Dhiru A. Thadani is an architect and urbanist who has been in practice since 1980.  He has worked to disseminate principles and techniques of traditional town planning in all five continents, by sharing research, lecturing, mentorship, and working on projects.  In addition to architectural projects, he has been principal designer of new towns and cities, transit oriented developments, urban regeneration, neighborhood revitalization, academic campuses, and infill densification projects. 

Dhiru was born in Bombay, India and moved to Washington, D.C., in 1972 to study architecture.  During his forty-nine years in Washington, D.C. he has taught, practiced, and has strived to place traditional architecture and urbanism in the public eye.  Since its formation in 1993, Dhiru has been a charter member of the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), and served as Task Force Chair and Board Member from 1997 to 2013.  He is the recipient of seven CNU Charter Awards for master plans that he has been lead designer.

In 2016 he was elected to be Vice President of Membership and Treasurer for the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP).  In 2015 he was appointed to the inaugural CNU College of Fellows, and received ISOCARP’s Lifetime Achievement Award.  He is the recipient of the 2011 Seaside Prize, and was a Knight Foundation Community Builder Fellow in 2001.

Dhiru is the author of The Language of Towns and Cities: A Visual Dictionary, published by Rizzoli in 2010, and co-editor of Leon Krier: The Architecture of Community published by Island Press in 2009.  In 2013 Rizzoli published, Visions of Seaside: Foundations / Evolution / Imagination / Built & Unbuilt Architecture and will publish the sequel volume, Reflections on Seaside: Muses / Ideas / Influences / New & Future Projects in 2021.