Vikram Sami, Olson Kundig’s director of building performance, has been working on high performance design for over eighteen years, combining technical expertise with a love of design.

In design, high performance isn’t just about finding the answers. It’s about asking the right questions.
Vikram Sami
Director of Building Performance | AIA, BEMP, LEED AP
Since joining Olson Kundig in 2016, Vikram has infused the firm with his infectious curiosity about how buildings can best support the health and well-being of their occupants. Often, this is achieved through a more harmonious relationship to nature. “In design,” Vikram notes, “high performance isn’t about finding the answers. It’s about asking the right questions. I want to ensure we are coming up with creative questions from the start that lead us down a path of discovery.”
Vikram earned his Bachelor of Architecture from the Academy of Architecture in Mumbai, India. Even before he began studying architecture formally, Vikram was most inspired by spaces that foster a connection between people and nature. At Arizona State University, Vikram found his calling in the Master of Science in Building Design program, focusing on energy performance and climate-responsive architecture. Since then, Vikram has worked for sustainability consulting firms as well as architecture firms. He has also developed Chhaya, an interactive analysis tool that quickly gives designers actionable building performance and climate data.
Today, Vikram leads Olson Kundig’s participation on the AIA 2030 Commitment and provides mentorship to the firm’s designers with regards to thermal comfort, materials impact, energy use and any number of other performance strategies. He also helps the firm understand sustainability ratings systems such as LEED®, WELL Building and Passivhaus. Vikram is active on the research side of building performance, speaks regularly at sustainable leadership conferences and has served as adjunct faculty at Georgia Tech and the University of Washington. At Olson Kundig, Vikram frequently leads workshops and charrettes to explore new green building innovations with colleagues.
Projects
Lectures & Juries
2024
AIA | Conference on Architecture + Design 2024, Presenter
Living Future 2024, Transforming Housing: A Climate-Positive Home, Presenter
2023
AIA Ohio Design Awards, Jury
2021
Boston Society for Architecture Honor Awards for Design Excellence, Juror
AIA/ACSA Intersections Research Conference – “Healthy Communities Special Focus Session”
Facades+ Conference Southeast – “Façade as Filter: Building for the Climate”
2019
Speaker, “Performance of the Building Envelope,” Conference on Advanced Building Skins, Bern, Switzerland
Facades+ Conference New York City – “Cognitive Kinetics: Poetics of Participation and Passive Design”
Living Future unConference – “If You Can Only Do One Thing: Using the COTE Toolkit to Elevate Every Project”
2018
AIA Seattle Housing Design Forum – Residential Design Case Study
Education
Master of Science in Building Design, Arizona State University
Bachelor of Architecture, Academy of Architecture, Mumbai, India
Awards
2024
AIA California Design Awards, Award of Merit, Aro Homes
Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Award, Fourth Ward
AIA National Honor Award – Architecture, Wagner Education Center at The Center for Wooden Boats