About
Sofia is a third-year student at The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture - The Cooper Union, minoring in History and Society.
Sofia is the Benjamin Menschel fellow of the years 2025-2026, conducting the research Tracing a Dispersed Homeland. She is the recipient of the Innovator Scholarship from The Cooper Union and the 2024 Cooper Union Grant Program to conduct the research "The Azolla Biofiltration Initiative: Decentralized Solutions for Water Scarcity" alongside Suhama Saniz ChE27’, Professor Zulaikha Ayub, and Chair of Chemical Engineering Department Professor Andrea Newmark.
Sofia is a Junior Researcher at The Logische Phantasie Lab. For the past two years, she had been leading the “Decentralized Water Rights” initiative in the West Bank, working alongside community members and global initiatives.
Sofia works as a freelance photojournalist between Tel Aviv and the West Bank, recently joining the Overseas Press Club of America, the nation’s oldest and largest association of journalists engaged in international news. You can find her work in +972 Magazine, The Guardian, Truthout, Taiso International, Perspectif, Yesh Din, Palestine Chronicle, B'tselem, and more.
For the past year she has worked as Student Staff in the Architecture Archives, been a Staff Writer and Editor at the Cooper Pioneer, and a teaching assistant for ARCH115; Introduction to Architecture and History with Professor Zulaikha Ayub and ARCH115B; History of Architecture and Urbanism with Professor Ninad Pandit.
CV
EDUCATION
2022 - Present The Cooper Union for The Advancement of Science and Art - The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, New York.
WORK EXPERIENCE
2025 - 2026 The Benjamin Menschel Fellowship Program to Support Creative Inquiry, The Horace W Goldsmith Foundation, The Cooper Union, New York.
2023 - Present Junior Researcher, The Logische Phantasie Lab.
2025 - Present Journalist, Overseas Press Club of America, New York.
2025 - Present Editor, The Cooper Union Pioneer, The Cooper Union, New York.
2025 - Present Teaching Assistant, ARCH115B; Introduction to Architecture and History, Professor Ninad Pandit, The Cooper Union - The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, New York.
2024 - 2025 Teaching Assistant, ARCH115; Introduction to Architecture and History, Professor Zulaikha Ayub, The Cooper Union - The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, New York.
2024 - 2025 Staff Writer, The Cooper Union Pioneer, The Cooper Union, New York.
2024 - 2025 The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture Archives, Student Staff, The Cooper Union, New York.
2024 Speaker, A Conversation with Journalists in Palestine, The People's Forum, Pal-Awda Long Island, Code Pink NYC, Hosted by The People's Forum, New York.
2024 Group Show, 2x2x2, December 3rd - 9th, The Cooper Union, New York.
2024 Speaker, Evening of Learning and Solidarity, Bronx Neighbors for Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, The Museum of Bronx History, Bronx, New York.
2024 Speaker, REFUSENIKS and SPIRIT TWISTER: Film and Talk, By Diverse Filmmakers Alliance, TWNewsreel, Time of Day, in collaboration with Jewish Voice for Peace, Bronx Music Heritage Center Laboratory, Bronx, New York.
2023 - 2024 Columbia GSAPP Affirmations Cohort of Respondents, Columbia GSAPP, New York.
2023 Guest Editor, The Cooper Union Pioneer, November issue, The Cooper Union, New York.
2023 Writer, "Aninut, Shiva, Shloshim, Avelot", The Cooper Union Pioneer, November issue, The Cooper Union, New York.
2023 Group Show, Climate Community Exhibition, October 3rd - 9th, The Cooper Union, New York.
2023 Curator, Group exhibition, مبلا אםבאלה Imbala, Jerusalem.
2023 Curator, End of the Year Show - History of Architecture, The Cooper Union - The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, New York.
HONORS, SCHOLARSHIPS & GRANTS
2025 The Benjamin Menschel Fellowship Program to Support Creative Inquiry, The Horace W Goldsmith Foundation, The Cooper Union, New York.
2024 The Cooper Union Grant Program, "The Azolla Biofiltration Initiative: Decentralized Solutions for Water Scarcity", The Cooper Union, New York.
2024 Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation Grant, The Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation, New York.
2024 16 Cubits, co-sponsored by QuitCarbon, Re-Up Refills, hosted by Berkeley’s Urban Adamah, 1151 Sixth Street, Berkeley, CA.
2024 Spring 2024 Studio project selected by faculty for the Architecture Archive’s Collection, The Cooper Union, New York.
2024 IDC Foundation Art, Architecture, Construction, and Engineering (AACE) Lab Material Fund, The Cooper Union, New York.
2023 Content Vienna Production Grant, Junior Researcher for Logische Phantasie Lab [CiSci], Vienna Business Agency, Vienna.
2023 Spring 2023 Studio project selected by faculty for the Architecture Archive’s Collection, The Cooper Union, New York.
2023 Fall 2022 Studio project selected by faculty for the Architecture Archive’s Collection, The Cooper Union, New York.
2022 Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation Grant, The Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation, New York.
2022 - 2027 Innovator Scholarship, The Cooper Union - The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, New York.
2022 Visual Arts Studies Honor Certificate, Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts, Givatayim, Israel.
2022 Community Work Honor Certificate, Givatayim Municipality, Israel.
2022 Academic Studies Honor Certificate, Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts, Givatayim, Israel.