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Nikil Saval

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Nikil Saval
Saval in 2022
Member of the Pennsylvania Senate
from the 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 5, 2021 (2021-01-05)
Preceded byLarry Farnese
Personal details
Born (1982-12-27) December 27, 1982 (age 42)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseShannon Garrison
Children2
Alma materColumbia University (BA)
Stanford University (PhD)
Known forCo-editor of n+1

Nikil Saval (born December 27, 1982) is an American magazine editor, writer, organizer, activist, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he represents the 1st district in the Pennsylvania State Senate. He has historically been a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and is currently a member, as of June 2025.[1]

Early life and education

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Saval was born in Los Angeles, California, to parents from Bangalore[2] and grew up in West Los Angeles.[3] He graduated from Columbia College of Columbia University with a B.A. in 2005 and received a Ph.D. in English from Stanford University in 2014.[2][4]

Writing career

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Saval was a co-editor of n+1,[5] as well as a contributor to The New York Times, and The New Yorker, covering architecture and design.[6] As of May 2025, he is an emeritus board member and contributing editor for n+1.[7]

In his 2014 book Cubed: A Secret History of the Workplace, Saval traces the evolution of the office workplace, from 19th-century counting houses to modern cubicles, exploring how these workplaces—and the lives of the workers within them—can be improved.[8] The book was named a New York Times notable book of 2014.[9]

Saval's sophomore effort, Rage in Harlem: June Jordan and Architecture, was released in 2024, exploring the collaboration between writer and activist June Jordan and architect and inventor R. Buckminster Fuller to re-conceptualize Harlem following the Harlem race riot of 1964, focusing on Jordan's "Skyrise for Harlem" proposal.[10] The proposal featured the construction of fifteen 100-story conical skyscrapers housing 500,000 people.[11] The work originated from a talk Saval delivered at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and was co-published with the institution and Sternberg Press.[10]

Saval is currently working on a book entitled Everything is Architecture, an analysis of the politics of industrial design.[12]

Political career

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Activism

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Saval was a co-founder of Reclaim Philadelphia, an organization that formed out of the Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign. His group helped elect Larry Krasner to district attorney of Philadelphia.[13] In 2018, Saval became the Ward Leader of Philadelphia's 2nd Ward.[14]

Pennsylvania State Senate

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In 2020, he challenged Democratic incumbent Larry Farnese for his seat in the Pennsylvania State Senate,[3] earning the endorsement of Senator Bernie Sanders in May 2020.[15] Saval based his campaign around a Green New Deal, prison reform, guaranteed affordable housing, redevelopment of Philadelphia schools, and Medicare for All.[16] He beat Farnese in the primary and became de facto State Senator-elect, as he had no opposition in the general election.[16][17]

He became a member of the Democratic Socialists of America in 2014.[15] As of June 2025, he is currently a member of the organization.[1]

In 2022, Saval introduced the Whole-Home Repairs Act, legislation which aims to provide eligible residents with grants of up to $50,000 to make health-and-safety focused home repairs. Small landlords would also be eligible to apply for similar loans under the same program, and the state government would also invest in training qualified home-repair workers. This program is partly intended to help low-income residents become eligible for federal grants from the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), which subsidizes energy-efficiency upgrades for poorer residents. Despite Saval himself’s position on the left wing of the Democratic party, Saval’s bill has received signals of support from several Republican committee chairs.[18]

In 2024, Saval supported a legislative proposal to increase housing supply in Pennsylvania by reducing onerous zoning regulations that restrict housing. The bill would permit duplexes in small towns and fourplexes in mid-sized towns previously zoned exclusively for single-family housing, as well as permit accessory dwelling units in all areas zoned for single-family housing.[19]

Personal life

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Saval is married to Shannon Garrison.[2] The couple live in Philadelphia with their sons.[20]

Books

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  • Cubed: A Secret History of the Workplace (2014), ISBN 9780385536578
  • Rage in Harlem: June Jordan and Architecture (2024), Sternberg Press / Harvard University Graduate School of Design, ISBN 9783956796296

References

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  1. ^ a b Avi Wolfman-Arent and Cherri Gregg (June 26, 2025). "Studio 2 from WHYY - What lessons can Democrats take from progressive victory in NYC? - 6/26/25". YouTube (Podcast and radio show). Featuring State Sen. Nikil Saval and The Philadelphia Inquirer editorial writer Daniel Pearson. WHYY. Event occurs at 21:10–21:18. Retrieved June 27, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c Lamster, Mark (February 2015). "2016 Dallas Festival of Ideas: The Physical City". The Dallas Morning News.
  3. ^ a b Washington, John (December 20, 2019). "Nikil Saval Is the Most Interesting Politician in America". The Nation.
  4. ^ Kane, Joan (July 2003). "College Honors 78 Students at Awards and Prizes Ceremony". Columbia College Today. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  5. ^ "Nikil Saval". Fresh Fiction. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  6. ^ Gajjar, Saloni (November 13, 2020). "Nikil Saval went from magazine editor to 1st Asian American in Penn. State Senate". NBC News. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  7. ^ "Masthead". n+1. 8 May 2025.
  8. ^ Garner, Dwight (2014-04-24). "The Office Space We Love to Hate". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-20.
  9. ^ "100 Notable Books of 2014". The New York Times. 2014-12-02. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-20.
  10. ^ a b "Rage in Harlem". MIT Press. Retrieved May 8, 2025.
  11. ^ Rhodes-Pitts, Sharifa (July 14, 2021). "How a Harlem Skyrise Got Hijacked—and Forgotten". The Nation. Retrieved May 8, 2025.
  12. ^ "Nikil Saval". MIT Press. Retrieved 2025-05-08.
  13. ^ "Accomplishments". Reclaim Philadelphia. Retrieved 2019-01-20.
  14. ^ Brennan, Chris; Walsh, Sean Collins (February 7, 2020). "Vince Fumo's old district is the scene of the latest battle between old and new Philadelphia politics". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  15. ^ a b Bromwich, Jonah Engel (May 28, 2020). "The N+1 Candidate". The New York Times. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  16. ^ a b Tanenbaum, Michael (June 2, 2020). "Progressive Nikil Saval unseats incumbent Sen. Larry Farnese in Pa. Senate's 1st District primary". Philadelphia Voice. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  17. ^ McCrone, Brian X. (June 3, 2020). "Socialist Is Projected Winner Over Incumbent Democrat for Philly State Senate Seat". NBC Philadelphia. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  18. ^ Cohen, Rachel M. (2022-04-17). "How to fight the affordable housing and climate crises at once". Vox. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  19. ^ "Pa. zoning laws are strangling home construction, and lawmakers want changes". Philadelphia Inquirer. 2024-03-21.
  20. ^ "About". State Senator Nikil Saval. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
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