Ian Smith is the founding principal of IS-DG, an award-winning design architecture firm in Philadelphia, PA. Ian’s combined accomplishments include architect, author, and educator. Ian continues to serve the civic discourse through teaching occasionally at local universities in addition to his current appointments
on the PhilaNOMA, Philadelphia Preservation Alliance Board, and the Edmund Bacon Urban Design committee. Ian seeks to identify and interlace the invisible emotional narratives within which the built environment is perceived.
One of the core values of the Firm, Ian firmly believes that,
“Much of who we are as people comes from the stories we have been told as well as the ones that we are a part of. We work to identify the intertwined emotional narratives upon which we depend. This allows us to have a sensitivity to the many challenges that may influence the outcome of the project. Not only did we find that this came easily when pursuing memorial, dedication, and legacy projects, but also became relevant to single family homes and utility additions.”
Ian continues to serve the civic discourse through teaching occasionally at local universities in addition to his current appointments on the PhilaNOMA, Philadelphia Preservation Alliance Board, and Inglis House. He was inducted into The Carpenters' Company in 2024.