Sally Harrison is an architect, urban designer, educator and scholar whose creative work and research explore the social impacts of design in underserved communities.

Sally Harrison is an architect, urban designer, educator and scholar whose creative work and research explore the social impacts of design in underserved communities. She is the director and co-founder of The Urban Workshop, an interdisciplinary university-based collaborative that undertakes research, design and design-build projects in neighborhoods where questions of social justice, creative expression and community building are played out in the physical environment. In her teaching, Harrison seeks to engage students in the complex mosaic of urban places, offering both experiential and theoretical frameworks to guide human-centered design practice.

Sally’s work is published in books and peer-reviewed academic journals and has been recognized in national, international and regional design awards programs including the American Institute of Architects (AIA national); Social Economic Environmental Design (SEED); and AIA Pennsylvania. Her work is supported by grants from Temple University; the Pew Charitable Trusts; the United States Environmental Protection Agency; the United States Department of Education and numerous local nonprofit organizations. 

Sally is a registered architect and member of the AIA. A founding member of the Community Design Collaborative of Philadelphia, she serves currently on its Advisory Council. She is on the Editorial Board of Context, the Journal of the AIA Philadelphia, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Village of Arts and Humanities. Sally earned her MA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1979 and her BA, Magna Cum Laude, with Distinction, from the University of Pennsylvania in 1974.