Machado and Silvetti Associates

Machado Silvetti is an architecture architecture and urban design firm headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Incorporated in 1985, the firm has been widely recognized as one of the most influential architectural practices in contemporary design, known for its distinctive approach to adaptive reuse, museum design, and contextual architecture.

History and Founding

The firm's co-founders, Rodolfo Machado and Jorge Silvetti, began their professional association in 1974 and formally established Machado and Silvetti Associates in 1985. The office has been called "arguably Boston's most influential firm of the last generation."^[1]

Machado and Silvetti's approach to architecture emphasizes "conceptual clarity and visual intensity," with an unwavering commitment to understanding and enhancing the unique character of each project's context. Their work has been characterized as merging contemporary design agendas with complex cultural and historic contexts, demonstrating that "construction as an art, and not as a mere technical instrument, is verifiable in each of their built projects."^[2]

Leadership Transition

In 2015, Jeffry Burchard, AIA and Stephanie Randazzo Dwyer, AIA were named Principals, becoming integral leaders in the firm's continued growth and innovation. In 2025, Rodolfo Machado and Jorge Silvetti transitioned to Principal Emeriti status, retiring from active practice.^[3] The firm continues under the leadership and ownership of Randazzo Dwyer and Burchard, maintaining the Machado Silvetti name and commitment to design excellence.

Current Leadership

Stephanie Randazzo Dwyer and Jeffry Burchard now serve as the firm's Design Principals and Partners. According to Burchard, "We're maintaining the name Machado Silvetti, because that represents the office that we are and that we want to be. It has a really incredible legacy of not only touching a lot of architects and a lot of communities, but about creating buildings that are really reflections of the communities that they're in, or the institutions that they're for, or the people that they serve."

Randazzo Dwyer is recognized for her facility in transforming deep listening into built work, while Burchard brings a visionary capacity for experientially generous design. Both remain active in architectural education and practice innovation, continuing the firm's tradition of engagement with leading design schools in the Boston area, including Harvard GSD, MIT, RISD, and others.

Design Philosophy

Machado Silvetti is committed to a research-based design approach that explores and celebrates each project's unique character through original conceptual frameworks and visual intensity. The firm has established itself as a forerunner in adaptive reuse and building in historic contexts, with a robust portfolio spanning museums, educational, and cultural institutions.

The firm's work across diverse scales and locations—including projects in Boston and New England, as well as major commissions in New York, Los Angeles, Denver, and internationally in locations such as Beirut, Buenos Aires, Abu Dhabi, Malaysia, and Vietnam—demonstrates its versatility and commitment to place-based design.

Notable Projects

Machado Silvetti's body of work includes numerous landmark projects that have shaped contemporary architectural discourse:

Museums and Cultural Institutions

Bowdoin College Museum of Art – Brunswick, Maine. A sophisticated renovation and expansion that received the 2008 American Architecture Award.
Provincetown Art Association and Museum – Provincetown, Massachusetts. A celebrated renovation and addition completed in 2006, recipient of the 2007 American Architecture Award.
Denver Art Museum – Denver, Colorado. An extensive renovation and expansion project that includes the new Sie Welcome Center addition, paying homage to Gio Ponti's iconic architecture. The project received the Boston Society for Architecture Honor Award, Denver Mayor's Design Award, AIA Colorado Awards, and Interior Design Magazine's 2022 Best of Year Award for Museums.
The Getty Villa – Los Angeles, California. The firm's work on this complex restoration was praised as "a near miracle—a museum that elicits no smirks from the art world.... a masterful job... crafting a sophisticated ensemble of buildings, plazas, and landscaping."^[4]
Mint Museum – Charlotte, North Carolina. A notable contemporary art museum expansion.
Utah Museum of Fine Arts – Salt Lake City, Utah. A significant educational and cultural facility.
Center for Asian Art at the Ringling Museum of Art – Sarasota, Florida.
New Bedford Whaling Museum – New Bedford, Massachusetts. The firm developed a comprehensive master plan for the world's largest whaling museum and is currently executing the first phase: a new temporary exhibitions and gallery building.

Educational Institutions

Sam M. Walton College of Business – University of Arkansas. A major educational facility completed for one of the nation's leading business schools.
NYU Global Center for Academic and Spiritual Life – New York, New York. A significant institutional hub designed by the firm.
Horace Mann School – Riverdale, New York. Recent renovation and expansion project.
UNT College of Visual Arts and Design – Denton, Texas. A contemporary educational environment.

Libraries and Public Spaces

Honan-Allston Branch, Boston Public Library – Boston, Massachusetts. A renowned public library renovation and expansion that received the 2003 Harleston Parker Medal.
Downtown Cary Park – Cary, North Carolina. A contemporary public plaza featuring pavilions and civic space, which won Fast Company's 2025 Innovation by Design Award in the Urban Design category for balancing everyday life, environmental resilience, and catalytic economic planning.

Historic Preservation

One Western Avenue – Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. A prominent academic facility.
Menokin: The Glass House Project – Warsaw, Virginia. An innovative historic preservation initiative by the Menokin Foundation that replaces missing walls, floors, and roof sections with glass, protecting the 1769 house's remaining elements through a transformative intervention.

Recognition and Awards

Machado Silvetti has received numerous prestigious awards and accolades for design excellence:

Major Awards

2025 Fast Company Innovation by Design Award – Urban Design category, for Downtown Cary Park
2025 American Architecture Award (recent wins)
2008 American Architecture Award – Bowdoin College Museum of Art
2007 American Architecture Award – Provincetown Art Association and Museum
2006 Los Angeles Business Council Best Civic Architecture Award – Getty Villa^[5]
2003 Harleston Parker Medal – Honan-Allston Library, Boston Public Library^[6]
2003 AIA National Honor Award for Architecture – Honan-Allston Library^[7]
Denver Mayor's Design Award – Denver Art Museum
Boston Society of Architects Honor Award for Design Excellence – Denver Art Museum Martin Building Expansion
AIA Colorado Awards – Denver Art Museum
Interior Design Magazine's 2022 Best of Year Award – Museums category, Denver Art Museum
2002 Boston Society of Architects Honor Award
2002 AIA New England Honor Award
2002 Boston Society of Architects Design Excellence in Housing Award
1991 First Award in Architecture – American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters^[8]
9th International Award for Architecture in Stone – 2005^[9]

Educational Engagement

Both Rodolfo Machado and Jorge Silvetti have maintained significant roles in architectural education throughout their careers, with positions at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. This commitment to education has continued under the new leadership, with Burchard teaching professional practice at Harvard's Graduate School of Design and Randazzo Dwyer actively engaged in teaching and mentoring at leading design schools.

Current and Recent Work

As of 2025, the firm continues an active portfolio of diverse projects including ongoing work with major cultural institutions, continued phases of the New Bedford Whaling Museum master plan, educational facilities, and civic design initiatives. The firm's current work emphasizes innovation in sustainable design, contextual sensitivity, and collaborative community-centered approaches.

Office Location

The firm maintains its headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, on Harrison Avenue, a location that has facilitated close collaboration with Boston-area design schools and institutions for over four decades.