He was a further author of the Holcim Foundation Awards 2008 Acknowledgement prize-winning Stabilized earth visitors’ center in South Africa. The Mapungubwe Interpretation Center was completed in 2009 using latest developments in structural geometry along with an ancient construction technique, in order to implement a contemporary design, meant to house centuries-old artifacts.

He is an engineer, educator, and designer on the MIT faculty since 2002. He conducts research on the structural safety of historic monuments and the design of more sustainable structures. Trained at Cornell, Princeton, and the University of Cambridge, he is known for creative research at the intersection of structural engineering and architecture.

John Ochsendorf and his students have contributed to numerous design projects, including the Mapungubwe Interpretive Centre, the Sean Collier Memorial, several projects at the 2016 Venice Biennale of Architecture, and multiple sculptures with leading artists. He served as the Director of the American Academy in Rome from 2017-2020, and as the founding director of the MIT Morningside Academy for Design since 2022.

He was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to Spain (2000), a Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome (2007) and a MacArthur Fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (2008). At MIT, he was named a MacVicar Fellow in 2014 for exceptional teaching and he received the Gordon Y. Billard Award for exceptional service in 2016.

He is author of Guastavino Vaulting: The Art of Structural Tile (2010). His work has been supported by the Rome Prize, the MacArthur Fellowship, the Fulbright Fellowship, and numerous other international awards.