2021 Exhibition + Experience Vanguard

Waqas Jawaid, Partner, Isometric Studio

Waqas is a partner at Brooklyn-based Isometric Studio where he leads a seven-person team alongside Andy Chen. Isometric unites graphic design and architecture to create empowering visual identities and spatial experiences.

Through design, Isometric advances an ethos of inclusion, equity, and justice, centering the lived experiences of marginalized people. Their projects often address complex social issues, amplifying activism on gender equity, climate change, racial justice, LGBT identity, and immigrant rights. Their clients include Princeton University, USAID, Google, Museum of the City of New York, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, and the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Waqas received his undergraduate degree with highest honors from Princeton University and a Masters in Architecture with distinction from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. At Princeton, he was awarded the Frederick White Prize for his thesis on architectural apartheid in the Paris banlieus. Waqas previously worked at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, SANAA, Harvard Art Museums, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. He is a founding organizer of Climate Collective, a NYC-based organization that sparks civic discourse about climate change through design and storytelling.

Waqas has lectured at venues including Harvard University, the Center for Architecture, and Princeton University Art Museum. He has served on the faculty of the Maryland Institute College of Art and the School of Visual Arts.