Machado Silvetti is an architecture architecture and urban design firm headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Incorporated in 1985, the firm has been widely recognized as one of the most influential architectural practices in contemporary design, known for its distinctive approach to adaptive reuse, museum design, and contextual architecture.
The firm's co-founders, Rodolfo Machado and Jorge Silvetti, began their professional association in 1974 and formally established Machado and Silvetti Associates in 1985. The office has been called "arguably Boston's most influential firm of the last generation."
Machado and Silvetti's approach to architecture emphasizes "conceptual clarity and visual intensity," with an unwavering commitment to understanding and enhancing the unique character of each project's context. Their work has been characterized as merging contemporary design agendas with complex cultural and historic contexts, demonstrating that "construction as an art, and not as a mere technical instrument, is verifiable in each of their built projects."
In 2015, Jeffry Burchard, AIA and Stephanie Randazzo Dwyer, AIA were named Principals, becoming integral leaders in the firm's continued growth and innovation. In 2025, Rodolfo Machado and Jorge Silvetti transitioned to Principal Emeriti status, retiring from active practice. The firm continues under the leadership and ownership of Randazzo Dwyer and Burchard, maintaining the Machado Silvetti name and commitment to design excellence.
Stephanie Randazzo Dwyer and Jeffry Burchard now serve as the firm's Design Principals and Partners. According to Burchard, "We're maintaining the name Machado Silvetti, because that represents the office that we are and that we want to be. It has a really incredible legacy of not only touching a lot of architects and a lot of communities, but about creating buildings that are really reflections of the communities that they're in, or the institutions that they're for, or the people that they serve."
Randazzo Dwyer is recognized for her facility in transforming deep listening into built work, while Burchard brings a visionary capacity for experientially generous design. Both remain active in architectural education and practice innovation, continuing the firm's tradition of engagement with leading design schools in the Boston area, including Harvard GSD, MIT, RISD, and others.
Machado Silvetti is committed to a research-based design approach that explores and celebrates each project's unique character through original conceptual frameworks and visual intensity. The firm has established itself as a forerunner in adaptive reuse and building in historic contexts, with a robust portfolio spanning museums, educational, and cultural institutions.
The firm's work across diverse scales and locationsâÂÂincluding projects in Boston and New England, as well as major commissions in New York, Los Angeles, Denver, and internationally in locations such as Beirut, Buenos Aires, Abu Dhabi, Malaysia, and VietnamâÂÂdemonstrates its versatility and commitment to place-based design.
Machado Silvetti's body of work includes numerous landmark projects that have shaped contemporary architectural discourse:
Machado Silvetti has received numerous prestigious awards and accolades for design excellence:
Both Rodolfo Machado and Jorge Silvetti have maintained significant roles in architectural education throughout their careers, with positions at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. This commitment to education has continued under the new leadership, with Burchard teaching professional practice at Harvard's Graduate School of Design and Randazzo Dwyer actively engaged in teaching and mentoring at leading design schools.
As of 2025, the firm continues an active portfolio of diverse projects including ongoing work with major cultural institutions, continued phases of the New Bedford Whaling Museum master plan, educational facilities, and civic design initiatives. The firm's current work emphasizes innovation in sustainable design, contextual sensitivity, and collaborative community-centered approaches.
The firm maintains its headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, on Harrison Avenue, a location that has facilitated close collaboration with Boston-area design schools and institutions for over four decades.