James Garrison

James Garrison (born 1953 in Western Pennsylvania) is an American architect and educator who lives in Brooklyn with his two children. He teaches at the Parsons School of Architecture, Lighting, and Design in New York.

Garrison graduated from the Syracuse University School of Architecture in 1971 with the Matthew Del Gaudio Award for design excellence. At Syracuse he apprenticed with modernists Lewis Skoler and Kermit Lee and was mentored by Werner Seligmann. Garrison worked at Polshek Partnership Architects starting in 1978 where he handled the concept, design, and technical development of many projects including the master plan for the Brooklyn Museum. His buildings designed there, including the National Inventor's Hall of Fame in Akron, OH, received four Progressive Architecture Design Awards and two Honor Awards from the American Institute of Architects.

In 1991, Garrison founded his current firm Garrison Architects. The firm's award-winning work covers a range of building types. Recent government projects include the US Border Patrol Station in Murrieta, CA which won a 2006 AIA NYS Design Merit Award and a 2006 General Services Administration Design Award, as well as work on US Embassies in Korea, Rabat, Oman, and Morocco. Other recent projects include a master plan for the city of Tokyo, the offices of Swissair in Rockefeller Center, and the redesign of Restoration Plaza in Bedford Stuyvesant.

Garrison Architects has a deep history of shaping public space in New York City. Roberto Clemente Plaza is currently under construction, and will provide public seating, planting, flexible open space and a community-requested water feature to serve Bronx residents. In addition, the firm is currently leading construction of the Irish Repertory Theatre in Manhattan; and has completed the Lehman Child Care Facility in the Bronx for CUNY; a 110,000 sq ft. historic renovation at Syracuse University; the NYC Emergency Housing Prototype for the Office of Emergency Management; and the NYC Parks Beach Restoration Modules.

Garrison has a reputation as one of the pioneering figures in sustainable modern design, emphasizing notions of tectonic form, preservation, and long life. His work employs a range of strategies from the elimination of air conditioning to the conservation of water and natural resources. Recent modular projects integrate these ideas by making long-lasting buildings that can be built quickly, reducing design and construction costs and thereby conserving energy.