F o c u sRenovation + Reuse of Existing Buildings
P r a c t i c eConcept : O R E (Office for Reclaimed Environments)
Sofia M Paine | ARCHITECT is an office dedicated to finding value in existing architecture. Like raw material or ore extracted from the earth, an existing building holds great potential for remaking and renewal. Our focus is on the art of renovating existing structures.
The Environment is our built, natural, and experiential setting that shapes everyday human life. It is also the atmosphere created through the spatial poetry of storytelling, materiality, structure, use, view, sound, light, weather, and time.
We aim to restore and elevate existing environments by asking questions such as what architectural elements remain meaningful? Which building materials can endure over time? What objects still matter? And how can the history be transformed for present living? Our focus is architecture for standing buildings. We are dedicated to historic renovation, adaptive reuse, and the rehabilitation of existing architecture.
Sofia Mojadidi Paine is an architect licensed in the state of New York and Montana. Paine combines extensive private practice experience with foundational work.
Early Work -Sofia M. Paine began her apprenticeship under Benjamin Van Dusen AIA of the award winning design firm, Van Dusen Architects (VDA), in Washington, DC. Van Dusen Architects is a small studio specializing in design in the historic landmark residential district. VDA provides services from preliminary design to construction administration. Sofia attributes her overview philosophy of design and historic service to the professional and artful mentorship she received with Ben.
Next, she practiced in New York City and worked under Senior Associate, Austin Harris, AIA at Gruzen Samton. As a design associate and job captain, Sofia worked on several institutional projects such as the Thurgood Marshall Academy in Harlem and the Staten Island Zoo Addition. After completing the Architectural Experience Program (AXP) credits, she worked as a design consultant to Meghan L. McDermott at Robert AM Stern Architects. In addition to her practice, she was a visiting assistant professor in the Foundations department at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.
Education : Sofia received her Masters of Architecture from the University of Florida and also attended the Vicenza Institute of Architecture program in Italy studying under architect Mario Gooden AIA and the late Dr. Diana Bitz. Sofia went on to complete a Master’s thesis project winning her the Silver Medal in Academic Achievement. She also holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of North Florida where she studied under printmaker and mentor Louise Freshman Brown. Sofia received the Florida Foundation for Architecture Award, and the First Year Graduate Core Architecture Award “in recognition of outstanding achievement and consistent performance in the architectural design studio.” She graduated with the Silver Medal in Academic Achievement “upon the second highest Master of Architecture degree candidate graduating with a record of general excellence in architecture.”
Sofia shares an inter practice with her sculptor husband, Roxy Paine. Her husband is an active partner in all of her projects providing material, construction and logistical support. When not in the office, field or classroom, she is reading, hiking, skiing and being a mom.
