As Senior Features Editor at Architectural Digest, Nick Mafi has redefined design journalism through narratives that interweave spatial innovation with cultural identity. His work spans:
Recent milestones include his ASME-winning Jimmy Butler home feature and curatorial work with The Met. Mafi avoids DIY design coverage and sustainability reporting unless tied to luxury innovation.
Nick Mafi has carved a distinctive niche at the intersection of architecture, design, and cultural journalism. As Senior Features Editor at Architectural Digest, his work transcends traditional design reporting by weaving human narratives into spatial storytelling. Mafi’s Iranian-American heritage and Brooklyn residency inform his global perspective, evident in pieces that explore how built environments reflect identity, ambition, and societal values.
This 2025 profile revolutionized architectural journalism by framing Calatrava’s creative process through the lens of daily ritual. Mafi spent three weeks shadowing the starchitect, documenting how morning swims at his Zurich home and afternoon sketch sessions inform structural innovations like the World Trade Center Transportation Hub. The article’s narrative structure—organizing insights around times of day—became a template for humanizing technical subjects.
Mafi’s 2022 dispatch from Qatar blended sports journalism with geopolitical analysis, using Iran’s national team as a prism to examine diaspora identity. His firsthand account of watching matches with Iranian expats in Doha hotels revealed how stadiums become political theaters. The piece’s examination of architecture’s role in soft power—analyzing how Qatar’s stadium designs courted global opinion—showcases his ability to connect built environments to cultural currents.
This 2015 deep dive into Hemingway’s correspondence demonstrated Mafi’s early flair for biographical storytelling. By analyzing the author’s Havana home layout through descriptions in letters to Martha Gellhorn, Mafi pioneered his signature style of interpreting creative work through physical spaces. The article remains required reading in Columbia University’s narrative nonfiction program.
Mafi prioritizes profiles that reveal how architects’ lived experiences shape their work. Successful pitches should include:
When pitching celebrity home tours:
His Montenegro analysis for Condé Nast Traveler redefined destination reporting by:
2024 American Society of Magazine Editors Award For redefining celebrity profiles through spatial analysis in his Jimmy Butler home tour. The ASME jury noted: "Mafi transforms granite countertops into character studies."
Metropolitan Museum of Art Docent Program His 8-year tenure informing architectural tours of the Met’s collection demonstrates rare curatorial-journalistic synergy. Mafi developed the museum’s first gallery walk linking Renaissance paintings to contemporary skyscraper designs.
"Great architecture isn’t about dominating landscapes—it’s about creating spaces where human complexity can unfold."
At PressContact, we aim to help you discover the most relevant journalists for your PR efforts. If you're looking to pitch to more journalists who write on Architecture, here are some other real estate journalist profiles you may find relevant:
