PAUL OKAMOTO, Architect Partner

Career Profile
Paul Okamoto brings an expertise in sustainable design that bridges community-based regional planning and green building.  He has managed many of the firm's sustainable projects, both in architecture and neighborhood planning.  His design for the Johnson-Theis residence won a Build It Green award in a Marin-Sonoma Home Tour and has been in several publications.  His work in developing several neighborhood planning visions for the East Palo Alto allowed the non-profit he chaired, Urban Ecology, to receive critical acclaim and jump started their community planning program.  Some of the more unique projects Paul has also overseen for the firm are the East Side Arts Cultural Center (Oakland), Dolores Hotel (Mission district-SF), Chinatown Corps Community Center (North Beach-SF), Rubissow Farmhouse (Napa), and conceptual design for the Alameda Creek Watershed Center (Sunol). He has also led several of the firm’s affordable housing projects in San Jose, Morgan Hill and Cloverdale for EAH, Inc. Before establishing Okamoto Saijo Architecture in 1991, Mr. Okamoto worked with several prominent architects, including Peter Calthorpe on Laguna West, California, a "pedestrian pocket" suburb outside of Sacramento, and Paolo Soleri on the Arcosanti Project. He has co-authored a monograph, Sustainable Urban Renewal: Urban Permaculture in Bowden, Brompton & Ridleyton, and written numerous articles on the subject of ecological architecture and sustainable development in publications like Places (Winter 1995 issue on Sustainable Design). Mr. Okamoto is Past President of Urban Ecology, leading the organization through a period of major growth and started its Sustainable Bay Area and Community Design Programs. Okamoto has also served on the Board of Directors of Greenbelt Alliance, and was an appointed member of both the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Advisory Council and the City & County of San Francisco's Commission On Environment.

Education:
Bachelor of Architecture from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, 1981.
Master of Architecture from University of Adelaide, Australia, 1988.
Loeb Fellow at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, 2001.  
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Professional Registration & Affiliations
California Licensed Architect--C-18,221, 1987
Adjunct Professor, University of San Francisco, Architecture & Community Design Program, 2008 - Present
Urban Ecology Board of Directors, 1991 - 1999, 2002 - ongoing
SPUR Board of Directors, 2004 - 2011
Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation Site Committee, 2002 - ongoing
City & County of San Francisco, Commission On The Environment, 1993 - 1999
Bay Area Air Quality Management District Advisory Council, 1993 - 2000
Greenbelt Alliance Board of Directors, 1993 - 2000
LEED Accredited Professional, 2004

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Click here for a link to Eric Saijo's Bio