Together with Stephanie Davidson, the interest underlying much of their work is the friction between the original design intentions for spaces and buildings, and the much richer built reality and unpredictable lives that buildings inevitably have. In most of their work, they study existing built conditions–sometimes these studies evolve into built works and sometimes the studies take the form of documentation (drawings, photographs, writing). The duo was recognized with the Emerging Voices award from the Architectural League of New York in 2018. The realized work of DAVIDSON RAFAILIDIS embraces frugality; projects are accomplished on lean budgets and are seen as case studies in financially accessible architecture: space for everyone.
Rafailidis has taught at various architecture schools including the RWTH Aachen University in Germany, the University at Buffalo, Academy of Art University in San Francisco and the University of Toronto in Canada.
He received his architectural diploma from the University of Applied Sciences in Munich, Germany and a Master of Arts from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, England. A native of Bavaria, he is a registered architect with the Federal Chamber of German Architects and has previously worked for Herzog & de Meuron.
