Oz Fishman
Oz Fishman is an urban designer, researcher, and SMArchS Urbanism student at MIT. In his research, he is exploring technological applications for understanding and predicting the growth of “informal,” “communal,” and “traditional” ways of living and their positions in larger urban agglomerations; the role of ritual in shaping the public realm and public spaces; and territorial projects and landscape/infrastructure integrations that include meaningful human-scale interventions.
Before MIT, Oz was a lecturer and researcher at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, where he worked with a team of researchers and students to develop and deploy urban design methodologies in direct partnership with municipalities and public agencies. He co-authored the "New Urban Field" toolkit with Prof. Els Verbakel as part of the Israel100 initiative. In May 2023, he coordinated Urbanism in the Expanded Field, an international conference on urbanism and urbanization, with over 400 participants from 15 countries, in partnership with UN-Habitat.
At HQ Architects, Oz worked as an urban designer on city-wide masterplans (urban renewal policy and landscape design for Israel's second-densest city), mixed-income housing (in partnership with an economic mobility NGO), and infrastructural integration projects (regeneration projects along planned national transit systems).
As the founder of MINYAN, Oz built and scaled a community-led arts and culture organization, producing events, exhibitions, and immersive experiences that explored the role of ritual in generating new forms of urban citizenship.
Earlier, Oz worked with JDC in Jerusalem, integrating the technology sector into social service frameworks; and in Buenos Aires, developing vocational training programs in informal settlements and scaling youth programs across Latin America. At Schusterman Family Philanthropies, he led immersive journeys through Israel and the West Bank, engaging participants with complex and contradictory territorial and social narratives of the land.
He holds a BA in Economics from George Washington University and a Masters of Urban Design from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design.
