut, CA

Williams Residence Bel Air, CA

University of Cincinnati Center for Molecular Sciences, Cincinnati

Lewis Residence, Cleveland, Ohio

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain

Samsung Museum of modern Art, Seoul. Korea

Der Neue Zollhof, Dusseldorf, Germany.