Tanu Sankalia Headshot

Tanu Sankalia

Professor

Full-Time Faculty
XARTS 017
(415) 422-5790

Biography

Tanu Sankalia is a tenured full professor in the Department of Art + Architecture. He teaches courses in urban planning and design, architectural and urban history, and architectural design. He was trained in urban design at UC Berkeley, and in architecture at the School of Architecture, Ahmedabad, from where he graduated with a gold medal for the best diploma thesis.

Professor Sankalia's research and creative work covers a wide range of topics related to architecture and urbanism, from the local context of the San Francisco Bay Area to the global perspectives of India and Latin America. His articles and essays have appeared in the Journal of Urban Design, Journal of Urban History, Journal of Planning History, and City, among others. He is co-editor of Urban Reinventions: San Francisco’s Treasure Island (University of Hawaii Press, 2017), and is currently completing a manuscript titled Slots: Spaces In-Between San Francisco's Victorian Architecture. 

In 2011, he co-founded El Círculo, one of the longest standing faculty and staff reading groups on campus, which meets weekly during semesters to read and discuss critical theory.

Research Areas

  • Architectural design
  • Architectural history
  • Urban design
  • City planning

Appointments

  • Program Director, Urban Studies (2014-2020)
  • Chair, Department of Art + Architecture (2010-2013)
  • Co-Director, Center for Research, Artistic and Scholarly Excellence (CRASE), (2020-2024)

Education

  • UC Berkeley, Master of Urban Design, 1999
  • School of Architecture, CEPT University, Ahmedabad, India, Bachelor of Architecture, 1994

Prior Experience

  • Adjunct Professor in Architecture, KRVIA, Mumbai, India (1995-1998)
  • Associate, Field Paoli Architects, San Francisco (2000-2006)

Selected Publications

Media