Justin W. Cook

Design Critic in Architecture, GSD

Justin W. Cook is the Founding Executive Director of the Center for Complexity (CfC) at Rhode Island School of Design. The CfC is a cutting-edge platform for research, experimentation, and problem-solving that tackles multifaceted challenges defying reductionist approaches. Under Cook’s leadership, CfC engages in multiyear, multi-organization research projects on diverse topics ranging from nuclear disarmament to the opioid crisis.

In addition to his academic roles, Cook is the co-founder of Integrated Design Cubed, LLC (IDCubed), a company addressing climate and housing crises through sustainable, modular mass timber buildings. He also leads Commonwealth Advanced Projects LLC, providing strategic design consulting to organizations such as Google, Fidelity Investments, Knight Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, IBM, and the UN. From 2008 to 2018, Cook was Senior Lead for Strategy at the Finnish Innovation Fund, Sitra, where he focused on strategic design, urban systems, decarbonization, impact investing, and the future of education.