Trained as an architect and urbanist, Sommer is a leader in architectural education and is a designer and scholar of the built environment.
[2][3] As Director of the Global Cities Institute at Daniels Faculty, Sommer co-curated the study and exhibitions with Michael Piper, Housing Multitudes: Reimagining the Landscapes of Suburbia[4] held at the Daniels Architecture and Design Gallery and at the World Urban Pavilion at Regent Park in 2023.
[7] Sommer co-curated, with Pillow Culture NYC, the inaugural exhibition at the Architecture and Design Gallery, New Circadia (Adventures in mental spelunking)[8] based on ongoing research on the democratic potential of collective spaces of idling, dream sharing and rest.
[10] He has held several other academic appointments including the O’Hare Chair/Visiting American Scholar at the University of Ulster, Scholar-in-Residence at the California College of the Arts, as well as visiting professorships at the Cooper Union, K.U.
[11] Sommer received a Bachelor of Architecture and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Rhode Island School of Design,[12] and a Master of Architecture at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design, where the architect Jose Rafael Moneo served as his thesis advisor.