Allison Arieff

Who is Allison Arieff?

Allison Arieff is Editor and Content Strategist for the urban planning and policy think tank SPUR, and writes about architecture and design for The New York Times. Previously she was Editor at Large for Sunset magazine, and Senior Content Lead for IDEO.

In 2000 Arieff helped found the architecture and design magazine Dwell, and in 2002, following the departure of founding editor Karrie Jacobs, she was promoted to editor-in-chief. During her tenure the magazine expanded its readership and received a number of awards, including the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in the 100,000-to-250,000 circulation category.

Arieff holds a B.A. in History from UCLA, and an M.A. in Art History from UC Davis and completed her PhD coursework in American Studies at New York University. Before joining Dwell, she held editorial positions at Random House, Oxford University Press, and Chronicle Books. She now writes a design blog called "By Design" for the OpEd section of The New York Times.