Malcolm Wells
Architect (1926–2009), often called the father of modern earth-sheltered architecture. Built underground offices and homes in New Jersey and on Cape Cod.
- Roles
- architect, writer, illustrator
- Years
- 1926–2009
Wells began at RCA, designing radios and showrooms, and designed the RCA Pavilion for the 1964 World’s Fair in Queens. Learning the pavilion would be torn down after two years pushed him toward what he called gentle architecture: leave the land no worse than you found it.
He taught environmental design at Harvard in the mid-1970s, wrote and illustrated books on underground building and solar energy, retired from practice in 2004, and kept arguing for underground living until his death in 2009.
Writings
- Gentle Architecture (1981)
- Underground Designs (1981)
- How to Build an Underground House (1991)
- Recovering America (2001)
Sources
- Malcolm Wells. Wikipedia. · accessed November 4, 2026
- Wells: The Garden State's Most Iconic Architects. AIA New Jersey, 2013. · accessed November 4, 2026
Fact-checked November 4, 2026. Spotted an error? Tell us.