Saji F. Matuk
Born and raised in Central Florida, Saji's passion for building first became of real use during his teenage years spent outside skateboarding with his friends. They needed rails on which to break their arms, boxes on which to break their shins, and ramps from which to hurl themselves and break everything - and so he built them. Many injuries followed over the years, and all was well.
As a freshman at the University of Florida, he decided (for reasons unknown even to this day) to pursue a business degree. Realizing that the field did little for his creative desires, he changed majors and completed his first year of architecture studios and coursework in an accelerated summer program. It was during this trial-by-fire that he learned sleep would forever be a privilege, not a right. His final studio at UF spent 6 weeks traveling through Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing. Saji’s project was selected to represent the studio at the 5th China Urban Housing Conference at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in the fall of 2005. In 2006, Saji graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Design in Architecture and a minor in Business Administration.
Making the move to the west coast, Saji’s graduate studies began at UCLA. He was one of seven graduate students who participated in a unique studio in conjunction with Morphosis Architects, led by Pritzker Prize-winning architect, Thom Mayne. Following extensive research into prefabricated building methods and technologies around the world, the team designed and constructed an affordable, prefabricated floating home as part of Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation – an organization developed with the mission to rebuild the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, which was destroyed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The house - partially constructed in Los Angeles, then shipped to New Orleans for final assembly in July 2009 - was recently completed in October 2009 and is the first permitted floating house in the United States. Saji earned his Master of Architecture in addition to becoming a LEED Accredited Professional (LEED NC v2.2) in 2009. He is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Building Construction at the University of Florida and plans to continue working toward professional architectural licensure.
Saji likes electronic music, cosmology, ninjas, and the color orange.
