Michael Zaretsky, AIA
Interim Director
School of Architecture and Environment
University of Oregon
Biography
Michael Zaretsky, AIA, is an Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Architecture, and Interim Director of the School of Architecture and Environment in the College of Design at the University of Oregon. Zaretsky is a licensed architect with extensive experience in local and international design/build projects. His research is focused around culturally and environmentally responsive public interest design projects and community engagement with underserved communities locally and internationally. His published work includes Precedents in Zero-Energy Design: Architecture and Passive Design in the 2007 Solar Decathlon (Routledge Press, 2009) and New Directions in Sustainable Design, with Dr. Adrian Parr (Routledge Press, 2010). Zaretsky has articles published in several architectural journals and has presented at conferences around the world on Sustainability, Humanitarian Design, and Public Interest Design. His work is included in the 2018 book The Public Interest Design Education Guidebook edited by Bell and Abendroth. He is presently writing Design Beyond Borders: International Design/Build Community Engagement – a book that explores how those in practice, organizations, and universities involved in international design / build projects engage those in underprivileged communities where they are working. Additionally, he is the Director of Design for the Roche Health Center in rural Tanzania, a project of Village Life Outreach Project. Roche Health Center is the first–ever permanent healthcare facility in this region. The Roche Health Center opened on April 1, 2011, and provides health care to as many as 20,000 villagers. The Roche Health Center was the winner of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) Collaborative Practice Award in 2011 and the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) Award for Creative Integration of Practice and Education in the Academy in 2011 for the Roche Health Center project.