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2025 Study Architecture Student Showcase - Part X

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Architecture tells a story. The capstones and theses highlighted in Part X of the 2025 Study Architecture Student Showcase use texture, material, and spatial configuration as visual narratives. From short films to renderings, each project uses a unique medium of storytelling. The displayed work ranges from memorials inspired by speculative fiction and design interventions using augmented reality to exhibitions on womanhood and visualizations of poetry.
Scroll down for a closer look!

Thread by Thread by Emily Dross, B.Arch ’25
Ball State University | Advisor: James F. Kerestes

“Thread by Thread” is a short film, created as part of the course Cinematic Environments: Uncanny AI, explores hybridized architectural conditions through a speculative and surreal lens. Set in a richly imagined built environment, the narrative unfolds through the movements and interactions of fluffy, stuffed animal-like creatures—anthropomorphic figures that serve as both inhabitants and interpreters of the space. These soft-bodied protagonists navigate a world that oscillates between the familiar and the uncanny, offering a playful yet critical reflection on contemporary architectural and environmental issues.

The project operates within the “fuzzy space” between realism and speculation, where exaggerated materials, textures, and spatial configurations provoke questions about the future of the built environment. By merging whimsical imagery with architectural inquiry, the film engages themes of technological transformation and post-Anthropocene speculation. The soft, plush inhabitants stand in stark contrast to the often rigid, industrial aesthetic of traditional architectural spaces—suggesting alternative, more empathetic ways of occupying and designing environments.

Through visual storytelling, “Thread by Thread” reflects a critical position on how architecture might respond to pressing global concerns while embracing unconventional narratives and mediums. Ultimately, the film is a provocative gesture—one that reimagines the role of architecture in shaping not only physical space but also cultural and emotional landscapes. It invites viewers to question the boundaries of architectural representation and consider the value of softness, fantasy, and hybridity in the discourse of design.

Instagram: @em.dross, @jameskerestes

Echoes of the Land: A Pilgrimage of Wilderness and Spirit by Andrea Frank, M.Arch ‘25
North Dakota State University | Advisor: Stephen Wischer

This thesis explores how architecture can bridge humanity and the natural world, restoring a connection eroded by technology, overconsumption, and distraction. While cities offer curated encounters with nature, they cannot replace the deep peace found in wilderness. This connection is essential to humanity’s survival. If humanity fails to understand its relationship with the environment and engage with it responsibly, it jeopardizes the ecological balance of the world and humanity’s own existence.

Architecture, once in dialogue with nature, now often serves function, spectacle, or profit. This work reimagines architecture as a mediator that fosters kinship with the earth through a threefold approach: a pilgrimage across city, edge, and wilderness; poetic uncovering of ancient site stories; and sensory engagement with the four classical elements. In doing so, architecture becomes a vessel for atmosphere, memory, and meaning, guiding individuals to a deeper awareness of themselves and their world.

This project received an AIA Medal for Academic Excellence.

Instagram: @andrea.frank10

A Place for Pilgrimage by Andy Packwood, B.S. in Architecture ’25
University of Virginia | Advisor: Peter Waldman

The project synthesizes two years of fascination for and research into the climate-threatened coastal community of Tangier, speculating as to what will ultimately happen to rural, low-income American communities in the wake of inevitable sea level rise. My interest lay not in the proposal of any sort of savior infrastructural solution, not in the proposal of a managed retreat plan, nor in the design of a mainland relocation for displaced refugee residents. I chose to develop a memorialized destination that could still exist on the island long after its ridges have turned to marsh, its homes have been barged away, and normally perceived connotations of inhabitability have all but vanished. I chose to create “A Place for Pilgrimage”, inspired by my own pilgrimage of El Camino de Santiago this past March.

Simply put, the proposal is an adaptive reuse of the tallest structure on Tangier: its water tower. Adding a spiraling staircase and pushing the structure fifty years into the unknown, the design creates a single space in the sky through the removal of half of the tower’s upper dome. The approach is incredibly important; much of the final pin-up focused on rendering this pilgrimage step by step. Starting from the dock of the mainland resettlement, looking out into the Chesapeake Bay, a line of buoys trails towards the horizon. A bird soars toward the tower in the distance, the vestiges of marsh poking out of the water. Cameron Evans, current vice mayor and young watermen of the Island, embarks as this future pilgrim by skiff. He carries with him a gravestone; many cemeteries on the Island are often inundated by tidal flooding, and residents must move these tombs to higher ground, again and again.

What I have proposed is a final resting place, safe from the heights of sea level rise. A place for generations to visit, to bring tokens of remembrance, to occupy overnight, or to even continue their trade as watermen. Up within the dome of the water tower is a cenotaph for the people, memories, culture, history, and beauty of Tangier. We will need one.

This project was awarded High Honors for Thesis.

Ephemeral Spaces — Presence and Absence by Robin Xiao, B.S. in Architecture ’25
University of Virginia | Advisor: Peter Waldman

This thesis explores how architecture can emerge from the debris of the everyday to construct a space of ritual and transition—between life and death, presence and absence, memory and forgetting. 

Situated in the post-industrial landscape of Skaramangas, Athens, the project transforms three abandoned military interchange tunnels into a procession of ephemeral architecture: a crematorium, a columbarium, and spaces for reflection, and spaces of pause/entry/exit. 

Through a series of five conceptual models, material fragments—broken light bulbs, candles, metal tubing, computer chips, wood scraps—become instruments of spatial inquiry, offering alternative ways to think about temporality, transformation, and the sacred. Each model gives rise to a set of sectional drawings, collaged with elemental forces—earth, fire, air, water—revealing a layered architecture of transition. 

The resulting proposal is not a fixed structure, but a choreography of spaces that invite the living to move with the dead, through tunnels repurposed as thresholds. This work situates ephemerality not as loss, but as an architectural condition of becoming—an act of spatial murmuration shaped by light, material residue, and memory in motion.

This project received High Honors for Undergraduate Thesis.

Instagram: @robinxiaostudio

MOVING FUTURES VERTICAL SCHOOL by Alex Hoover & Zach Izzo, M.Arch ’25
University at Buffalo | Advisor: Jin Young Song

Located in Songdo, Seoul, our project reimagines the typical Korean private educational institutions, known as Hagwon, by prioritizing spatial flexibility and community engagement. Traditional Hagwons often feature cramped, efficiency-driven classrooms. However, research shows that children learn better in environments with diverse spatial qualities—high ceilings, minimal partitions, vibrant colors, and flexible layouts. To address this, we designed a highly adaptable building with movable interior and exterior components. Each main floor features partition walls on ceiling-mounted tracks, allowing spaces to transform easily—from small study rooms to large lecture halls or art galleries. This system ensures both spatial diversity for students and long-term adaptability for future tenants or programs. 

The facade similarly emphasizes flexibility, offering a reinterpretation of Korea’s dense, intrusive urban signage. The three-layer facade system integrates architecture, community identity, and student expression. The outer layer consists of LED media panels and sun-shading devices, configurable to display student artwork or community visuals, establishing the building as a neighborhood landmark. The second layer features sliding perforated metal signage panels, subtly blending information with the architecture rather than overwhelming it. The innermost layer wraps the social stair, visible from both adjacent streets, inviting public interaction and showcasing movement within the building. Smaller panels provide localized signage, such as floor numbers and bulletin boards. Together, the dynamic facade and transformable interior create a learning environment that fosters both community visibility and spatial flexibility, promoting a more engaging, human-centered educational experience.

The project was selected for the Cram Urbanism and Vertical Learning Space International symposium

Instagram: @_alex_hoover, @jinyoung___song  

The Market of Joy by Shefa Quazi, M.ArchD ’25
Oxford Brookes University | Advisors: Toby Smith, Alexandra Lacatusu, Toby Shew, Charles Parrack

In a world dominated by seamless digital consumption, where screens dictate desires and algorithms predict movement, The Covered Market in Oxford becomes a site of rebellion—a place where reality is glitched, distorted, and reclaimed from commercial control. Instead of a polished, hyper-commercial spectacle designed to guide users into predictable behaviors, the proposed series of interventions hijack the mechanics of digital consumerism and turns them against themselves to exaggerate them into a physical, pseudo-reality. Attempting to readminister the loss currency of joy.

The market transforms into a disruptive, anti-brand arcade—a physical and augmented experience that interrupts, unsettles, and reawakens users to the absurdity of algorithm-driven life. Augmented Reality, typically a tool for corporate control (filters, tracking, gamified shopping), is instead repurposed to create moments of détournement, where the commercial is undermined, and participation leads not to consumption, but to adding weight to reality and human interaction. Overall revaluing the High Street as a whole. 

Instead of guiding users toward consumption, the market becomes a disobedient space, forcing engagement away from passive scrolling and toward critical awareness of spectacle itself. The interactions don’t feed an algorithm—they break it. The market is no longer a relic of pre-digital commerce but a living, evolving site of resistance against digital saturation and corporate control.

This project received the Oxford Brookes University Reginald W. Cave Award.

Instagram: @sheevz_q, @oxarch

The Inner Mechanism by Jared Roberts, M.Arch ’25
Lawrence Technological University | Advisor: Masataka Yoshikawa

This project sees the physical model and 2D illustration of the hypothetical device abstracted to create architectural forms and spaces. The form derives itself from the concepts dealt with in the inner mechanisms and particularly information storage. The “nested” nature of digital information storage (i.e., nested file folders on a computer) translates to nested architectural forms that sometimes exist within or even overlap other parts of the model. Another concept was that of information’s changes and persistence over time. The form is constructed like a timeline that exists in all three dimensions, inspired by the flow map of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, which charts various different variables including location, population, time, events and more about Napoleon’s Russian campaign. In the same way, the timeline is a two-dimensional visual representation of information gathered about events in history; this model is a three-dimensional representation of the information gathered and stored by the hypothetical device. 

Instagram: @masataka.yoshikawa

Echoes of Home by Zuha Arab Sabbagh & Rana Abdelhadi, B.Arch ’25
American University of Sharjah | Advisor: Gregory Thomas Spaw

‘Echoes of Home’ responds broadly to displacement in our globalised world. Specifically, on the generational displacement of Syrians. Centralised on the intimate and underappreciated labour of homemaking, the project acts as a recognition and celebration of Womanhood as a discipline. It is designed to mark the story of displacement – building and rebuilding – into an inconstant world. The project tentatively approaches the need to capture the complicated ephemerality in our modern understanding of what ‘home’ is.

In designing a secondary residence-exhibition, the studio deployed the renaissance phenomenon of the cabinet of curiosities to challenge us to create spatially charged architecture focused on the exhibition of artifacts. We selected fictitious clients, curated a selection of curiosities to display, picked a suitable site, and decided the extent of distinction between the residence and the exhibition.

Designing a residence required an examination of the notion of ‘home’. Historically, ‘home’ has been explored as a vehicle for living and, with the rise of modernism, critiqued as performative. The programs selected recognise the labour of homemaking and extend to capture the performance of hosting and the pleasure of gathering. ‘Home’ has consistently been placed in women’s domain. The practice of homemaking falls under the discipline of Womanhood. The project adheres to the practice and rejects criticism, accommodating for it spatially. The kitchen, game room, bathing space, bedrooms, bathrooms, and guest room all double as exhibition spaces. The integrated spaces create opportunities for gathering and hakawayti (storytelling). Homes tell a story of past, present and future, and the project acts as a natural extension.

Encouraged to design spaces from the inside out, the client and narrative guided design decisions. The Characters: a mother, daughter and grandmother, based on Syrian women in our vicinity, emphasise the generational distinctions in modes of displacement: immigrant, diaspora and refugee. The clients’ stories resemble those of many diasporas. 

Instagram: @gregoryspaw

An Anchor in Time: A Dwelling Reflecting the Interplay of Time and Space by Salma Hani Mubarak Ali, B.Arch ’25
American University of Sharjah | Advisor: Gregory Thomas Spaw

In the vast stillness of the desert, this residence becomes a compass of time—a place where shifting sands echo the dance of the stars, grounding life within the endless drift of the cosmos. The design emerges from the client’s collection of astrological instruments, shaping spatial arrangements that enhance functionality and interaction. Objects inform the layout, with dedicated areas that invite exploration and observation. Strategic openings frame views of the night sky and desert, enriching the experience of celestial observation. This residence serves as both a home and an observatory, fostering a profound connection to the cosmos while celebrating the beauty of time and change. (Text: Salma Hani Mubarak Ali)

Cabinet of Curiosities: Exploring the Ensemble (aka, house of the collector) is an option studio utilizing the 16th-century-18th-century phenomenon of the Cabinet of Curiosities or Wunderkammers (wonder-rooms) as a point of departure to explore the exhibition of ensembles of artifacts with the goal of creating spatially charged architecture.

Working as individuals or in pairs, students had the opportunity to curate their own collection of curiosities and develop a novel architectural language to facilitate the display of the exquisite objects. Associated with the collection was a real or imagined client that served to further drive a generated domestic program. With the scale of the overall proposals being purposely manageable, students had the opportunity to focus on developing architectural assemblies that directly engage with issues of materiality, connections, and details. As such, physical and digital models were heavily employed as tools to study the interplay of elements at a series of scales

This project won the RIBA Gulf: Future Architects 2024 Overall Best Model Award.

Click here to learn more.

 Instagram: @salma.hani.ali, @gregoryspaw

Evermore: A Cemetery For The City by Mo Karnes, B.Arch ’25
Mississippi State University | Advisors: Jassen Callender, David Buege, Aaron White, Mark Vaughan & David Perkes

My uncle died less than two years before I was born. I never met him, but his death is only an obstacle in my ability to know him. Chris was an artist and poet who left behind many things for me to know him by, including a poem entitled Evermore, written during his struggle with AIDS. The meditation is: 

I will walk unlonely,

Holding me up

As I begin to fall,

You Lead the way

And sometimes follow.

Our passage now is

Evermore.

(To be repeated, Unending).

To be ‘unlonely’ is a profound response to the impending, seeming loneliness that is death. Loneliness for those dying and those left behind. Chris’s poem is not just a meditation for himself, but for those struggling with loss. As a dying man, Chris places himself shoulder to shoulder with the reader; their journey is one and the same.

“Evermore: A Cemetery For The City” is a small cemetery complex adjacent to the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in Downtown Jackson, Mississippi. The complex comprises a crematorium, vertical columbarium, and chapel. The site is rectangular, bound on all sides by concrete walls with only one threshold for entry. Two masses seemingly float behind the concrete boundary walls that veil them, the smaller chapel and the larger columbarium. Both stoic in form, they disguise the intricacies hidden in the interiors of their masses.  

The ambition of this project is to integrate the awareness of mortality into the city, while supplying architectural means to confront it. This awareness is not a means of oppression, but an attempt to convey the gift that is life. This cemetery is intended to be a public space where inhabitants can experience the city with citizens who came before them, inducing a relationship with the past, generating an appreciation of those who came before, and propelling the city forward with the intent to befriend and mentor the future.  

This project received the CDFL Capstone Studio Travel Award. 

Instagram: @mo.karnes, @jassencallender

IMAGINATIVE REALITY: INVENTION OF SYNERGISTIC NARRATIVES by Chey Isiguzo, M.Arch ’25
Toronto Metropolitan University | Advisor: Lisa Landrum

Imagination is both an act and a familiar, safe space, evoking nostalgic feelings rooted in our reality. 

This space can become unfamiliar when cultural expressions changes, leading to multifaceted identities and undeveloped narratives. This dynamic contributes to cultural conflict and highlights the juxtaposition of traditional and contemporary African architectural narratives. As a space, imagination can generate narrative 

characters and elements by creating synergistic stories that incorporate traditional craftsmanship into contemporary African architecture. The imaginative process consists of three components. Imagining while thinking is an act that uses mental images from memories, dreams, fantasies, or visions to create one’s reality. Imagining while making is the act of craftsmanship used to speculate the distinction between traditional and contemporary architectural narratives through the lens of cultural expressions. Imagining while drawing is an act of translation by utilizing narrative characters—building elements like windows and doors—to dissect fragments of both traditional and contemporary architecture to find new narratives. 

These narrative characters work alongside structural elements, such as walls, roofs, layouts, courtyards, and compounds, to convey new stories that showcase materials and design techniques rooted in Igbo craftsmanship. To develop synergistic narratives, one can explore the evolution of traditional African craftsmanship, particularly within Igbo culture, across ancestral, post-colonial, and contemporary contexts. This exploration reveals how the architectural narratives of traditional and contemporary styles are increasingly distinct. Consequently, this imaginative space becomes a reality that examines the relationship between what is real and what is envisioned through architectural craftsmanship.

Instagram: @sumisi000, @ucisi_studios, @tmu_archgrad

When I’m Sixty-Four: Flourishing at Falkland by George Mannix, M.ArchD ’25
Oxford Brookes School of Architecture | Advisors: Melissa Kinnear & Alex Towler

This project proposes a “therapeutic cooperative” that reimagines later life as a time for purpose, legacy, and connection. Designed for people aged 64 and over, the initiative creates a living environment where older adults can flourish by sharing life experiences with younger visitors while contributing to environmental and social regeneration. 

Central to the concept is the cohabitation of residents with Tamworth pigs, which serve both symbolic and ecological roles—facilitating intergenerational dialogue and promoting biodiversity through trophic rewilding.

Located at Kilgour, a Victorian farm steading on Scotland’s Falkland estate, the site carries historical significance and a past tied to pig-rearing and the celebration of endings. 

Accommodation includes accessible apartments, communal gardens, and a biodiversity-rich courtyard. Pigs will live in creatively built “Ad-Hog” styes using reclaimed materials. A chapel-like “Memory Archive” will hold personal stories of residents’ lives, offering a space for reflection and remembrance.

The project unfolds in three phases: first, clearing and revitalising the site with community involvement; second, welcoming the first residents and establishing the Memory Archive; and third, expanding the model across Scotland to transform abandoned steadings and boost natural regeneration.

Younger visitors, whom we have dubbed “biodiversity-backpackers,” can stay in on-site hostel lodgings, with the hope of fostering meaningful interaction between generations. Funding comes from elderly participants downsizing their homes, combined with national grants, giving them control over their later years.

Ultimately, this initiative responds to the growing issue of isolation among the elderly in Scotland. By embedding legacy, memory, and biocentric living into the design, it aims to help people see out their days with dignity whilst living with renewed purpose.

This project received the Ackroyd Lowrie Prize.

Instagram: @georgemannix, @ds3_obu

POLISH PAVILION – RIYADH EXPO 2030 by Oskar Karos, B.Sc. in Architecture ’25
University of the District of Columbia | Advisor: Golnar Ahmadi

Set in Riyadh for Expo 2030, the Polish Pavilion reinterprets the nation’s geography and ecological identity through architecture. Designed as a living map of Poland, the pavilion invites visitors to journey from the southern Tatra Mountains to the northern Baltic Sea, experiencing the country’s topography, climate, and innovation within one continuous landscape. The project explores how architecture can embody an entire nation’s ecosystem, transforming exhibition space into a self-sustaining organism.

Poland’s diverse terrain—from its rugged mountains to fertile plains and coastal winds—inspired a spatial narrative divided into eight regions. Each represents two neighboring voivodeships, blending their natural and technological identities: wind power in Pomorskie, hydropower in Warmińsko-Mazurskie, sustainable farming in Podlaskie, and smart urbanism in Mazowieckie, among others. 

Visitors move northward along a symbolic Vistula River, linking interactive installations that demonstrate Poland’s leadership in renewable energy, circular economy, and ecological stewardship. Constructed with steel, wood, stone, and glass, the pavilion merges material authenticity with sustainability. A closed water cycle system replicates natural evaporation and rainfall, powering greenery and regulating humidity. The accessible green roof offers shaded paths and aerial views of Poland’s “living topography,” blending innovation with environmental harmony.

Beyond a national exhibition, the pavilion is a statement of coexistence—between people and nature, culture and technology. It celebrates Poland not through static displays, but as a breathing ecosystem where every element, from water to wind, participates in a cycle of renewal.

Instagram: @Golnarahmadi

Stay tuned for Part XI!

2025 Study Architecture Student Showcase - Part III

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Today’s installment of the 2025 Study Architecture Student Showcase highlights innovation in technology and artificial intelligence (AI). In Part III, we look at senior projects that reimagine how technology can transform architectural practices, human experiences, sustainability, and design workflows. You may find yourself asking: What happens when AI is used as a co-designer? 

From smart cities in Puerto Rico to augmented reality, each project will broaden your perspective on the capabilities of technology in design. 

Browse the projects below!

Urban Metamorphosis: Smart Cities Resignifying Spaces by Ramón L. Meléndez-García, B.Arch ‘25
Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico | Advisors: Pedro A. Rosario-Torres & Juan C. Santiago-Colón

This research investigates the urban regeneration of Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, through the strategic implementation of smart city principles adapted to local needs. In response to widespread physical, social, and economic decay—evident in abandoned lots, deteriorated infrastructure, and declining public life—the study proposes a multidimensional framework that reimagines the urban fabric through technological innovation, sustainable development, and architectural intervention.

Departing from mainstream smart city models centered solely on digital efficiency, this study develops a localized smart city theory that combines cultural identity, community participation, and advanced technologies. The proposal includes the integration of smart housing, cultural and educational hubs with augmented reality capabilities, green infrastructure, efficient public transportation, and urban data nodes to improve services and connectivity. Core technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Big Data are utilized to inform urban planning decisions, support sustainability, and foster civic engagement.

Río Piedras is positioned as a prototype for urban acupuncture, where vacant and underused parcels are reactivated as strategic anchors for community life, innovation, and economic growth. The intervention emphasizes not only technological transformation but also the importance of contextual design—bridging the gap between historic architecture and contemporary urban needs.

By transforming obsolete spaces into adaptive smart infrastructures, the project demonstrates how urban regeneration can be achieved through a balance of innovation and local identity. This research presents a replicable smart city model for Latin American contexts, focused on equitable access to services, environmental responsibility, and inclusive urban development.

Ultimately, the study reframes smart cities as people-centered ecosystems, where technology, space, and society coalesce to create resilient, livable, and forward-looking urban environments.

Fold Me a Path: An Experience of Fractured Flow by Farah Swilam, M.ArchD ’25
Oxford Brookes University | Advisors: Adam Holloway, Elliot Krause & Deniz Topcuoglu

Distortion:

This project explores how fractured geometry and pattern-based aggregation can be reimagined through artificial intelligence to generate new kinds of human experiences in architecture. At its core is the idea of distortion—reshaping familiar systems like Islamic pattern growth and crystallographic expansion through AI to produce forms that feel intuitive yet unfamiliar.

Crystallization:

Inspired by how crystals grow—from a single point to complex geometries—the architecture builds on repetition, branching, and fracture. These logics were first tested physically and digitally, then handed over to AI as a co-designer. Trained on sketches, models, and prompts around fragmented patterns and public infrastructure, the AI generated outputs that became provocations, not solutions.

Narrative:

The result is a prefabricated ferry terminal on Istanbul’s Golden Horn waterfront—where infrastructure becomes a spatial narrative. Modular units cluster and grow across a path, shifting in orientation and size to guide a fractured journey from land to water, compression to openness.

Behavior:

AI simulations shaped the plan by mapping how curiosity, comfort, and pressure influence movement. These behavioral zones structured flows for tourists and commuters, varying path widths and densities to create both fast transitions and moments of pause.

Shell:

Externally, the terminal’s form draws from a library of AI-generated crystal geometries—clustered, mirrored, and oriented to respond to light, program, and views. The fragmented skin filters shadow and light, echoing Istanbul’s energy while remaining grounded in geometric order.

Assembly:

Constructed from prefabricated timber shells and CNC-milled panels, the structure sits lightly on steel piers over water. Brass cladding reflects the city’s historic palette. Passive strategies like cross-ventilation and rainwater harvesting are integrated into the system, and prefabrication minimizes urban disruption.

Resonance:

Ultimately, “Fold Me a Path” is a proposal for architecture that listens—guided by AI, rooted in culture, and attuned to human experience.

Instagram: @acciofxra7_, @holloway_arch

Gastro-Genesis by Dana Otoom, B.Arch ’25
American University in Dubai | Advisor: José Antonio Carrillo

Exploring the intersection of architecture, gastronomy, and parametric design through the creation of edible objectiles-geometrically-driven food forms that act as catalysts for designing an entire multisensory dining experience. Drawing from the theories of Bernard Cache, Greg Lynn, and Patrik Schumacher, the project translates infinite variability into spatial and experiential diversity. Each objectile is generated through a parametric algorithm based on flavor perception, sensory attributes, and contextual cues such as temperature, aroma, and emotional response. The edible forms define not only the food but also influence the design of cutlery, furniture, spatial layout, and user journey within a dining environment. Set in the UAE, the project culminates in a metabolically inspired spatial sequence that mirrors digestion, transitioning from urban farming to sensory labs, with the buffer zone acting as a sensory terrain of sweet, rounded objectiles to ease entry and exit.

Click here for a closer look.

Instagram: @danaaotoom, @d.otoom, @j.carrilloandrada

Biosphere by Shrilaxmi Nair, Sharanya Mathrudev & Parth Solanki, M.Arch ’25
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | Advisor: Yun Kyu Yi

The landscape of architectural design is rapidly evolving with advances in 3D modeling, rendering software, and, more recently, artificial intelligence (AI). While tools like Stable Diffusion, DALL·E, and Midjourney have transformed illustration by allowing users to generate images from text prompts, architecture is now seeing its own set of AI tools tailored for design professionals. These tools can assist in generating building forms, interior styles, façade systems, and code-compliant floor plans, while also supporting layout optimization. As these tools become more powerful and accessible, they are beginning to reshape how architects approach the design process.

This shift is prompting reflection within architectural practice: Should traditional skills like manual representation and code literacy remain central, or should designers explore how to engage critically and creatively with AI? Rather than replacing the designer, AI has the potential to enhance creativity and support more thoughtful, design-driven decision-making.

This project explored the role of AI not simply as a visualization tool, but as an active collaborator in the design process. The work focused on three key phases where AI tools were integrated into schematic design: Concept Development, Concept Actualization, and Objective-Based Form Finding. Through this exploration, the project aimed to understand how AI can shape design workflows, support ideation, and open new directions for architectural thinking and practice.

This project is inspired by Jeju Island, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The design celebrates Earth, Air, and Water through architecture that blends with nature. Earth|Terra, the tower, reflects the volcanic rock found in Jeju and represents it through biomimicry and sustainability. Air|Zephyr, the bridge, flows seamlessly between land and water, evoking balance and calm. Water|Octo, inspired by Jeju’s Haenyo divers, serves as a cultural immersion center and coral observatory, honoring resilience and ecological harmony.

Instagram: @shrilaxmi_nair, @sharanya__2000, @iamparthsolanki, @ral_isoa

Embrace – Performative Connections by  Alejandro Arizpe, Stephanie Balbin, Javier Fano, Emily Guerrero, Erica Herrera, Kevin Linton, Raul Montalvo, Danny Murray, Ricardo Reyes, Sarah Staten, Gustavo Tirado, Jennifer Villarreal & John Zerda, B.Arch ’25
University of Texas at San Antonio | Advisor: Armando Araiza

At its core, architecture is a choreography of connections. In this advanced research studio, students explored assembly not as an afterthought, but as the generative principle for design. Through a semester-long investigation, they studied how different elements, digital, material, and structural, come together to form performative wholes.

The studio began with an in-depth analysis of joints and bonding methods across disciplines and histories, treating the connection itself as both an aesthetic and structural act. From laser-cut prototypes to iterative digital models, each student developed a speculative connection system, refined through hands-on experimentation.

These efforts converged in the fabrication of a full-scale, inhabitable prototype. Built collaboratively and rapidly deployed, the final installation tested how a single connection logic could drive formal, spatial, and assembly decisions. With no hierarchy between part and whole, the project revealed how connection is not just a means of construction, it’s a way of thinking, making, and inhabiting space.

Instagram: @armando_araiza

The Waterscape: UNDERGRADUATE LIBRARY by  Kay Hau, Yogitha Reddi & Taylor Solomon, M.Arch ’25
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | Advisor: Yun Kyu Yi

Architectural design is undergoing a major transformation with advancements in 3D modeling, rendering software, and, more recently, artificial intelligence (AI). Tools like Stable Diffusion, DALL·E, and Midjourney have revolutionized illustration by enabling users to generate visuals from text prompts. Now, architecture is seeing the emergence of AI tools specifically developed for design professionals. These tools assist in generating building forms, interior designs, façade systems, and code-compliant floor plans, while also optimizing layouts. As they become increasingly powerful and accessible, AI technologies are redefining how architects approach the design process.

This evolution is sparking important questions within architectural practice: Should traditional skills like hand drawing and code literacy still hold central importance, or should designers embrace new ways to engage critically and creatively with AI? Rather than replacing the designer, AI has the potential to amplify creativity and encourage more thoughtful, design-driven decisions.

This project investigated the role of AI not just as a tool for visualization, but as a true collaborator in the design process. It focused on three key stages where AI was incorporated into schematic design: Concept Development, Concept Actualization, and Objective-Based Form Finding. The goal was to explore how AI can influence design workflows, spark new ideas, and open up innovative directions for architectural thought and practice.

“The Waterscape” reimagines the UIUC Undergraduate Library site through three central ideas: Nexus, Senses, and Encapsulation. Drawing inspiration from the library’s legacy as a communal space, the design emphasizes sensory experiences—sight, sound, and touch—while maintaining the site’s natural environment and uncovering its hidden subterranean layers. Using AI tools such as ComfyUI, Neural Network, and DeepGaze, the design team explored form-making approaches that maximize daylight and collect water efficiently. The result is a passive cooling system that activates and unifies the three-tiered space.

This project received an Honorable Mention for the Ratio Prize, Spring 2025.

Instagram: @kaylhau, @ral_isoa

Sculpted Time by Layla Danelle Neira, B.Arch ’25
New Jersey Institute of Technology | Advisor: Andrzej Zarzycki

Project Description:

“Sculpted Time” is an augmented reality (AR) project designed to deepen community engagement with the large stone sculptures on NJIT’s campus. Despite their scale and presence, I noticed many students and visitors pass by them without knowing their significance. I wanted to create an experience that reintroduces these sculptures in a more dynamic and relatable way—inviting people to reflect on the tension between the permanence of stone and the fleeting nature of the technology these sculptures represent.

The project is ultimately an application where users can scan a sculpture and have immersive AR experiences that engage multiple senses. Through context-aware environments and storytelling, “Sculpted Time” aims to transform how we engage with public art on campus and rethink our role in an age of rapid technological change—especially within the context of NJIT, where many of us are preparing for careers in tech-driven fields.

Methodology:

This was my first time working with AR technology beyond social media filters, so much of the early stages were marked by experimentation and guidance from my studio professor, Andrzej Zarzycki. I developed the project using tools such as Unity for building the immersive AR environments, Kiri Engine for photogrammetry and 3D modeling, and Vuforia for marker-based AR tracking.

Since the final outcome was a functioning app prototype, I also had to learn and apply UI/UX design principles to ensure the experience was both user-friendly and intuitive. Designing the interface and user interactions became just as important as developing the AR content itself. This part of the process felt more familiar to me since my background in architecture helped me approach spatial planning, visual hierarchy, and user flow with confidence.

Click here for a closer look.

This project was recognized at NJIT’s Dana Knox Research Showcase, 2025.

Instagram: @laylan981, @andrzejzarzycki

Tame Your Mushroom by Tova Gold, M.Arch ’25
New York Institute of Technology | Advisor: Sandra Manninger

“How To Train Your Mushroom- Fungal Computation, Toward Sustainable Biocomputing in Architecture”

This research explores fungal bioelectricity as a foundation for sustainable, living computational systems with potential applications in architecture. Pleurotus ostreatus (oyster mushrooms) exhibit stimulus-responsive electrical activity analogous to neural computation. While traditionally studied for ecological roles, fungal mycelium demonstrates capacities for memory, adaptive behavior, and environmental sensing, positioning it as a viable substrate for biologically embedded computation within architectural systems.

Controlled experiments involved embedding electrodes into living fungal colonies to record voltage fluctuations under mechanical pressure, light exposure, and thermal stimuli. Time-series features from these electrical signals were processed and analyzed using convolutional neural networks to classify stimulus types. Preliminary results indicate distinct waveform patterns associated with different environmental inputs, suggesting that fungal networks encode information through structured bioelectrical signaling.

These findings highlight the potential of mycelium as a living sensor network capable of integration into architectural assemblies. Responsive to light, heat, mechanical stress, or air quality, fungal materials offer a pathway to architectural systems that adapt in real time to their environment. Unlike conventional computing systems, fungal substrates require minimal energy input, operate at ambient temperatures, and are biodegradable—aligning with goals of ecological design and regenerative material practices.

In architecture, fungal biocomputing implies a shift from inert, passive materials toward active, sensing infrastructures. Mycelium may serve not only as a sustainable building component but also as a medium for distributed computation, enabling novel forms of environmental interactivity and feedback. Moreover, fungal information processing—distributed, embodied, and chemically mediated—resonates with emerging paradigms in architecture that reject centralized control in favor of non-linear, rhizomatic systems.

By combining fungal electrophysiology, machine learning, and computational design, this research redefines the role of material intelligence in architecture and proposes a future in which built environments are both materially and computationally alive.

Instagram: @sandramanninger_studio

Stay tuned for Part III!

2024 Study Architecture Student Showcase - Part VIII

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Part VIII of the 2024 Study Architecture Student Showcase features student work that incorporates the needs and experiences of marginalized groups. Each project provides design solutions to create safer, accessible, and empowering conditions for women, immigrants, racial minorities, the unhoused, and the queer community. Scroll down to browse the award-winning student work!

Architecture & Gender: Women in Río Piedras by Denelys Olivo-Nieves, M. Arch ‘24
University of Puerto Rico | Advisors: Omayra Rivera Crespo, Jose R. Coleman-Davis, Maria Helena Luengo & Blanquita Calzada

The development of urban projects in Puerto Rico, particularly in the Río Piedras community, reveals a disconnection of the needs and experiences of women. The research focuses on how the lack of inclusion of the gender perspective in architectural design has led to the creation of environments that do not adequately consider these needs. It proposes the conscious incorporation of women’s experiences in the design process, highlighting the importance of recognizing the differences in experiences between men and women while studying their routines and habits in an urban setting. The research identifies common challenges faced by women in the built environment, such as the lack of connecting spaces in their daily routes, affecting their well-being in urban areas. Based on interviews and the formulation of urban connectivity, concrete actions are suggested to create safer and more accessible spaces.

International examples of policies that promote the consideration of women in urban design serve as references to further support the importance of women’s spaces. Inclusive and women-centered projects can inspire significant improvements in architectural development towards a more inclusive and sustainable future. In summary, the research highlights how the inclusion of the gender perspective in urban design not only improves the quality of life for women but also enriches the urban experience for the entire community, promoting more equitable, inclusive, and socially connected cities. The project encompasses all the research on women in Río Piedras and their needs as members of a community and urban area to develop a project that meets the criteria for them to thrive. It was designed in a woman-empowered and commercially owned area to connect to the existing activity of Río Piedras, ensuring that women are considered an integral part of the design.

Instagram: @picheanina, @uprarchitecture

Fractal Forma by Phoebe Lam & Julia Cheung, M. Arch ’24
University of Pennsylvania | Advisor: Simon Kim

The creation of Fractal Forma is kindled by the underrepresented females in the architecture industry. Our structure draws inspiration from the groundbreaking work of female architects whose contributions have often been overshadowed by their male counterparts. By bringing their designs out of the shadows and into the spotlight, we aim to shed light on the diversity and innovation within architecture, while honoring the often-unrecognized talents of minority architects. Through this pavilion, we strive to create a space where their legacies are celebrated and their stories are told, fostering inclusivity and representation within the architectural community.

In architecture, opportunities and recognition are unevenly distributed. Some architects gain access to prestigious projects and resources, while others face barriers due to race, gender, socioeconomic status, and location, hindering their advancement.

Architects have the power to bridge divides, challenge norms, and create spaces that foster unity and understanding. By embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion in their practice, architects can begin to mend the fractures within their profession and contribute to a more cohesive and equitable society. Collaboration across disciplines, active engagement with marginalized communities, and a commitment to ethical and socially responsible design are important steps towards achieving this goal.

Instagram: @phoebel.arch, @_juliaarch

Arrival Village by Jarin Hoque, B. Arch ‘24
University of Waterloo | Advisor: Adrian Blackwell

As one of the most populated, diverse cities in Canada, Brampton has faced a rapid shift in population due to the pull factors presented by Canada’s Immigration Policies, resulting in increasing demands for housing. As an essential location for hosting immigrants and racialized minorities in Canada, Brampton must pertain to its residents and newcomers. Arrival Village is based on the book Arrival City by Doug Saunders, formulating a community in which residents are provided with education, resources, [and] flexible living options, in order to step towards a sustainable social and economic life. Made from cross-laminated timber, the transitional home seeks to provide a social and economic entry mechanism for the diverse communities that continue to immigrate, as well as current citizens who require housing facilities while transitioning towards long-term housing.

With a shared-ownership governance structure with affordable rates, residents are given the opportunity to learn, grow and transition into a new place. Facilities include rooftop greenhouses, counselling, therapy, job training, a community kitchen and a lounge that acts as a community-oriented learning center for newcomers who are learning English through gardening, cooking and classes. The programs and services are a collaboration with the nearby church, in which connections to volunteers for their community outreach programs exist. This residence provides opportunities for long-lasting stability to form a thriving community, in an environmentally friendly manner.

This project won the OAA Exceptional Leadership Through Design Excellence Prize: Equity, Diversity & Inclusion and Truth & Reconciliation ’23

Instagram: @jarin.hoque

QUEER(+AR) Fostering Healthy Queer Communities Through Augmented-Reality-Infused Hybridized Event Spaces by James Brosius, M. Arch ’24
Lawrence Technological University | Advisor: Scott Shall

In the aftermath of the 2020 pandemic, the dynamics of queer space have undergone a profound shift, with conventional physical queer spaces shifting to digital forums. This transition, exacerbated by anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and rising heteronormative ideals of the United States suburban landscape, has compelled the queer community to embrace an almost exclusively online presence. This shift has left an outstanding amount of the community in the dark with very minimal physical space left to exist as their true self, begging to return to some form of anchored physicality for connection. To comprehend and contextualize this discussion of queer space’s current issue, drawing reference to the idea of “event-spaces,” (Bernard Tschumi, 1994-2010) helps to understand this shift in the nature of queer space. Event space ideals help navigate the conversation around the challenges and opportunities presented by this new paradigm, emphasizing the adoption of event spaces as queer spaces going forward.

The transition to online platforms appears as a reaction in accordance with event-space concepts – as queer space can happen anywhere now instead of holding noteworthy scenes for assemblage. This shift has simultaneously challenged the sense of community and connection, specifically in the suburban context. Due to this shift, these specific queer communities have been left in a state of isolation and uncertainty. Being online completely challenges community mental health, well-being, and identity, especially when constant discrimination forces a community to reside there (Abreu, R. L., et al., 2023)(Graham, M., et al., 2023).

As both dwindled physical and fully digital environments have shown to not keep queer communities together without issue, this investigation proposes the idea of hybridized environments to ignite a new form of connection to make up for the downfalls of each respectively. Recognizing the historical proclivity for the queer community to adopt new technologies for refuge in hostile environments such as heteronormative suburbia, hybridized environments aided by new and emerging tech aligns well with the nature of evolving queer space, with the potential of founding healthy queer communities in the long run (Miles, 2018)(Human Rights Campaign, 2023). To investigate this concern, this thesis will test the implementation of augmented reality in existing fully-physical spaces that used to be queer as an ingredient in the manifestation of post-Covid queer space, acting as a promising avenue for insight into how to re-ignite queer connections and community.

Instagram: @jb_arch_design, @scott_shall

HomeWith by Grant Wolfe & Caleb Dreibelbis, B. Arch ’24
University of Nebraska – Lincoln | Advisor: Zeb Lund

Shadowed by negative connotations throughout the years, the homeless population in Lincoln has been shunned into the darker recesses of our community to face complex and often severe issues on their own. It is often associated with negative stereotypes that perpetuate the cycle of poverty and social exclusion. To combat these stereotypes, we need to look at new and innovative ways to tackle the issue of those facing homelessness. One such way is to use architecture in a non-traditional permanent transitional housing program. 

The program would provide permanent transitional housing designed to be more than just a place to sleep. The housing would be designed with the needs of homeless individuals and families in mind, with features such as communal living spaces, workshops, gardens, and places for social interaction. This would help to create a sense of community and belonging, which is essential to overcoming the negative stereotypes associated with those experiencing homelessness. 

To accomplish this feat there had to be a lot of calculated decisions and attention to the smallest of details to make sure the space was created with the people experiencing homelessness in mind. Organic massing plays a large role in our exterior providing maximum natural sunlight into key spaces while organizing the design in a path-finding mindset to add to the meditative requirements needed for trauma-informed design. The curvature experienced on the interior and exterior looks to minimize the triggers that are often associated with harsh interactions of the built environment. 

Stay tuned for Part IX!