Dan Mihai Muntean is a Registered Architect (UK) and Urban Designer with over twenty-seven years of experience in planning, design, and management of architectural, urban design, and master planning projects in the United States, Asia, and the Middle East. He co-founded Studio MBJ in 2019 in San Francisco, California, and has led design teams for international firms such as Foster + Partners, AECOM, IBI Group, and PTW Architects. He has overseen design deliverables for public and private clients in six countries, completing architecture design, urban planning, branding, and development projects across more than 25 cities. In addition, he has also taught design studios and professional practice courses part-time at UC Berkeley.

Dan received his Master of Science in Architectural Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a specialization in Urban Design. He conducted extensive archival research and designed urban redevelopment interventions for post-conflict conditions in Jerusalem and Sarajevo. After being trained in the classical beaux-arts tradition of architectural design at Ion Mincu University in Bucharest, Romania, he completed his BArch at the University of Nottingham, England.

Dan’s recent “Beyond Smart Cities” Certificate from the MIT Media Lab has helped him to understand how innovations in technology, design, planning, and policy can improve urban living and quality of life at both local and global levels. He has also explored how the application of disruptive technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, the Internet of Things (IoT), and data analytics can solve urban challenges.

Dan’s notable projects include the New Apple Park and the vision master plan for the California High-Speed Rail while working at Foster + Partners. He has also worked on regional and urban plans, regeneration, new towns, tourism master plans, and architectural design in various Chinese cities, as well as on architectural design and planning of health and academic districts in Kuwait and Singapore, and conceptual designs for new towns and resorts in Dubai, Rabat, and Algiers, Morocco.

Dan’s work on urban regeneration and residential estates in Singapore (HDB) and university and campus buildings in the US (CBT Architects) has been recognized with awards such as the Asian Habitat Society’s Green Habitat Award for Best Planning and Design Practice and Society of College and University Planning Excellence in Architecture Award.