Bio

Justin McElderry is an architect, strategist, creative director, and artist whose work examines how systems (spatial, economic, cultural, and technological) are designed, governed, and transformed over time. His practice is rooted in architecture as a way of thinking: a discipline concerned not only with buildings, but with the organization of resources, the production of cultural moments, the shaping of collective life, and the long-term consequences of investment decisions.

Trained in Architecture at Harvard University and Economics at Morehouse College, McElderry works across material and immaterial forms, drawing connections between physical environments, institutional structures, and the beliefs and behaviors they produce. His work is informed by an interest in political economy, technology, cultural memory, and the ethical dimensions of labor.

His multidisciplinary practice operates across multiple pathways, including the built environment, infrastructure, food and agricultural systems, and cultural production. Rather than treating these as discrete fields, he approaches them as interconnected design problems, using architectural methods—research, modeling, synthesis, and narrative—to intervene upstream of form. His work often focuses on decision-making contexts where long time horizons, collective action, and uneven power structures complicate conventional design approaches.

His work is carried out through WorkStudy, a multidisciplinary practice spanning architecture, art, strategy, and more. WorkStudy operates through traditional client engagements while maintaining a research-oriented approach that supports longer-term inquiry. Historically, Justin has taken on projects that extend beyond conventional architectural practice, working with brands, institutions, and collaborators to clarify direction, surface leverage points, and engage long-term futures through an architectural lens.

Alongside his architectural and strategic work, McElderry maintains an active artistic practice spanning sound, film, print, textile, and sculpture. These works function as research artifacts—ways of thinking through time, labor, memory, and value—and often operate in parallel with, or in tension against, professionalized modes of architectural production.

McElderry has contributed to research and teaching initiatives at Harvard University, engaging topics such as AI ethics, reparative justice, generative design, and technology-enabled environments. He is a former Lead Innovation Strategist for the Food Systems Action Lab at the Institute of Design at IIT and has served as a visiting critic at the Knowlton School of Architecture at The Ohio State University, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Illinois Institute of Technology. His work has taken the form of exhibitions, publications, public-sector research, and large-scale installations.

Based in Chicago, McElderry continues to work across architecture, strategy, and art—using design to examine how futures are imagined, negotiated, and built.

Past Client Partners and Experiences

Adidas

A Ma Maniere

Birmingham Office of Economic Development

Atlanta Design Festival

Certain Measures

Chicago Architectural Biennial

Deloitte Consulting

Deloitte AI & Innovation

Educated Guess

Harvard Graduate School of Design

Harvard University Lab for Design Technologies