Helia Taheri, Ph.D.

During my youth, I was in search of finding a way to connect art and math, growing up in an artistic family and finding my passion in math inspired me to pursue a bachelor's degree in architecture at the University of Tehran, where I learned how to design spaces that reflect the needs and values of people, culture, and context. Traveling throughout Iran, I fell in love with ancient sustainable Iranian architecture and the beauty of people-centered and passive Iranian architecture.
 
After finishing my master’s program in architecture and energy and working as an architect, sustainability specialist, and teacher for five years, I felt a void, something was missing from the whole equation and that was the human aspect of design and architecture, which had drawn me to the field in the first place. I decided to shift my focus to human-centered research and pursue my Ph.D. in design at North Carolina State University. Since 2018, I have been working as a researcher in the industry, helping architects make data-driven decisions that balance user needs and environmental impact.
 
I see myself as a hummingbird, pollinating between fields of architecture, human behavior, and sustainability, and academia and industry. I embrace systems thinking, where the connections between different domains matter more than the domains themselves.

Currently, I am the Global Human-Centric Research Manager at Arcadis, where I lead internal research projects such as KPI-driven design, post-occupancy evaluation, and social acceptance of new technologies, and client projects in workplace, retail, and residential sectors to name a few. I use a variety of subjective/objective mixed methods depending on the project's need.

I have a deep love of learning and growth and purposefully participate in conferences, publish papers, and give talks as guest lectures to build community and raise awareness about the importance of data-driven, user-centric and sustainable design in architecture practice.