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#ModelMakers: Kelsey Gustaf

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#ModelMakers are architecture students who are making a big splash in their studies. Today, we’re featuring Kelsey Gustaf, a 2nd-year graduate student at the University of Colorado Denver. Learn more about Kelsey, her work, and her inspirations below! 

Name: Kelsey Gustaf

School: University of Colorado Denver

Degree Program: Master of Architecture

Year in School: 2nd Year Graduate Student

Describe Your Design Style: My design style treats a space as a medium for telling a story. Design is often drawn from a central concept (often related to history, place, culture, etc.) in which each element acts as a meaningful piece or chapter within its narrative. Capturing architecture as an intentional storytelling tool for the built environment rather than purely functional. As seen in my hotel project, my partner and I leaned deeply into the idea of a newlywed couple needing a space that can give them an all inclusive experience for their wedding weekend, with emphasis on supporting a couple from the beginning of their own story.

Share a Project You’re Proud of: The Palisade Hotel: Senior Year Partner Project

Sioux Falls, SD is an ever-growing population, that is attracting more and more attention each year which causes concerns with the number of options for accommodating the interested visitors into the area. The landscape lacks opportunities for high-end experiences within opulent and welcoming design hotels. This establishment is poised to shine as a quintessential addition to downtown Sioux Falls. Focusing on adaptive reuse and sourcing sustainable materials to comply with the LEED v4.1 Material Ingredients credit form the ID+C Guide, this semester-long project included converting an existing bank building into a full-service hotel. The Palisade Hotel includes a restaurant, spa, dry bar (hair salon), wedding ceremony space, and rooftop bar to encourage and engage with the community and visitors in the downtown area. The design of these spaces reflects the concept statement of Elegant Romance, with themes along the lines of modern meeting traditional touches. This location supports newlywed couples from the beginning to end of their wedding experience. The vision is to create a memorable experience for every visitor and support the couple on the most important day of their lives.

What Inspires You? The story and why behind a project inspires me the most because it gives purpose to every decision and move made within the development of a design. Connecting people to place and revealing why something has been done, based on meaning and not just its aesthetic or appearance. Just like my design style, storytelling in architecture creates a type of communication to a user and their experience that will resonate with them forever.

What’s Your Student Superpower? As a student in a 3-year studio master program with a background in design, learning alongside classmates who come from diverse, even non-architecture backgrounds, I believe mentorship has become my strongest student superpower. Relationships deepen, and students grow together rather than in isolation when we have mentorship within the studio and student-led organizations. During my undergrad, I found roles as a teaching assistant or chapter president to fulfill my strive and passion for helping and connecting with students of any year or background. As I have grown in my graduate studies, I continue to pursue being a resource to collaborate, help, and guide my fellow classmates in their educational pursuits and aspirations in design!

You can find Kelsey on Instagram: @kelseyraedesign


Interested in being featured? Email studyarchitecturedotcom@gmail.com for more details!

#ModelMakers: Sofía Camargo

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#ModelMakers are architecture students who are making a big splash in their studies. Today, we’re featuring Sofía Camargo of Universidad Anáhuac Querétaro. Scroll to learn more about Sofía and her work:

Name: Sofía Camargo

School: Universidad Anáhuac Querétaro

Degree Program: 2+4 Bachelors of Architecture

Year in School: 7th Semester 

Describe Your Design Style: I am driven by the profound ability to reshape reality. The power to mold our surroundings not just to shelter, but to deeply resonate with human needs. I approach design knowing that I am also a user, seeking comfort and meaning. To me, architecture is the alchemy of transmuting a silent void into a living, breathing experience. Moreover, my superpower is visceral projection combined with empathic immersion. I can close my eyes and step inside my own designs to fully inhabit the unbuilt, dissolving the barrier between the plan and the person. I can feel the space before it exists. This allows me to curate the light, the views, and the emotions, ensuring the user’s journey is exactly as I imagined it.

Share a Project You’re Proud of: I was very satisfied with my most recent project, which was Huella Colectiva. It is an urban project that seeks the recovery and revitalization of Pachuca’s historic center, which is currently overrun by informal street vending. This situation has limited its use, deteriorated the urban image, and reduced accessibility for pedestrians. So my proposal focuses on restoring the space for gathering, social interaction, and safe transit. In a few words, to give the city back to its inhabitants. It proposes reorganizing spatial dynamics, enhancing pedestrian mobility, and strengthening the connectivity between the plazas and the street. The concept stems from 3 pillars: history, community, and culture. Focusing on the interaction of these elements will generate a renewed sense of identity and belonging among the inhabitants.

What Inspires You? I am driven by the profound ability to reshape reality. The power to mold our surroundings not just to shelter, but to deeply resonate with human needs. I approach design knowing that I am also a user, seeking comfort and meaning. To me, architecture is the alchemy of transmuting a silent void into a living, breathing experience. Moreover, my superpower is visceral projection combined with empathic immersion. I can close my eyes and step inside my own designs to fully inhabit the unbuilt, dissolving the barrier between the plan and the person. I can feel the space before it exists. This allows me to curate the light, the views, and the emotions, ensuring the user’s journey is exactly as I imagined it.

#ModelMakers: Kash Awosika

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Today’s edition of #ModelMakers features Kash Awosika, a B.Arch student at Drexel University. Scroll to learn more about Kash and her work:

Name:Kash Awosika

School: Drexel University 

Degree Program: 2+4 Bachelors of Architecture

Year in School: 5th Year 

Describe Your Design Style:I don’t have a definitive design style at the moment. As I’m still in school and finding my own tunes of design, I tend to be explorative in what I produce. To me, the best part about designing is the ability to engage with different forms of expression and allow for the concept or meaning to take hold and develop on its own. Though my style often adapts to the nature of each project, my design process typically remains the same. Starting with a basis of research – I find it to be important to have a solid foundation and understanding of a project’s context prior to initial design. From there, I want to understand the programming and it’s the ultimate relation to the site. Followed by Precedent studies, sketching, mass studies, sharing work for feedback and of course –
iterating on the design.

Share a Project You’re Proud of: The Grain | 4th Year Studio

Describe The Grain: The Grain is a timber hybrid high-rise building inspired by the texture and symbolism of wood. It serves as a multi-purpose educational and residential hub in Hudson Yards, NYC. Anchored in nature and growth, its design draws from the organic patterns of wood grain and the surrounding urban fabric—blending mass timber, steel, and concrete into a layered form. Like tree rings, its spatial circulation moves from focused learning at the core to collaborative, flexible spaces at the edges.

What Inspires You? Celebrating the small wins! It’s important to remember small accomplishments that continually push you towards a goal. The reminder of what you’ve done along the way truly goes a long way! As I progress in my education, realizing that I suddenly understand certain topics or can contribute towards a design initiative is quite exciting! Every moment in school, from critiques, group collaboration, self-study and learning to lean into my goals as a designer begins to come together. Architecture can take time, but the process of learning and applying that knowledge is truly inspiring.

What’s Your Student Superpower? Asking Questions! The greatest superpower that anyone can have is the ability to ask questions. In my time as a student and emerging professional, I’ve found this tip passed on to me by some important people in my life, to be quite impactful. Questions often
lead to answers, but it’s the process of uncovering those answers that can alter the way you approach design. Architecture is a profession that encourages communication, collaboration, and the ability to adapt. It is also a profession that often requires some form of mentorship or sharing of knowledge. Understanding what is being shared leads to having a foundation built upon Architectural comprehension.

Any hobbies? Photography!

You can find Kash on Instagram: @little_kash

#ModelMakers: Julia Barreiros do Amaral

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Introducing #ModelMakers — a new series highlighting architecture students across the world! Today, we’re featuring Julia Barreiros do Amaral, a B.Arch student at Florida Atlantic University. Scroll to learn more about Julia and her work:

Name: Julia Barreiros do Amaral 

School: Florida Atlantic University 

Degree Program: 5 year Bachelors in Architecture  

Year in School: 4th Year 

Describe Your Design Style: Neo-futuristic Architecture 

Share a Project You’re Proud of: The Flowline Gallery 

What Inspires You?  I’m inspired by how design has the power to shape not only spaces but also the way people think, feel, and connect with the world around them. A well-designed environment can challenge perceptions, spark curiosity, and create meaningful experiences that stay with someone long after they’ve left the space. It’s that potential for design to change minds and elevate everyday moments that drives me to keep pushing my creativity forward.   

What’s Your Student Superpower?  My student superpower is resilience. No matter how many challenges, setbacks, or long nights come my way, I stay committed to reaching my goals. In architecture school, there are moments where things don’t go as planned. Models break, ideas get critiqued, deadlines stack up—but I’ve learned to adapt, problem-solve, and keep moving forward. That persistence not only helps me finish what I start, but it also pushes me to grow stronger with each project. 

Describe The Flowline Gallery:

Nestled in Hugh Taylor Birch Park, the Flowline Gallery blends seamlessly with the natural landscape, drawing inspiration from the fluid forms of the ancient Banyan tree. Designed as an immersive experience, the gallery dissolves boundaries between interior and exterior, guiding visitors through curved, light-filled spaces that echo the rhythms of nature. Architecture, art, and ecology converge as pathways mimic meandering roots, and clerestories and skylights invite daylight to animate the space. Rather than imposing on the site, the design responds to its contours, weaving around existing vegetation and framing views of the surrounding forest. Natural light becomes a key spatial element, creating dynamic atmospheres that shift throughout the day. The gallery invites reflection and connection, proposing a model for architecture that is responsive, poetic, and deeply contextual. Flowline is not just a building—it’s a living, breathing continuation of the landscape, where design flows in harmony with nature.

Follow Julia to see more of her work: @Archidesignsbyju