POLYCARB HOUSE °*
CLOSED LOOP °*
HYPAR CANOPY °
SHARED BEDS °*
MATERIAL MUSEUM °
4815 GRAUSTARK ST °
DRAPED STONE °*
FLAT STAND °
TIP TAP °
ROCKER °
ARCADE °
TAUT °*
VEER °*
SLING °
ENFOLD °
MOUNTAIN CABIN °
CHI-OSK °
FIBROUS TECTONICS °
ACTIVE COMPOSITES °
PETRO HOUSE °



DAVID
COSTANZA
STUDIO

Studio Principal
131 Hillcrest Dr. Ithaca, NY 14850.
David.Costanza@gmail.com

David Costanza Studio (DCS) is a design-build practice based in Ithaca, New York, whose work ranges in scale from furniture to buildings. The studio expands traditional disciplinary boundaries by synthesizing design and research, thinking and making, allowing performative and technological considerations to participate equally in the design process. DCS challenges conventional notions of construction methodologies, materials, and tools to seek out generative opportunities for methods of making to inform design conception.

        The studio has collaborated extensively with manufacturers, fabricators, and contractors and is responsible for the construction of their projects. Each project is seen as a chance to explore new potentials in the act of making, pushing the limits of materials and construction processes. This hands-on engagement with construction allows for more informed design proposals that address affordability and constructability while maintaining meticulous attention to detail.

        Committed to advancing beyond traditional construction practices, DCS fosters an imaginative and inclusive approach to building design. DCS’s work includes realized projects for nonprofits—TipTap, Shared Beds, Flat Stand—material research—Draped Stone, Veer, Frida, Fibrous Tectonics—and numerous design competitions. 


David Costanza is the principal of David Costanza Studio (DCS), a design-build practice based in Ithaca, New York. Costanza is also an assistant professor at Cornell University AAP and director of the Building Construction Lab (BCL). Through practice, research, and teaching, his work questions how architects can operate as engaged participants in the act of making. His work questions the linearity of design processes defining new terrains for architectural interventions across scales while establishing a dialogue between representation, computational design tools, digital manufacturing, building science, building materials, construction, labor, and the environment. 

        Costanza was awarded the 2024-2025 Rome Prize in Architecture from the American Cademy in Rome, the 2023 Emerging Faculty Award from the Building Technology Educators’ Soceity (BTES), and the 2020 Rotch Traveling Scholarship. 

        Currently, he is working on a book project with Routledge publishers titled “Curious Constructions: Around Materials, Labor, and the Environment,” a deep energy low-carbon reconstruction in Ithaca, New York, as well as amterial research in the reuse and recycling of plastic as a building construction material. His academic research has been published at ACADIA, SCSA, and ICSA, among others. Costanza received his Master of Architecture with a concentration in Computation and a Master of Science in Architecture Building Technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.







DCS