After forty years leading their eponymous practice, founders Jorge Silvetti and Rodolfo Machado are stepping away from day-to-day work at the firm. Leadership will continue under partners and design principals Stephanie Randazzo Dwyer and Jeffry Burchard, who have guided the firm  alongside Jorge and Rodolfo since 2015. 

Rodolfo and Jorge founded the office in 1985, bringing their international background—both received their bachelor’s degrees from the National University of Buenos Aires in Argentina—and UC Berkeley graduate education to Boston’s South End. From the new office, they continued their participation in the broader architectural community and began a decades-long engagement with the field, contributing widely to urban and architectural design, theory, and discourse—continuing to teach studios at RISD and Harvard, publishing papers, and completing visionary and innovative projects. Just four years after the founding of the office, a book about the duo, Rodolfo Machado and Jorge Silvetti: Buildings for Cities, stated that “their commitment to excellence, to the highest aspirations of their calling, is as evident in their studios as in their buildings and projects.” 

With the duo’s intellectual rigor and leadership as a bedrock, the office expanded throughout the 90s and 2000s, growing to include new members who could contribute to the office’s vision. That vision—rooted in conceptual clarity, visual intensity, and a belief in the importance of public space—materialized in increasingly larger projects and more diverse locales: the Honan-Allston Branch of the Boston Public Library; The Getty Villa in Los Angeles, California; the Al Ain Oasis Cultural Master Plan in Abu Dhabi; and the expansion and revitalization of the Denver Art Museum.  

In 2015, in recognition of their increasingly important roles in the firm, Stephanie Randazzo Dwyer and  Jeffry Burchard were promoted to partners and design principals in the firm. Jeffry brings broad experience in architecture and urban design and his work in the transformation and expansion of existing buildings, national and international projects of the highest complexity, and timeless design that reflects the specific qualities of client, context, and climate. Stephanie has expert knowledge of cultural and educational spaces, a proven track record of successful client engagement from planning through construction, and an ability to deliver award winning design work that meets and exceeds functional criteria, energy goals, and programmatic ambition.  

The firm will continue to grow and evolve, always responsive to the needs, demands and desires of the public that we ultimately design for. Together with the efforts and interest of the entire office staff, Stephanie and Jeffry are building on the legacy of Machado Silvetti while advancing its ethos in a vibrant, contemporary, 21st century practice.