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2026 Study Architecture Student Showcase - Part VII

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In Part VII of the 2026 Study Architecture Student Showcase, we feature incredible projects centered on housing. From affordable housing and modular structural systems to trauma-informed designs and community-centered policies, these projects explore the expansive ways architecture can be used as a tool to design housing that meets both community and individual needs.

Wall as Commons: Minimum Collective Infrastructures for Informal Domesticity and Growth by Raveena Deshpande, M.Arch. ’26
Rhode Island School of Design | Advisor: Surella Segu

Why Wall? 

As urban populations grow, access to affordable housing declines, pushing certain sections of the population to build informal settlements outside legal and formal construction systems. These settlements often lack access to basic living infrastructure—water, sanitation, and electricity—even as they house a large share of the population in developing countries.

Current models of designing for informality exist as top-down planning approaches that ignore lived realities at the scale of the home. These design models are incongruent with informal lifestyles and undermine the sense of belonging that comes with rituals of self-authorship in space-making that exist in such settlements.

Wall for Domesticity

This thesis proposes an alternative: repositioning design for informal housing as a wall- a tool to articulate growth through collective infrastructure that delivers minimum essential utilities (water, electricity, drainage, sewage) for domestic stability, while facilitating self-building of homes along the wall, preserving inhabitants’ belonging and ownership. Different wall types are explored based on density and the type of growth they could catalyse (doubly loaded/ singly loaded/ alternately loaded for open space), as well as based on the benefactor’s budget for infrastructure investment (low investment versus high investment walls, i.e: wall as plane versus wall as room). Studies of how planning authorities might employ different wall types to organise and plan for informality as part of urbanity and ensure fair and comfortable amenities to all are conducted. 

Wall for More

The thesis also imagines the wall as a way to introduce public amenities such as play areas and work areas that such organically growing settlements lack. These include wall for worship (as circumambulatory paths), wall for work, wall for play, wall for water (common water spouts and WCs).

This project won the Department Thesis Award.

Instagram: @ravwlv, @workingrav, @surellasegu

Right up Your Alley: Integrating Affordable Housing and Walkable Infrastructure to Revitalize Denver’s Neighborhoods by Mason Anchondo, M.Arch. ‘26
North Dakota State University | Advisor: Charlott Greub

This thesis examines how existing single-family neighborhoods in Denver, Colorado, can be transformed into more walkable, socially connected, and affordable communities by reactivating the city’s underutilized mid-block alleyways. Through policy analysis, data-driven spatial analysis, and on-site neighborhood observation, the study identifies opportunities to introduce accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and pedestrian-oriented design strategies that improve connectivity and housing diversity without displacing existing residents.

A multi-scalar site selection process ultimately focuses on the Barnum and West Barnum neighborhoods, where intact alley networks and demographic conditions support a replicable framework for gentle densification. Informed by case studies and interdisciplinary research on walkability, human-scale design, and zoning reform, the project proposes incremental interventions that expand accessible housing opportunities, reduce car dependency, and strengthen neighborhood cohesion. The resulting approach demonstrates how modest, community-centered design and policy changes can reshape aging suburban neighborhoods into healthier, more sustainable urban environments.

This project was selected as a finalist for the McKenzie Award.

The Interflow by Kevin Juarez-Martinez, B.Arch. ‘26
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona | Advisor: Katrin Terstegen

Located at the intersection of South Broadway and Slauson Avenue in South Los Angeles, California, the project responds to a historically and culturally vibrant community through a mixed-use housing project that combines residential, commercial, and communal spaces using mass timber. The project is organized around an elevated courtyard and circulation system that allows for movement to become a social experience amongst residents and visitors. Rather than isolating residents within conventional apartment corridors, the design challenges this concept and introduces terraces, bridges, and outdoor gathering spaces and gardens that encourage interaction between neighbors while also maintaining privacy within individual units. The proposal contains one, two, three bedroom configurations that support various family sizes. 

Mass timber serves as both the structural and design strategy, with members spanning into the courtyard. A repetitive system of CLT panels and columns establishes an efficient, modular framework that supports prefabrication, reduces construction waste, and lowers embodied carbon. Applications of biophilic living conditions, such as terraced gardens, are also supplemented in the exposed timber elements to enhance the residents’ interaction with the building. 

The ground floor is a mass timber grid, supporting the residences above, in a post-and-beam structural design. The structural members are connected with the consideration of disassembly at the building’s end of life. The beams capture the mass timber floor panels, which are also typical throughout the project, to allow for mass shipment through prefabrication of all members. 

The floor-to-floor height of the project is consistent at each level to provide a uniform dimension, simplifying the design and providing an efficient solution that saves material, cost,  and fabrication time. The mass timber grid also extends up through the residential units to consider carbon emissions in the construction process. 

At the ground level, retail and community-oriented programs activate the street and strengthen connections between residents, local businesses, and transit users. By integrating housing with shared public amenities, the proposal creates a vibrant urban ecosystem. 

Click here to learn more. 

Instagram: @kevin_j.m, @katrinterstegen

Domus Ianicula by Alan Watts, BS in Architecture ‘26
University of Virginia | Advisor: Peter Waldman

Domus Ianicula explores the design of a dwelling system on Roanoke Island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina in the form of a multi-generational home fostering an experience of living in the coastal threshold. Sited on a strand of 23 small islands towards the southeast side of the main island, this thesis provides a counter-proposal for the development of this previously protected natural space. 

An individual dwelling on one of these islands faces two ways: the Roanoke Sound and the Atlantic to the east and a protected marsh and the mainland to the west. Those who live in the dwelling share an experience intensified by their relationship to the land as they fish in the sea and garden in the marsh–with no land connection to the rest of Roanoke Island, residents access their dwellings and the community through smaller jon boats on the west side and larger offshore fishing boats from the east side. 

The home begins as a small gathering around a hearth and grows with time and the family via a modular system. A truss system holds a light roof of corrugated metal above the dwelling, protecting the few enclosed living spaces as well as covering shared outdoor spaces. The roof collects water into two cisterns, which is purified, stored, and used by the residents via one central water line running through the dwelling. The main two masses of the building are separated by a central hearth and the intersection of a north-south path which connects dwellings along the strip of 23 islands. This system for housing, once deployed across several of the islands over time, creates a unique anti-urban community for year-round residents that directly interact with the surrounding communities of Wanchese and Manteo.

Instagram: @architectalan.dwg 

Subaltern Alternatives: Reclaiming Agency Through Spatial Articulation by Nadirah Ali, B.Arch. ’26

Kennesaw State University | Advisor: ​​Jade Yang

The concept of the subaltern [was] introduced by Antonio Gramsci to describe populations excluded from political, social, and economic power while still being used to sustain dominant systems. Today, migrant construction workers often occupy this condition: essential to urban growth, yet denied dignity, visibility, and participation in the cities they build. Their housing is frequently reduced to an instrument of control—spaces designed to contain labor rather than support life. This thesis proposes an architectural alternative.

The project examines contemporary cases of labor exploitation in the United States, Qatar, and Singapore, where migrant workers have faced unsafe conditions, wage theft, overcrowded dormitories, and social exclusion. Among these, Singapore becomes the primary site of study. As the city advances new “live-work-play” districts and large-scale redevelopment, thousands of migrant workers are imported to construct this vision, yet remain housed far from the city center with little access to the urban life they create. The thesis asks: when city design decisions are made about who participates in urban life, who is truly at the table?

To answer this, the project studies architecture as a political tool. Precedents such as adaptable collective housing, civic border infrastructures, and hospitals organized through humane circulation demonstrate that space determines who is seen, who participates, and who is excluded. Rather than reproduce another dormitory model, this thesis begins with the everyday spatial practices of the workers themselves. Cultural studies of Indian, Bangladeshi, and Chinese domestic life reveal shared needs: communal cooking, floor-based gathering, prayer, flexible sleeping arrangements, and courtyard-centered social life.

From these observations, the thesis develops a modular kit-of-parts housing system organized around the courtyard as a social and civic core. Kitchens, living quarters, prayer rooms, wash areas, and gathering spaces can be assembled, expanded, or relocated according to changing labor populations and construction timelines. Designed to fit Singapore’s construction grids and transport systems, the kit can occupy vacant urban parcels and active building sites near employment centers.

Tested within Singapore’s CBD fringe redevelopment zone, the proposal repositions worker housing from distant containment to visible urban participation. Subaltern Alternatives argues that architecture must move beyond shelter as control and instead become a framework for agency, citizenship, and dignity. If workers participate in building the city, they must also have the right to participate in living within it.

Click here to learn more. 

This project was selected as one of the Top 5 Thesis Projects for the Niles Bolton KSU Thesis Competition and received an Honorable Mention.

Instagram: @nadirah_ali6_, @​​jadeyjadeyang

Invisible Fragments: Strengthening a Small Informal Settlement within a Transforming Buenos Aires by Camilla Greppi, B.Arch. ’26
Tulane University | Advisors: Ammar Eloueini & Juan Medina

Located in Buenos Aires, Barrio Saldías is a small, often forgotten informal settlement positioned at the edge of major urban transformations. This thesis strengthens the community without erasing its existing fabric or displacing residents. Through selective retrofitting, structurally viable homes are improved with safer circulation, pitched roofs, windows, and doors, while underutilized warehouses are reused for essential programs like education, healthcare, and food access. New incremental housing follows the scale and spatial logic of existing dwellings, allowing families to expand horizontally over time. An abandoned rail corridor becomes a railroad park, creating a public spine that reconnects Barrio Saldías to Villa 31, the port, and the broader city. 

Click here for a closer look. 

This received a Thesis Commendation during the Tulane School of Architecture and Built Environment Diploma Ceremony in May 2026.

Instagram: @greppiarchitecture, @eloueini, @salazarsequeromedina

Teaching TID: Reframing Shelter as a Site of Productive Making by Haley Beverlin, M.Arch. ’26
Lawrence Technological University | Advisor: Scott Shall

Homelessness is a systemic, multi-disciplinary issue that demands collaboration across diverse stakeholders to develop shelter models promoting dignity and challenging the current limitations. While not solely an architectural crisis, AEC professionals serve as the link within the design process to ensure final projects translate the needs of users. Current shelter models perpetuate a simplified generic mass-production model of room design. To serve a universal audience, rooms begin to lack personality and limit personal choice, in turn making each room identical to the one next to it. Each person has different forms of trauma, meaning healing is also multi-layered. These differences highlight that residents may have different ideas of what a space for healing may look like.

The approach of Trauma-Informed Designed (TID) fosters ideas of connection, choice, comfort, and safety (Shopworks, 2025). “Choice, closely tied to the concepts of autonomy and control, emerged as a powerful determinant of the residents’ well-being” and heavily influenced whether residents felt “protected or restricted” (Shopworks, 2025). While choice typically comes in the form of navigating independently on site, there is an opportunity to increase this. Makerspaces parallel these ideas by providing people access to “tap into the unique history, culture, or characteristics of their host communities” (Debowski, 4). For those who have been displaced, this is a chance to reconnect with place and identity (see Figure 1).

This thesis argues that the design and creation of objects can be a means to marry the acts of making and healing, for it places the agency in the hands of the residents inhabiting the space to alter it as they please. The incorporation of a makerspace provides a unique opportunity to explore new skills, build connections, and incorporate vocational training within the architectural programming of the shelter. Reimagining the potential of these spaces aims to empower residents within the realm of choice and enhance this element of TID within the building designs. This all could lead to a truly trauma-informed design; the structure given by the architect, but the details defined by the taught users.

Click here to learn more. 

Instagram: @haleybeverlin, @​​scott_shall

Cultivating Agency in Multi-Generational Co-Housing: Respecting Choice with Spatial Articulation for the Betterment of Aging and Growing Communities by Logan Croghan, M.Arch. ’26
Lawrence Technological University | Advisor: Scott Shall

Current housing options in the U.S. limit how individual and family units operate in their homes and communities by reducing their ability to maintain permanent residence. Each year, approximately 40 million Americans move out of their homes due to financial insufficiencies and physical inflexibility. An estimated 63% of households choose to remain in the same county, citing familiarity in their community, existing social ties, and established routines as primary reasons for staying, despite their unsustainable housing options (Harvard University, 2020).

Of the affected households, older Americans are seeking alternatives to institutional settings that support aging in place and their rapidly changing lifestyles more than ever. The University of Michigan found that 88% of Americans aged 55 to 80 wanted to live in their homes as long as possible but did not believe they had the tools to do so (Institute of Healthcare Policy and Innovation, 2022). Housing options with supportive and adaptable qualities would enable older individuals to remain in their established communities and gain the emotional and social comfort that benefits their overall health and those who interact with them (Sharifi, 2023).

 As an alternative option, co-housing can encourage long-term residence among older populations and growing families alike. An iteration of the model can not only expand to include multi-generational households to increase community support, but also incorporate architectural elements that give residents the power to shift spaces as needed. To further understand the impact of spatial alterations over time, shared and privatized spaces require investigation to articulate how negotiation between neighbors can determine the iterations’ legitimacy in encouraging individuals to work together towards the collective goal of remaining in their forever homes.

Click here to learn more. 

Instagram: @taycroghan929, @​​scott_shall

Building Memory: Constructing Collage Architecture in Outer Urban Spaces by Emily Grimaldi, B.Arch. ’26
Virginia Tech | Advisor: Gonzalo Munoz-Vera

Building Memory: Constructing Collage Architecture in Outer Urban Spaces is an architectural thesis that investigates how new development can engage the layered identities of interstitial urban neighborhoods without erasing their cultural and spatial memory. Centered in Astoria, Queens, the project critiques conventional redevelopment practices that replace existing urban fabric with uniform, commodified architecture, often resulting in visual and cultural disconnection. Instead, the proposal advances an alternative design methodology rooted in “collage architecture,” an additive process that preserves, reinterprets, and builds upon the accumulated layers of the built environment.

The thesis is grounded in the understanding that outer urban areas—unlike iconic city centers—evolve incrementally through human-scale interventions over time. Buildings in these neighborhoods are shaped by diverse occupants, resulting in a heterogeneous architectural language rich in memory and identity. These environments function as living archives, where facades, materials, and spatial patterns act as artifacts of social and cultural history. New construction that ignores these qualities risks not only aesthetic disruption but also the erasure of collective memory.

In response, the project proposes a design framework composed of three primary elements: the artifact, the ghost, and the new mass. Artifacts preserve the most historically significant portions of the existing site—such as facades or structural remnants—maintaining their symbolic and material presence. Ghosts reinterpret less significant but spatially important elements as lightweight, frame-like structures that retain the memory of what once existed while creating openness and new public connections. The new mass introduces necessary program—primarily housing—designed to align with the scale, spatial logic, and social dynamics of the surrounding neighborhood.

Through this tripartite strategy, the project creates a “city within a city,” integrating density with familiarity. Housing units are configured to support social interaction, drawing from the spatial principles of traditional Queens homes, while varied materials and forms reinforce the language of collage at multiple scales. Ultimately, Building Memory argues that sustainable urban growth must be rooted in continuity rather than replacement. By embedding memory into the design process, architecture can foster a more empathetic, connected, and contextually responsive urban future.

This project was one of eleven Fifth-Year Thesis Honors Finalists.

Instagram: @grimaldi_ad, @gmunozvera

Empathetic Architecture: Mixed-Use Housing for Young Adults with Autism by Brooklyn Watson, B.Arch. ’26
Kennesaw State University | Advisor: Robin Puttock

Architecture, by its very definition, is the art or science of building; that is, specifically the art or practice of designing and building structures, especially habitable ones (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Besides being an art of habitable spaces, architecture influences how people experience belonging, comfort, and autonomy, yet contemporary design often overlooks the needs of all types of people, such as the neurodivergent experience. Despite advances in technology and policy, architectural design continues to lag in addressing the full spectrum of disability needs. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires accessibility in new construction, but is often interpreted through minimal interventions such as ramps, elevators, and accessible restrooms (ADA National Network, 2024). While these measures are critical, they primarily serve visible and physical disabilities, leaving the sensory and cognitive needs of neurodivergent individuals, such as autistic young adults, largely unconsidered. Research has shown that inclusive design practices remain inconsistently implemented across the building industry, with many professionals still defaulting to compliance rather than innovation (Zallio & Clarkson, 2021).

The result is that many built environments remain overstimulating, alienating, or exclusionary. This research redefines accessibility as empathy; an active design approach grounded in human diversity. Through precedent studies, literature, and site analysis, it identifies inclusive tactics such as predictable circulation, sensory zoning, adaptable lighting, and acoustic control. The site at 77 North Park Square in Marietta provides an urban setting where civic and residential systems intersect, fostering both independence and connection. Synthesizing therapeutic, educational, and architectural insights, the project proposes empathetic housing that nurtures comfort, sensory balance, and belonging. Rather than separating neurodivergent and neurotypical users, the design celebrates difference, using architecture as a medium of care, inclusion, and shared humanity.

Instagram: @robinzputtock

Within the Lakou by Bedgid Aurelie Laguerre, Abigail Bauman & Cheyenne Granahan, M.Arch. ’26
Washington University in St. Louis | Advisor: Wyly Brown

This project responds to Haiti’s ongoing displacement crisis by proposing a decentralized housing model for a young professional couple relocating from Port-au-Prince to Cap-Haïtien. Inspired by the traditional Haitian Lakou system, the design combines a compact microhome with a community-oriented framework that promotes collective resilience and mutual support. The proposal reinterprets the spatial and social qualities of the Lakou, including shared outdoor spaces, cultural exchange, and strong social networks, within a contemporary housing solution. By integrating climate-responsive strategies and adaptable construction methods, the project provides safe, dignified, and sustainable housing while supporting cultural continuity and community well-being.

Click here to learn more.

This project was shortlisted for MICROHOME 10 Competition.

Instagram: @B_the_architect, @Dysynchronized, @Cheyennegranahan, @washusamfoxschool

Evolum – Evolving Housing by Antonio Tejeda, B.Arch. ’26
Universidad Anáhuac Querétaro | Advisors: Jorge Javier, Patricia Cutiño, Federico Hernández, Álvaro de los Cobos & Guillermo Márquez

The project emerges as a response to the social, economic, and demographic transformations that have reshaped contemporary ways of living in the city. Today, the largest segment of the economically active population is shared between young adults and established professionals; however, it is paradoxical that younger generations, despite representing one of the most productive sectors of society, face the greatest barriers to accessing a first home. In response to this condition, the proposal introduces an evolutionary housing model based on flexibility, customization, and incremental growth. Conceived as a system of modular vertical-lot towers, the project allows each dwelling to adapt and evolve alongside its occupants. Strategically located in an area with strong connectivity, accessibility, and proximity to urban services, the development promotes efficient land use while ensuring optimal daylight, natural ventilation, and environmental comfort.

Affordability serves as the project’s guiding principle and informs every design decision. To reduce the final cost of housing, underground parking was intentionally avoided, as its construction would have significantly increased the cost per square meter. Instead, parking is resolved at grade alongside the residential towers. Material selection likewise prioritizes durability, low maintenance, and economic efficiency, incorporating exposed three-piece stone-faced concrete block walls that age gracefully without additional finishes, terrazzo flooring that utilizes the structural compression layer as the final surface finish, and permeable linear pavers that facilitate natural groundwater infiltration. In addition, shared amenities are concentrated within outdoor communal spaces, allowing maintenance costs to be distributed across the entire development rather than individual buildings, substantially reducing long-term operational expenses.

Architecturally, each tower is composed of four dwelling units confined by load-bearing walls that provide structural rigidity to the overall system. These units are organized around a central vertical circulation core that opens into a shared lobby, from which each residence is accessed.

The modular structural system is a key element in making this growth strategy feasible.

Instagram: @antoniotejedaa, @arquitectura_anahuac, @arqwave

Stay tuned for Part VIII!

2026 Study Architecture Student Showcase - Part V

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Part V of the 2026 Study Architecture Student Showcase shines a spotlight on innovative designs in agriculture. From the Prairie to home gardens, these projects propose design methodologies that integrate architecture, community engagement, ecology, sustainability, construction, and climate-responsive programs to cultivate strong agricultural practices.

Between Earth and Sky by Jane Grant & Jack Taliaferro, M.Arch. ‘26
Kansas State University | Advisor: David Dowell

Founded as a nonprofit organization in 1976, The Land Institute (TLI) is committed to researching and developing food production methods that sustain the land and soil, a precious resource in an increasingly precarious state around the globe.

“The history of Earth-abuse through agriculture has been horrendous. Essentially, all of nature’s ecosystems are perennial polycultures. Agriculture reversed that. Consequently, soil erosion became a problem. The wilderness has to become a standard against which we judge our agricultural and cultural practices.”

–Wes Jackson, co-founder, The Land Institute.

In this fast-paced, intensive and collaborative studio, we were asked by The Land Institute to reimagine the original implements barn, hand-built by Wes, as a New Event Barn to host TLI’s annual Prairie Festival and as a Welcome Center to acknowledge TLI’s increasingly important role as a destination and public gathering place for people seeking inspiration in regenerative agriculture best practices. Prairie Festival is currently on hold and will reemerge in September 2026. The work of this studio helps define what that looks like, as a direct application of ideas generated this fall and as a longer-term vision.

This is a real project, located in native mixed-grass prairie north of TLI’s research facilities. Our work started in August 2025 with understanding context – history, site environmental conditions, barn vernacular, innovative material and structural systems. We worked with environmental consultants, architects, landscape architects, scientists, contractors, TLI staff and leadership to program, design and prototype multiple visions for this important new facility, for a groundbreaking institution. TLI’s executive director, Rachel Stroer, challenged us to create an architectural approach and model that parallels The Land Institute’s ethos of regenerative problem solving.

This booklet, a shared production from graduate architecture students at Washington University in St. Louis’s Sam Fox School and Kansas State University’s College of Architecture, Planning and Design, contains evidence of our diverse responses to this challenge. Organized collaborations between universities ebbed and flowed throughout the semester.

It’s been an eye-opening semester for a host of reasons, not the least of which is processing the challenge of what constitutes regenerative architecture, what stories materials offer both in terms of what’s currently given and where design and construction industries could and must evolve. The core problem The Land Institute has in its crosshairs is ten thousand years in the making. To have a chance for architecture to both participate in problem solving with TLI and to embody their core values, we have to look not only at what is, but also imagine what will be.

Our event barn design for The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas, is conceived as a direct exploration of the dialogue between two fundamental planes: earth and sky. By treating these planes as active, shifting surfaces rather than static boundaries, the building

becomes a mediator between the natural and the built, allowing visitors to experience how architecture can heighten their relationship to the prairie landscape. Upon entry, the earth and sky planes merge, where visitors ascend into the skyline plane and gain a new vantage point over the surrounding tallgrass prairie. The ground plane, shaped by the site’s natural slope, turns into a grass amphitheater that invites gathering and immersion in the prairie. We utilize steel in our design to maintain a light touch on the land while also offering longevity and flexibility for future uses. Together, these elements create a space that is both rooted and elevated, aligning closely with The Land Institute’s mission to immerse individuals in landscapes. Designed to host a broad range of community events, our barn becomes not only a functional venue but also a space that encourages visitors to feel the land and participate in their community.

Instagram: @taliaferro._.9, @jane.k.grant, @ksudesignmake

Soil Rites: Cultivating a New Perennial Commons by Samantha Agostinelli & Ellis Donahue, B. Arch. ‘26
Pratt Institute | Advisors: Evan Tribus, Cathryn Dwyre & Saul Anton

Industrial agriculture has pushed Midwestern soils to the brink of collapse, and no technical fix can restore what a deeper cultural rupture has broken. Soil Rites proposes that architecture, working intimately with living soil systems, can do more than mitigate ecological crisis—it can reorganize collective life around the act of ecological care. By treating soil as a public agent rather than a passive ground, our project argues that regenerative land stewardship can become the basis for a new perennial commons. Can architecture, working intimately with soil-based strategies, perform both ecological work and produce common meaning? What spatial and tectonic frameworks allow communities to cultivate land stewardship as a shared cultural practice rather than an extractive obligation?

A second Dust Bowl—driven by accelerating soil degradation, aquifer depletion, and the eastward shift of the 100th meridian—is no longer a speculative future but an emerging design condition. In response, this project proposes a regenerative farming collective and eco-community on 80 acres in Ionia, Nebraska, structured as a Community Land Trust. Using the compost cycle as a design methodology, three interdependent systems—landscape, architecture, and ritual—work simultaneously to build soil, form space, and produce collective life, yielding a habitable windbreak, an earth-built community, and a ceremonial framework through which ecological labor becomes culture.

This project won the 2026 Best Degree Project and the 2026 Michael Hollander Drawing Excellence Award (Honorable Mention). 

Instagram: @samamam._, @ellis.donahue, @pressg5, @pneumacat, @saulanton1

Built From Permanence and Return: Pre-Engineered Metal Building (PEMB) by Carlos Baez, Aidan Cannon, Keyshawn Lewis & Ty Blumberg, M.Arch. ‘26
Kansas State University & Washington University in St. Louis | Advisor: David Dowell

Founded as a nonprofit organization in 1976, The Land Institute (TLI) is committed to researching and developing food production methods that sustain the land and soil, a precious resource in an increasingly precarious state around the globe.

“The history of Earth-abuse through agriculture has been horrendous. Essentially, all of nature’s ecosystems are perennial polycultures. Agriculture reversed that. Consequently, soil erosion became a problem. The wilderness has to become a standard against which we judge our agricultural and cultural practices.”

–Wes Jackson, co-founder, The Land Institute.

In this fast-paced, intensive and collaborative studio, we were asked by The Land Institute to reimagine the original implements barn, hand-built by Wes, as a New Event Barn to host TLI’s annual Prairie Festival and as a Welcome Center to acknowledge TLI’s increasingly important role as a destination and public gathering place for people seeking inspiration in regenerative agriculture best practices. Prairie Festival is currently on hold and will reemerge in September 2026. The work of this studio helps define what that looks like, as a direct application of ideas generated this fall and as a longer-term vision.

This is a real project, located in native mixed-grass prairie north of TLI’s research facilities. Our work started in August 2025 with understanding context – history, site environmental conditions, barn vernacular, innovative material and structural systems. We worked with environmental consultants, architects, landscape architects, scientists, contractors, TLI staff and leadership to program, design and prototype multiple visions for this important new facility, for a groundbreaking institution. TLI’s executive director, Rachel Stroer, challenged us to create an architectural approach and model that parallels The Land Institute’s ethos of regenerative problem solving.

This work, a shared production from graduate architecture students at Washington University in St. Louis’s Sam Fox School and Kansas State University’s College of Architecture, Planning and Design, contains evidence of our diverse responses to this challenge. Organized collaborations between universities ebbed and flowed throughout the semester. Presented here are a range of proposals organized around core constructive materials – rammed earth, dimensional lumber, stone, steel, reclaimed barns, mass timber and pre-engineered metal.

It’s been an eye-opening semester for a host of reasons, not the least of which is processing the challenge of what constitutes regenerative architecture, what stories materials offer both in terms of what’s currently given and where design and construction industries could and must evolve.

The core problem The Land Institute has in its crosshairs is ten thousand years in the making. To have a chance for architecture to both participate in problem solving with TLI and to embody their core values, we have to look not only at what is, but also imagine what will be.

The use of a Pre-Engineered Metal Building (PEMB) system represents a sustainable and contextually appropriate material choice. PEMB structures are highly material-efficient, minimizing waste through factory fabrication and precise sizing of structural components. The steel system is durable, recyclable, and designed for long life spans with minimal maintenance. Additionally, the large clear-span capability reduces the need for interior supports, allowing flexible program use while optimizing material performance. In a prairie environment such as Salina, the PEMB system responds effectively to climate, wind loads, and expansive site conditions, making it both an environmentally responsible and pragmatic construction solution.

For the second material strategy, straw bales were introduced to help define and organize interior spaces within the PEMB event barn. Rather than functioning as permanent walls, the straw bales are envisioned as modular partition elements that can be manipulated, rearranged, and reconfigured based on the needs of different events. This approach allows the interior to remain flexible while maintaining the openness of the primary structure. In addition to spatial definition, the use of straw bales provides on-site storage when not in use as partitions, reinforcing the building’s agricultural character while supporting adaptability, material efficiency, and reuse.

Instagram: @c_los1812, @keyshawn._, @ksudesignmake

Tandem – Agri-Food Innovation Centre by Regina Ortega, B.Arch. ’26
Universidad Anáhuac Querétaro | Advisors: Jorge Javier, Patricia Cutiño, Federico Hernández, Álvaro de los Cobos & Guillermo Márquez

Located in Los Olvera, Corregidora, Querétaro, Tandem addresses an activity deeply rooted in the region’s economic and social identity: meat production, processing, and commercialization. While the meat industry is vital to Mexico’s agri-food sector, fragmented processes often limit growth for local merchants, producers, and entrepreneurs.

Tandem proposes a new architectural typology that unifies innovation, education, and production within a single infrastructure. Rather than operating as a conventional, specialized building, it serves as a knowledge-exchange platform where butchers, producers, students, researchers, and industry partners collaborate to strengthen this regional economic pillar.

Crucially, the facility is not a slaughterhouse; it does not involve animal sacrifice. Pre-certified meat arrives from authorized facilities for reception, sanitary inspection, cold storage, processing, research, and commercialization. This operational shift allows Tandem to focus on professionalizing the production chain through technical training, process certification, value-added product development, and technology transfer.

The architectural program includes meat-processing facilities, laboratories, innovation workshops, training classrooms, coworking spaces, an auditorium, and commercial areas. The spatial organization balances educational and sanitary requirements, separating clean from contaminated zones to guarantee food safety while distinguishing productive areas from learning environments. The layout of the building volumes visualizes the synergy between production, innovation, and education, transforming architecture into a tool for knowledge transfer.

Tandem aims to boost the local economy by supporting sector formalization, driving entrepreneurship, and fostering collaboration between producers, academic institutions, and specialized corporations to enhance regional competitiveness.

Structurally, the project features glued laminated timber (GLT) made from radiata pine and exposed concrete. This material combination balances industrial efficiency, sustainability, and spatial quality. 

Ultimately, Tandem offers a replicable model of productive infrastructure that transforms a traditional trade into a platform for innovation, economic development, and social cohesion in Querétaro.

Instagram: @regina_ortegaz, @arquitectura_anahuac, @arqwave

Celebrating the Prairie, Modular Heavy Timber by Pony Alongkornvilai, Abi Bauman, Aleah Delgado, Cheyenne Granahan & Lindsay Miller, M.Arch. ’26

Kansas State University & Washington University in St. Louis | Advisor: David Dowell

Founded as a nonprofit organization in 1976, The Land Institute (TLI) is committed to researching and developing food production methods that sustain the land and soil, a precious resource in an increasingly precarious state around the globe.

“The history of Earth-abuse through agriculture has been horrendous. Essentially, all of nature’s ecosystems are perennial polycultures. Agriculture reversed that. Consequently, soil erosion became a problem. The wilderness has to become a standard against which we judge our agricultural and cultural practices.”

–Wes Jackson, co-founder, The Land Institute.

In this fast-paced, intensive and collaborative studio, we were asked by The Land Institute to reimagine the original implements barn, hand-built by Wes, as a New Event Barn to host TLI’s annual Prairie Festival and as a Welcome Center to acknowledge TLI’s increasingly important role as a destination and public gathering place for people seeking inspiration in regenerative agriculture best practices. Prairie Festival is currently on hold and will reemerge in September 2026. The work of this studio helps define what that looks like, as a direct application of ideas generated this fall and as a longer-term vision.

This is a real project, located in native mixed-grass prairie north of TLI’s research facilities. Our work started in August 2025 with understanding context – history, site environmental conditions, barn vernacular, innovative material and structural systems. We worked with

environmental consultants, architects, landscape architects, scientists, contractors, TLI staff and leadership to program, design and prototype multiple visions for this important new facility, for a groundbreaking institution.

TLI’s executive director, Rachel Stroer, challenged us to create an architectural approach and model that parallels The Land Institute’s ethos of regenerative problem solving.

This booklet, a shared production from graduate architecture students at Washington University in St. Louis’s Sam Fox School and Kansas State University’s College of Architecture, Planning and Design, contains evidence of our diverse responses to this challenge. Organized collaborations between universities ebbed and flowed throughout the semester. Presented here are a range of proposals organized around core constructive materials – rammed earth, dimensional lumber, stone, steel, reclaimed barns, mass timber and pre-engineered metal.

It’s been an eye-opening semester for a host of reasons, not the least of which is processing the challenge of what constitutes regenerative architecture, what stories materials offer both in terms of what’s currently given and where design and construction industries could and must evolve. The core problem The Land Institute has in its crosshairs is ten thousand years in the making. To have a chance for architecture to both participate in problem solving with TLI and to embody their core values, we have to look not only at what is, but also imagine what will be.

Keeping The Land Institute (TLI) principles in mind, we propose a space designed to celebrate the prairie through thoughtful design in terms of environment, form, and material. We strive to develop a relationship between building and prairie, while accommodating

the diverse range of programming that the building will support throughout the year.

The project proposes a modular construction method where systems are composed of standardized and repeatable components. There are many benefits to this construction process.

Cross-Laminated-Timber (CLT) is the proposed structural material. CLT provides two directions of structural reinforcement. It additionally has environmental, sustainable, and atmospheric qualities that achieve the goal of the overarching driving concept of the project.

A prairie green roof is proposed to camouflage the built structure into the landscape, alongside environmental benefits. Along with recognizing some of the values of TLI, we

have also incorporated the six design principles identified by TLI Masterplan author, MASS Design Group:

Establishing the Commons

Deepening Roots

Designing for a Public Threshold

Solving for Service

Phasing Campus Evolution

Designed with and for the Land

Instagram: @poniebuoy, @aleahdelgado, @cheyennegranahan, @dysynchronized, @lindsay_miller4045, @ksudesignmake

House & Garden by Lola Garvie, BS. in Arch. ’26
University of Virginia | Advisor: WG Clark

A radical transformation of the suburban home has been in order for decades. The current house-and-yard model provides little more than a place to sleep, while sprawling development continues to consume land and reinforce dependence on centralized food systems. Yet the immense infrastructure supporting American suburbia makes wholesale restructuring impractical, and displacing residents would be both unethical and unnecessary. Instead, meaningful change can begin at the scale of the individual home.

House & Garden proposes a new suburban housing typology that integrates the house and yard into a productive garden, drawing from successful models of urban agriculture. On a standard suburban lot, this deployable single-family housing system challenges conventional suburban planning and capitalist food markets by combining domestic living with highly productive farming.

The house is pushed to one edge of the site, freeing up to 80% of the lot for in-ground agricultural production. A single scaffolding-like superstructure contains all the systems necessary to support both the family and the farm. After the superstructure is assembled, housing and farming components are installed according to each family’s needs. A living room might sit near the entrance for families who frequently host guests or farther back for greater privacy. As families grow, the home can expand within the superstructure, which may be sized in anticipation of future needs.

This adaptable system allows individual families interested in sustainability and reform to have responsibility in the production of their own food while remaining rooted in their communities. For some, the garden remains a private extension of the home; for others, it becomes a shared neighborhood resource. While one family may adopt the model independently, entire streets could gradually transform, creating communities that live, cultivate, and grow together. Rather than replacing suburbia, House & Garden reimagines it from within, offering an economically viable framework for a more sustainable and resilient American dream.

Instagram: @lola_garvie, @aschool_uva

Old Barns, New Roots by Quinn Adam, Krista Gerstner, Carter Grothusen & Zach Toth, M.Arch. ’26
Kansas State University & Washington University in St. Louis | Advisor: David Dowell

Our initial meetings with TLI revealed a sensibility with the land that must be kept paramount in our intervention. The existing is the landscape, and the dichotomy of old against new must be made as a backdrop towards the greater landscape. The material for the semester chosen was reclaimed timber, initially as a strategy of salvage and on-site construction within the prairie, embracing the carbon neutrality benefits that emerge with an active reuse of existing wooden structure. But, as the course progressed, the strategy morphed into one of true adaptive reuse in the preservation and readaptation of two historic barns found available on the market. We propose that the barns can be readily moved onto the site, stripped of their old weathered cladding, braced with new structural interventions, and made new with simple but dynamic design decisions that continue to frame the existing landscape. The barns should support each other in anticipation of the Prairie Festival, but also set a tone for a surprisingly cost-efficient method of building that could potentially be expanded upon for the future of the Land Institute’s mission for the site. We are living in the age of the Anthropocene, and as such, we need to crystallize solutions that rethink our traditional methods of building, which align with the disruption that TLI hopes to create in the perennial agricultural industry.

Instagram: @quinnadam_design, @z.othhh, @kristagerstner, @cartire_31, @ksudesignmake

Stay tuned for Part VI!

2026 Study Architecture Student Showcase - Part IV

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The materials that make up a building tell a story. From mass timber and aluminum to masonry and polycarbonate, building materials play a large role in the functionality and sustainability of a space. Part IV of the 2026 Study Architecture Student Showcase features projects that explore materiality in great detail. Each featured project demonstrates how materiality plays a large role in the built environment.

Scroll below to take a look!

F[3] by Daniela Cantu, Staci Collins, Timotei Dudas, Ana Gaytan, Robert Guerrero, Steve Gutierrez, Luis Horcasitas, Samiha Mahzabeen, Moises Pereyra, Garrett Rodriguez & Alfredo Sanchez, B.Arch. ‘26
University of Texas at San Antonio | Advisor: Armando Araiza

F[3] was designed for the entrance of a design studio, the moment before a visitor reaches a reception desk, where the space needs to do one thing immediately: signal what design, at its best, is capable of. It’s meant to be intriguing and inviting from the first glance.

The project was approached as an open question: how far could a single material be pushed before it told you what it wanted to become? The installation is a statement about the next generation of designers, showing what students can produce when they’re given the license to experiment with material, craft, and technology.

That experimentation started with understanding the material. Before any geometry was fixed, a materials board took shape: reflective dichroic film, aluminum composite and honeycomb panels, mirrored acrylic, woven textiles, faceted and wave-relief surfaces, twin-wall polycarbonate, each one tested on its own terms, for its color, its stiffness, its rigidity once folded, with a set of tests built around whatever qualities that material actually offered. The built project is positioned beside three large south-facing windows, the twin-wall polycarbonate had to do more than fold well, it had to carry and diffuse daylight, letting sun stream through its faceted surfaces and animate the space over the course of a day. Out of that process, the material stood out, for its structural rigidity once folded, for the quality of light it let through, and for how that same rigidity let individual modules interlock with one another directly, with minimal hardware. That discovery, not a predetermined shape, became the generative logic of the project. The faceted form of F[3] is a direct expression of what that material wanted to do once bent along a channeled crease.

Instagram: @armando_araiza

From Seeds to Architecture: Reducing the Carbon Footprint Through Bio-Based Materials – Hemp Innovation & Research Center by Adrián Vargas-Galloza, B. Arch. ‘26
Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico | Advisors: Luis V. Badillo-Lozano & Pedro A. Rosario-Torres

Conventional construction is one of the main contributors to environmental impact, significantly increasing carbon emissions, natural resource consumption, and waste generation. This approach relies on standard methods and materials that have been widely accepted and used for many years. However, these materials are often non-renewable, require high energy consumption for their production, and have a considerable environmental impact. In this context, bio-based materials are presented as a sustainable alternative to reduce the ecological footprint of buildings and promote more responsible practices in the construction industry.

As environmental regulations become stricter and social awareness about climate change increases, the construction industry is faced with an urgent need to adapt. In this sense, bio-based materials provide an opportunity for the sector to evolve towards a more sustainable future. These initiatives not only mitigate the negative impacts of construction, but also promote a positive change in the way architects design, aligning construction practices with global sustainability goals.

The creation of research centers dedicated to studying and developing new solutions based on these materials is essential to face current environmental challenges. These centers can become key platforms for innovation and the advancement of technologies that not only reduce environmental impact, but also promote more efficient and responsible construction practices.

It’s very important to mitigate the climate change that has affected humanity so much, by developing new ways of constructing buildings in a more sustainable way. This is where the future of construction lies, and being a pioneer in it provides the tools to take and create the first design rules of a new emerging style that is responsive to the problems that are experienced in the present and that will continue to affect the future. Now is the time to detect the peak of this immense wave that is approaching and to position correctly in this new industry of bio-based materials that is approaching.

myBRIC: Structural Characterization of Mycelium-Reinforced 3D-Printed Clay with Embedded Recycled Brick Debris by James Hoppe, M.Arch. ‘26
Lawrence Technological University | Advisor: Scott Shall

Masonry construction and demolition debris represent two of the largest offenders of embodied carbon loss in current waste streams. Fired clay brick, despite its durability and material value, has only a 12% reintegration rate into the built environment due to economic and logistical barriers associated with removing intact units from a mortared masonry assembly (EPA 2020). As a result, the most common and viable method of brick reclamation is when it is in a debris form, usually used as concrete aggregate and road subbase (Christen et al. 2022; Fořt and Černý 2020).

Fortunately, recent technological innovations are increasing our ability to reclaim masonry rubble in more varied and sophisticated ways (Dodampegama et al. 2024). In particular, 3D clay extrusion and mycelium material technology pose a great potential to effect a change in the practice of brick reconstitution (Pasupathy et al. 2023).

This research investigates the material feasibility of reconstituting brick demolition waste through the gradual substitution of virgin clay with pulverized reclaimed brick in 3D clay extrusions. A controlled series of printed clay modules is produced by incrementally replacing virgin clay content with recycled brick material to investigate embodied

energy, cost, and time in their production while achieving a baseline module strength. Building upon prior work in digitally manufactured mycelium-ceramic composites, the study further examines the capacity of mycelium growth within these modules to restore cohesion and structural performance lost through recycled content substitution (Jauk et al. 2022). By coupling recycled masonry content with mycelium reinforcement strategies, this research proposes a fabrication workflow that repositions brick debris as a viable feedstock for sustainable architectural materials.

Click here to take a closer look.

This project received the 2026 LTU CoAD Dean’s Award and the 2026 LTU CoAD Alumni Award.

Instagram: @scott_shall

Autophagic Sacrifice – The Self-Consuming Host by Anderson Qi Han Zheng, B.Arch. ’26
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | Advisor: Ryosuke Imaeda

As social beings, we value reciprocal effort. We attempt to apply this to the relationship between buildings and inhabitants, but it often falls into pure functionalism. Instead of seeing them as host and guest, what if architecture is to be self-consumed? In this framework, the material lifecycle is inadvertently promoted by human activities acting as a catalyst. This project examines material reutilization as autophagy, a system consuming its own substance to maintain its presence.

The project framing draws from two theoretical references. Stanley Cook evaluates voluntary sacrifice as a moral and social tradition guided by logical reasoning. Harvey Whitehouse addresses the irrational and emotional side of self-inflicted harm. One embraces the logical necessity of a small loss for greater gain, while the other suggests that the loss itself is a means of realizing one’s identity.

This project takes a position of self-consumption as not a permanent loss, but a way to reactivate the field through material exchange. Located within Idumota Market in Lagos, Nigeria, the project proposes a market structure that absorbs and repurposes plastic waste circulating in its surrounding environment. The host here is not limited to the architectural structure but also includes the vendors who maintain and associate their lives closely with the market. Discarded plastics, primarily plastic bags, are collected by vendors from nearby streets, gutters, and waste areas as part of routine maintenance rather than being intentionally returned by shoppers to be reused as construction materials in the market. Through a process of controlled heat, the plastic shrinks and binds carved wooden joints together. This allows the host to continuously and locally reconstruct itself without external materials. The design utilizes a modular joint system that gives individual vendors autonomy while maintaining structural consistency, apparent through the undulating canopy system, uncovering the structure while enriching spatial circulation from descending drapings. As a circular system, what is once lost may return and be metabolized into another form, gradually rejuvenating the neighborhood, while passively making the day-to-day users aware that such a loss- a transformation cycle- has been occurring seamlessly amidst the bustling streets of the outdoor market.

This project was awarded the Architectural Research Centers Consortium’s (ARCC) King Student Medal for Excellence in Architectural + Environmental Design Research. 

Instagram: @aqhz.architecture, @ryoimaeda 

THE TIMBER STAGE: Design Proposal for Virginia Tech’s Mass Timber Theater by Z. A. Saleh Zebermai, M.Arch. ’26
Virginia Tech Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center | Advisors: Ezgi Isbilen, Paul Emmons & Susan Piedmont-Palladino

This thesis is a design proposal for a theater complex for Virginia Tech’s extended campuses in the Washington, D.C. region. Despite Virginia Tech’s growing footprint and increasing student numbers in Northern Virginia, the school does not have space for graduation ceremonies. [This] proposed project matches the need and Virginia Tech’s presentation in this area as a forerunner of innovative sustainable practices. 

Consequently, the project investigates the potential of mass timber as a structural and building material for a large space like a theater. The thesis begins with finding the appropriate site through an analytical urban study of the City of Alexandria. Comparing access, distance, relevance, future projection and other factors, the proposed site is at Potomac Yard, near the metro station and Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus. Then, a detailed study of the site investigates its urban potential and the observations are translated into design strategies for further development about the building form, urban spaces, orientation and directions.

Investigation of mass timber as a building material revisits the study of ancient timber roof building techniques of the Norwegian Churches, searching for the relationship between the shipbuilding techniques and the large-span timber truss system, which can be interpreted to modern buildings along with the latest technological development in the mass timber industry. Timber can be used for both technical and aesthetic purposes. The comparative study showed how mass timber is the appropriate material for the context considering sustainability, carbon footprint, material quality, sourcing, etc.

Although a large part of the program of the proposed design is the Commencement Event for Virginia Tech, there are other flexible functions of the building which serve the community on a regular basis. A high-performance building facing a large open Public Plaza creates a dialogue between the current innovation campus building through an axis of pedestrian movement.

Additionally, this project explores solar gain through a double-layered exposed timber screen, modular timber construction and joining details, Biophilic indoor shadow patterns, smooth circulation for a large gathering and the technical aspects of a high-performance theater space. Combining all the design considerations, the thesis proposes a meaningful public building which serves Virginia Tech as well as the local community.

This project received an Honorable Mention for the 2026 WAAC Thesis Prize.

Instagram: @saleh.zebermai, @vt_waac, @e_isbilen

Phong Nha Karst Gallery by Tai Le, M.Arch. ’26
Carnegie Mellon University | Advisor: Laura Garofalo

Tai Le’s Phong Nha Karst Gallery integrates visitor services at the entry of one of the most historically significant and complex karst environments in Asia. The Phong Nha Karst Gallery is located along the Son River at the threshold of Phong Nha–Kẻ Bàng National Park in the Quảng Bình region of Vietnam. These environments are formed by the dissolution of soluble bedrock, creating multi-scalar linked caverns. The building is conceived as a set of blocks linked to create interconnected spaces through a soft flowing volume, translating the dissolution logic of karst formation into a rhythmic sequence of compression and expansion within a clearly manmade form.

Following a set of material explorations of aggregation and erosion, the exterior of the blocks is also manipulated, revealing a softer skin of 3D-printed terra cotta modules set back into the concrete volumes. Composed of bespoke ventilated blocks, this softer layer diffuses the tropical sun and allows for natural ventilation, improving thermal comfort and reducing the thermal load of the mechanical systems. This bioclimatic filter of light and air also hosts vegetation, allowing the building to evolve into an extension of the biome. 

You can learn more about this initiative here and here. 

Instagram: @taile.just.arch, @lauragarofalo

Stay tuned for Part V!

2025 Study Architecture Student Showcase - Part IX

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Today’s installment of the 2025 Study Architecture Student Showcases includes exceptional capstone and thesis projects centered on public spaces. Part IX features a variety of public spaces, including marketplaces, museums, mixed-use buildings, music venues, recreation centers, and more. Each design creates an opportunity for connection and growth by promoting inclusivity, accessibility, and sustainable practices. Read more about these outstanding projects below!

Sprouting Market by Ryn Blackburn, B.S. in Architecture ’25
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Advisor: Wei Zhao

“Sprouting Market” offers the local community access to a vibrant market space set on the waters of the Tam Giang Lagoon, where many residents live on boats. Utilizing a steel space-frame structure with tensile fabric for shading, the design minimizes contact with the terrain to preserve the region’s delicate aquaculture. Fully open to its surroundings, the market allows boats and people to pass through freely or gather beneath an organically shaped roof where commercial activities and social exchanges unfold. Inspired by the traditional floating markets of the lagoon’s coast, the design reinterprets this tradition while introducing programmed and programmable spaces for both locals and visitors. 

At the heart of one leaf-like cluster is a community garden that supports food security; the opposing cluster accommodates flexible spaces for social gatherings and cultural performances. A smaller canopy structure marks the dock along the shoreline, creating both a visual and functional link between the new market and the existing onshore one. The structure is thoughtfully designed to accommodate the lagoon’s fluctuating water levels throughout the day. While portions of the central circular platform may be partially submerged, the docks are built to float, adapting seamlessly to the changing tides. More than just a marketplace, Sprouting Market is a place of connection, community, and collective growth.

The Museum of Water and Sustainability in Querétaro by Fabricio Guerra Hernández, B.Arch ‘25
Universidad Anáhuac Querétaro | Advisors: Guillermo Márquez, Patricia Cutiño & Jorge Javier

The museum is an educational and cultural initiative aimed at raising awareness about the importance of water and sustainable practices in a region increasingly impacted by water scarcity. Located in the Historic Center of Querétaro, the museum serves as a dynamic space where community members can engage with environmental issues through interactive exhibits, educational programs, and sustainable architectural design.

The mission of the museum is to promote knowledge, reflection, and active participation in water conservation and sustainable living. It integrates the historical narrative of water management in Querétaro with current global and local strategies for sustainability, creating a powerful bridge between past practices and future solutions. Through immersive experiences, the museum seeks to foster a culture of environmental responsibility, particularly among younger generations.

The design of the museum emphasizes green building principles, using renewable energy systems, rainwater harvesting, and eco-efficient materials, positioning it as a model of sustainable urban regeneration. It also functions as a research and innovation center for water-related issues, collaborating with local institutions, scientists, and environmentalists.

By addressing the complex challenges of water management and climate change, the Museum of Water and Sustainability aims to become a reference point for other regions facing similar issues. It offers not only an informative journey but also a call to action—highlighting the urgent need for collective awareness and efforts toward environmental stewardship. Ultimately, the museum stands as a beacon of hope, education, and community empowerment, contributing to the long-term resilience and sustainability of Querétaro and beyond.

Instagram: @fabriciog17, @arquitectura_anahuac, @arqwave

Folding Seoul: Reframing the Capital’s Central Station by Jungbin Sheen, B.Arch ’25
Myongji University | Advisor: Junsuk Lee

The Seoul Station is the central station of the national capital, including public buildings and plazas that are essential urban elements, and is close to several national symbols such as Sungnyemun Gate and Seoul Plaza in the former Hanyang Fortress, and serves as a node that is easily accessible from various directions using various transportation systems such as taxis, buses, and pedestrian traffic. The integrated history of Seoul Station has not fulfilled its status as the central station of the national capital, with large commercial facilities occupying most of the area, a pedestrian plaza narrowed by the horizontal expansion of the transportation system, and a lack of frontality due to the logic of civilian development. The spatial experience of the existing Seoul Station, and its circulation system, provides a sense of passing through large commercial facilities or wandering through the corridor space of the exterior staircase plaza, which we considered as a lack of symbolism in the experience of the capital’s central station. What kind of symbolism could represent ‘Seoul Station’?

The project begins with the discovery of a linear piece of land on the southeast side of Seoul Station with an odd shape. The site is privately owned and is lined with a narrow row of dilapidated neighborhood facilities, making it a place with dull development potential and a challenge in securing the symbolism and frontage of Seoul Station. Recognizing the development potential of the site, the project considers the place of ‘Seoul Station’ as a central station and proposes symbolic exterior materials and structures that encompass the spatial experience of rail passengers in the space of Seoul Station. [It also considers] the need for an urban open space where citizens who do not come to Seoul Station for the purpose of using the railroad can come and rest and spend time, through a method of expansion that demolishes only a small part of the existing structure. The Seoul Station pedestrian plaza, which was expanded by the relocation of the taxi stand, and the urban lounge, which is open to anyone regardless of their purpose of use, are separated by a curved louvered curtain derived from the form of the existing Seoul Station. It presents a white backdrop that juxtaposes the existing marginalized cultural station, Seoul 284, and the behavior of rail passengers using the interior space becomes transparent through the thin vertical structure. Depending on the inflection point of the curve and the position of the visitor, the frontality of the plaza and Seoul Station is received by the viewer as a coexistence of the white folding screen with the exterior reflection of the urban lounge.

Click here to learn more. 

Instagram: @bin__cong, @myongji_univ

Place-Reclaiming Chinatown: Repairing the Urban Landscape of Manhattan Chinatown by Katherine Shi, B.S. in Architecture ’25
University of Virginia | Advisor: Mona El Khafif

Chinatowns exist worldwide, and in nearly every major American city. Historically formed as ethnic enclaves of Chinese immigrants facing persecution from legislation such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, they have evolved into important socio-economic centers of activity and community hubs within their respective cities. New York City is home to nine Chinatowns, making it the largest center of Chinese Americans in the Western Hemisphere. However, many Chinatowns are shrinking due to urban development and gentrification, and Manhattan’s Chinatown, one of the first Chinatowns established in the US, is no exception. Asian residents and local businesses have been pushed out, resulting in closed storefronts, land loss, and displaced community members, especially following COVID-19. More significantly, there is the risk of cultural erasure as a result of these changes.

An important part of local identity, for example, is Chinatown’s distinctive use of public space, as seen in its culture of street vending and sidewalk appropriation. Columbus Park and Sara D. Roosevelt Park are some of the most important public spaces in the district. This is where residents socialize, play mahjong, exercise, and greet each other in their native tongue. However, large roadway infrastructure creates a significant and dangerous disconnect at the heart of Chinatown.

This thesis, therefore, proposes an urban design approach for Manhattan Chinatown that seeks to reconnect green spaces in a traffic-torn cultural district, provide needed social infrastructure support, and reclaim the identity of the Manhattan Bridge Plaza as a Chinatown gateway. The intention is to bring vibrancy to underutilized sites at the heart of the community, not only by preserving and celebrating Chinatown culture and history, but also by supporting residents’ way of life within a transforming district. 

Instagram: @pro_kat_stinator, @monaelkhafif

2-in-1, CULINARY CENTER AND RESEARCH HOSTEL by Julius Lin, M.Arch ’25
University of California, Berkeley | Advisor: Rene Davids

Madrid’s Plaza de España, where a culinary center and residential hostel are planned, reveals a confluence of “dry” and “wet” areas; the former is associated with buildings, while the latter is linked to a network of green spaces that connect several key areas including the Sabatini Gardens and Plaza de Oriente to the south, Casa de Campo, Campo del Moro, and Madrid Río to the west, as well as Parque del Oeste to the north. As a result, Plaza de España can be envisioned as a green gateway to a transversal network that extends from the Manzanares River into the heart of the city.

The project translated these observations into an architectural form consisting of twin towers: one transparent (wet) and the other solid (dry). The transparent building was designed for growing food and hosting public programs. In contrast, the more opaque and solid tower was intended to house a more private and enclosed hostel.

Each tower features a unique structural system. The transparent tower employs a core-based structure that maximizes openness, utilizing lightweight materials such as metal grating for the floors and an exposed I-beam grid to enhance transparency. Planters are integrated into the grid system, allowing users to harvest ingredients for educational or culinary purposes. When looking up, the ceiling reveals that these plants extend to the upper floors. Inspired by the subtle flavor of rice pudding, one of Spain’s favorite desserts —a dish with a subtle profile that features layers of flavor —the façade of the transparent tower evolved into a delicate glass curtain wall with a gradual gradient rhythm, influenced by the varying root depth that houses the rich, sensuous interior.  The opaque tower, by contrast, utilizes a regular column grid with a secondary system inspired by tree trunks that organizes the space inside, combining concrete structure, wooden partitions, and a brick façade to create a grounded and inviting atmosphere.

The pair of renderings illustrates the visual connections between the two towers. Despite their differing materials and structures, there is an intentional ambiguity at the threshold, providing glimpses, overlaps, and shared experiences between the two. 

This project was a finalist for the UC Berkeley Design Excellence Awards. 

Instagram: @julius___007, @r.davids

Vessel of Light: A Spiritual Descent into Earth by Aarsh Dipak Nandani, M.Arch ’25
New York Institute of Technology | Advisors: Marcella Del Signore & Evan Shieh

Located in São Cristóvão, a culturally diverse neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, “Vessel of Light” is a thesis project that reimagines sacred space as an inclusive, contemplative landscape rooted in the elemental and experiential. The proposal responds to the city’s layered history of religion, culture, and infrastructure, revealed through analytical mappings of population density, cultural institutions, open spaces, public services, and mobility networks.

The design expresses spirituality not through religious symbolism, but through sensory experience, shaped by the four fundamental elements: earth, air, water, and light. The entire building is embedded below ground, allowing the site’s surface to function as a fully public park, accessible to all regardless of intent to enter the space. Above ground, only skylight turrets punctuate the landscape, sculptural forms that channel daylight and natural ventilation into the interior, while symbolizing moments of vertical spiritual connection.

The single-floor subterranean structure includes spaces for prayer, meditation, ritual ceremonies, and collective gatherings. A cultural zone features classrooms, a library, workshops, an exhibition gallery, and an amphitheater, programs that serve both children and adults throughout the day. The spatial arrangement varies in scale, lighting quality, and degree of openness, allowing the building to support both individual reflection and collective activity.

The sequencing of spaces is informed by principles of centrality, progression, and spatial hierarchy, guiding visitors from more public, active areas toward increasingly quiet, inward, and sacred spaces. A matrix of geometric explorations, rooted in historical forms associated with spirituality, led to a language of hybridized shapes generated through addition and subtraction.

Materiality reinforces the elemental narrative: terracotta surfaces evoke earth; open skylights bring air and light into the heart of the structure; and two stepwells, one publicly accessible in the park, and one interior, honor water as both sacred and shared.

“Vessel of Light: A Spiritual Descent into Earth” offers a space of reflection, communion, and return, embedding sacred experience directly into the everyday life of the city.

Instagram: @aarsh_nandani, @marcelladelsi, @ev07

THE INTERLACE: CREATING SUBURBAN CONNECTIONS by Annikka Fairfield, B.Arch ’25
Kennesaw State University | Advisor: Robin Puttock

Many cities in the United States are designed based on suburban sprawl, which contributes to excessive automobile-dependency and unwelcoming streets for pedestrians, and metro Atlanta is no exception. Alpharetta, Georgia, is a growing city with the potential to become a more walkable suburban city. Alpharetta can be invigorated along specific corridors at the human scale to increase both walkability and connectivity by focusing on pedestrian wellbeing. Research shows that Biophilia’s various facets have the power to improve human wellbeing. Prospect, refuge, and presence of water were selected to guide the thesis design. Urban-scale precedents like the Beltline in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Emerald Necklace in Boston, Massachusetts, inspired The Interlace, a 17.5-mile pedestrian loop that expands upon the existing Greenway Trail and connects multiple nodes across the city. 

“The Interlace” is designed along specific corridors to significantly improve pedestrian access along roads that are currently car-oriented. Research suggested that improved pedestrian access alone will not increase walkability; destinations must also be created to encourage walking. Inspired by the Parc de la Villette in Paris, France, twenty different proposed architectural installations, also called nodes, are strategically designed along The Interlace to create destinations. Different combinations of programs are implemented in each node to support each surrounding community. The nodes are all designed with a similar materiality, inspired by Alpharetta’s history, which ties the architecture together and facilitates placemaking by creating a new identity. Five of the twenty nodes are more fully developed, featuring how prospect, refuge, and presence of water can be implemented at the architectural scale to improve pedestrian wellbeing and thus increase walkability and connectivity at the broader urban scale.

Click here to learn more.

This project was a finalist for the ​​ARCC King Student Medal.

Instagram: @annikkafairfield, @robinzputtock 

Wellness Activity Center by Angel Niemczyk, AA in Architecture ’25
Community College of Philadelphia | Advisor: Elizabeth Master

The project site was selected in central Oregon, at 45°N latitude, and within the 6a climate zone, which influences key factors such as wind directions and local flora.

The design draws inspiration from the turkey tail mushroom, featuring organic, curving shapes that promote a calming atmosphere. This architecture integrates ample natural light through large windows and skylights, enhancing well-being and reducing energy costs.

To foster a strong connection with nature, the design incorporates mushroom-inspired forms and features abundant live vegetation throughout the building and in the surrounding gardens. A park has been added to the adjacent parking lot, featuring a pathway that leads to a nearby forested trail.

Other enhancements include:

– A café with fair trade coffee and healthy snacks.

– Separate mechanical and electrical rooms on each floor for improved energy management.

– Four additional restrooms for increased capacity.

– A fire escape near the north entrance.

– A “Heritage Pavilion” inspired by Native American architecture.

– An organic produce garden and a pollinator garden to support biodiversity and collaborate with the kitchen.

The pollinator garden attracts bees and butterflies, enriching the local environment and enhancing visitors’ experiences, while the produce garden fosters growth through natural cycles, utilizing kitchen waste as fertilizer.

This project won the second-place CCCAP 2025 Student Award. 

Instagram: @ADC_CCP 

Valley Sports Complex: Sports, Recreation, and Fitness Opportunities for Every Season by Blake Douglas, M.Arch ’25
Academy of Art University | Advisor: Aurgho Jyoti

The community of Flathead County, Montana, requires an indoor recreation space. Long winters with short daylight hours significantly impact the community’s ability to be active and recreate through winter months and shoulder seasons. Snow is on the ground for up to eight months of the year, limiting available outdoor recreation opportunities. The winter climate also has an impact on mental wellness, as seasonal depression due to a lack of sunlight is common. Combined with a lack of recreation opportunities, the community would be well served to have a place to commune and interact throughout the winter season. Montana is known for its rugged and beautiful landscape; the built environment should respect and respond to that. The structure of the building will be locally sourced mass timber, and the overall form will be respectful to the context in which it sits. A sports center that will respect the landscape, enhance a sense of community, and provide recreation.

This project received the M.Arch Thesis Award. 

Click here to learn more.

Instagram: @b_doug_arch, @aur.architecture

The Capitol Collective: A Community Centered Creator’s Hub that Enhances the Pedestrian Experience by Ashley Miller, M.Arch ’25
Virginia Tech | Advisors: Andrew Linn, Susan Piedmont-Palladino, Paul Kelsch

“The Capitol Collective” is a community-centered creator’s hub that anchors the proposed Capitol Hill Art Trail – an alley network programmed to enhance local beauty and promote community pride. Located in one of the most walkable cities in the United States, Washington, D.C., this thesis explores pedestrian environments that are deemed ‘the best’ according to the District’s Pedestrian Friendliness Index (PFI), with a focus on the Capitol Hill neighborhood. While dozens of blocks in the area are ranked within the top 1,000 of the District, several others are deemed less desirable. This begs the question: what constitutes an ideal pedestrian environment, and how can we as designers contribute to creating architecture that thoughtfully integrates with, and improves upon, the pedestrian experience? 

Observing and documenting street conditions of both higher and lower-ranked blocks demonstrated that blocks with higher rankings embraced the walker’s experience by incorporating programs such as sidewalk cafes and restaurants, inviting transit plazas, playgrounds, outdoor markets, and more. Through this initial research, a scope of roughly twenty-seven blocks was identified as an area that could be improved upon. The existing area has the foundation for a flourishing, walkable hub for the community, but it currently lacks the inviting qualities that its neighboring blocks have. This thesis proposes to fill these gaps through the built environment by creating a programmed art trail that is anchored through a community workshop and residence. 

The Capitol Collective’s mission is to build community through creation. At the heart of the project are the wood shop and metal fabrication lab, which are open to all community members. There are also classrooms where individuals can learn from one another, a tool library where locals can rent out items, and studio spaces for local recurring artists. The ground floor of the newly constructed building also boasts a cafe and warehouse-like spaces for local artists to set up and sell their goods. Levels two through three of the new construction building are programmed with affordable housing that prioritizes individuals who are committed to improving and supporting the local community.

This project received the WAAC Thesis Award. 

Click here to learn more.

Instagram: @ashley.miller15, @VT_WAAC

The Voids of the Forgotten: Stories Layered in Unmaking by Sophie Hutton, BFA in Architecture’25
James Madison University | Advisor: Dylan Krueger

This thesis begins not with the act of making, but with the act of unmaking—a journey into the forgotten, the overlooked, and the lost.

Architecture is often thought of as something permanent—something that stands tall against time. But what if the first gesture in design was not to assert, but to dissolve? What if architecture could listen, rather than impose? What if the act of unmaking could be the beginning of creation?

Unmaking is a meditation on impermanence. It is about architecture that dissolves instead of dominates, about creating spaces that listen to the land rather than claim it. To unmake is not destruction. It is revelation. It is peeling back the layers of time to expose what has been buried. To make visible the hidden histories, the suppressed memories, and the erasures that still resonate beneath the soil. Architecture, in this sense, is not a monument to permanence but a vessel for memory, decay, and regeneration.

This exploration centers on a forgotten history, one hidden beneath the surface of Central Park, New York, where Seneca Village once stood—a thriving minority community in the 19th century, full of life, resilience, and faith. But it was erased, displaced under the guise of progress. Beneath the park’s manicured lawns lies a history that has yet to be remembered.

The design is centered around three areas in the park, each a meditation on memory, erasure, and reclamation. These speculative site plans visualize futures shaped by absence: nature overtaking roads, forgotten street grids returning, memory lines resisting imposed order. Each is an act of unmaking—a gesture toward revealing what has been hidden and allowing the land to speak again.

Unmaking is not failure, but resistance and revelation. It asks us to design with the rhythm of life. To unmake is to remember.

This project won the James Madison University Thesis Prize.  

Instagram: @sopharcd, @dylan.things

DESIGNING FOR THE SENSES: HARNESSING LIGHT, TRANSPARENCY, AND VISUAL CONNECTIVITY TO CREATE RESPONSIVE ARCHITECTURE FOR THE DEAF COMMUNITY by Jennifer Pennington, M.Arch ’25
Florida A&M University | Advisors: George Epolito, Andrew Chin

This thesis explores how architectural design can be thoughtfully informed by Deaf space principles to create environments that enhance navigation, communication, and inclusivity for the Deaf community. Centered on the strategic application of light, transparency, and visual porosity, the project seeks to dismantle spatial and sensory barriers that often leave Deaf individuals navigating spaces that fail to support their lived experiences.

The research focuses on designing a community hub in Tallahassee, Florida—an inclusive space that promotes visibility, intuitive movement, and social connection. Current architectural practices frequently neglect Deaf users, resulting in spaces that are visually fragmented or lack necessary cues for spatial awareness. This study responds by investigating design strategies that prioritize visual access, clear sightlines, and unobstructed circulation.

Using Deaf space design theory as a foundation, the project integrates spatial transparency and natural light to support non-verbal communication, while employing visual rhythm and layered spatial relationships to guide users organically through the environment. Through case studies, spatial analysis, and architectural modeling, the research establishes a set of principles for creating spaces that do not merely accommodate but actively empower Deaf individuals.

The resulting design envisions a community hub that is both functionally accessible and emotionally enriching—encouraging interaction within the Deaf community while also inviting greater engagement with the broader public. In doing so, the thesis advocates for a more holistic and humane architectural practice, one that values sensory diversity as a driver for innovation and social equity.

 Instagram: @famu_masterofarch, @famusaet

The Last Lookout by Keaton Bruce, M.Arch ’25
Temple University | Advisors: Sally Harrison, Jeffrey Nesbit & Kate Wingert-Playdon

Our forest has been completely designed.

The production of artificial boundaries, unassuming objects, and pervasive cultural imaginaries, the United States Forest Service constructs American forests in the image of a naturalized occupying state. Contemporary architecture, in its reliance on this manufactured forest, sustains violent neoliberal fantasies of displacements disguised as world-saving visions of productivity and progress.

So how might we imagine the future of architecture, of our forest, of resistance? If the National Forest Service is a tool of an occupying state, a new vision of the forest is delayed until the current system of commodification and nationalization is dismantled. The project speculates on a final form – the last lookout – and asks how this end can be just as valuable as a beginning in realizing a new future – an architecture after the Forest Service.

Based on the Multi-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960, which set forth five productivity mandates for USFS-managed lands (watershed, logging, recreation, range, and wildlife), the project satirizes five architectural endings of the forest: the MAUSOLEUM, the PENITENTARY, the MUSEUM, the COMMONS, and the AFTERLIFE. Each forest rendered in plan, perspective, and physical model investigates the symbiotic relationship between forest imaginary, architectural vessel, urban form, and political agency in an acontextual superimposition on the Oregon State Capitol Complex.

The forest we inherit need not be the forest we leave behind, but the forest we ultimately construct must be the forest we imagine.

Concourse on 5th by Maverick Santos & Luke Slay, M.Arch ’25
University of Texas at Austin | Advisor: Matt Fajkus

“Concourse on 5th” is a bold reimagining of downtown Austin’s civic landscape, designed to facilitate the city’s cultural vibrancy and active urban lifestyle. Strategically placed at the intersection of 5th Street and Guadalupe, the project redefines the role of circulation by transforming it into an “activated concourse” — a connective public platform that links a performance theater, community recreation spaces, and residences within a single cohesive building. By layering programs that operate on varied cycles, the building sustains continuous activity, becoming a dynamic place that serves diverse users throughout the day and night.

Located adjacent to Republic Square, the site capitalizes on its proximity to green space to prioritize the pedestrian experience. The theater’s monumental entry sequence, directly facing the park, establishes a strong civic presence and a sense of arrival. Along Guadalupe Street, the entrance to the community center is activated by an exterior stair that ascends to the elevated podium, where a running track and green spaces extend the square, promoting public engagement and visual transparency. The lightly articulated facade along this edge offers curated glimpses into the building’s interior, where warm wood finishes and the vertical ascent of a rock-climbing wall become visible markers of internal activity. On the 6th Street edge, the residential tower entrance is discreetly integrated alongside a highly visible sports court, reinforcing the project’s active interface with the city.

Internally, the theater is defined by sweeping, sculptural wood forms that foster a close and immersive relationship between audience and performance. The contrast between the refined urban exterior and the expressive, tactile interior enhances the experience within the project. The recreation program complements the performance spaces through its strategic integration, featuring moments where the climbing wall ascends along the theater’s edge, connecting multiple floors and drawing visual continuity between arts and athletics. 

The project challenges conventional typologies of event venues, which often remain unoccupied outside of peak hours. Instead, Concourse on 5th activates its circulation zones as multifunctional social spaces. Vertical and horizontal circulation paths double as areas for spontaneous interaction, bridging programs and communities. In the atrium, patrons exiting a performance might encounter climbers in motion or glimpse a yoga class underway; a choreography of simultaneous experience. This overlap fosters moments of connection and shared occupation, elevating the concourse from mere infrastructure to an essential part of the building’s public life.

Ultimately, Concourse on 5th functions as a hybrid space, serving as a platform for art, recreation, and everyday life. It reclaims space in downtown Austin for collective use through a design rooted in transparency, spatial porosity, and programmatic overlap. The project reimagines how architecture can enable continuous activation, creating a vibrant and inclusive environment that adapts to the city it serves.

This project was a finalist for the UT Design Excellence Award.

Instagram: @mikhail.maverick, @luke_slay01, @mf.architecture

The Natatorium and the Wall by Grace Kotomi Owens, B.Arch ’25
Mississippi State University | Advisors: Jassen Callender, David Buege, Mark Vaughan, Aaron White & David Perkes

Pools are about floating and swimming; they are about feeling the water, feeling its temperature, its resistance to our movements, its weight, and our weightlessness. They are undoubtedly experiential destinations. In our increasingly digital world, I began this project hoping a natatorium in downtown Jackson, MS, would simultaneously bring people together and provide a place for people to be present, a place of focus and sanctuary. 

As the semester progressed, my project became about many things.  

My initial explorations were about void space. I find it insufficient to say that architecture creates space — it instead divides and thereby gives identity to and further defines the “empty” space that is already there.  

There was one question that I consistently asked myself in designing the natatorium: how close do two surfaces have to be for people to feel the space between them?  Voids became a bit of an obsession: the implied void of ribbon of windows wrapping the west and south facades, the unusual entry sequence in the void of the west elevation, the void behind the square window, the unoccupiable spaces of light wells and sculpture pockets seen in plan, the conical void of the south elevation, and of course, the void of the pool… negative space – present tangibly and intangibly throughout.  

This project also led me to explore architecture’s contribution to the city.  Designing a natatorium – a fairly suburban building in its standard form – for an urban context… This became an incredible challenge.  

My desire to meaningfully contribute to the city manifested itself in the design of “The Wall,” which can be seen in my West elevation. The Wall is almost totally detached from the rest of the natatorium, joined only by the cuboidal space protruding from the wall as a square window.  The Wall serves to acknowledge the suburban scale of the program it conceals: locker rooms, restrooms, and small offices.  Without such an acknowledgement, the natatorium would be dwarfed by the surrounding context.

In the end, I designed the natatorium and its wall as a monument to the city of Jackson. 

This project was chosen for display in the McNeel Architecture Gallery. 

Instagram: @grace.kotomi, @jassencallender

Continuum Library by Joyce Lin, Ronny Nowland, Ashlyn Okazaki, Natalie Ou & Ran Shen, D.Arch ’25
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa | Advisors: Clark Llewellyn & Ferdinand Johns

In the bustling Chinese city of Shanghai, “Continuum” reimagines a forgotten infrastructural void beneath the historic Nanpu Bridge’s spiraling access ramps as a dynamic art and fashion-focused library and cultural center. Rooted in the city’s identity as a place of contrasts, where historic tradition interweaves with global innovation, Continuum explores the concept of duality through architecture, program, and materiality.

The design embraces Shanghai’s industrial heritage by preserving and exposing the structural steel elements of the site while layering contemporary interventions that reflect the city’s evolving creative identity. A long-span steel canopy nestled under the undulating descending slope of the site’s green park bridges the old and new, creating an iconic gesture that anchors the site and provides shelter for public gatherings, exhibitions, and performances.

Continuum’s program is split between traditional library services and a “+” space dedicated to fashion archives, design workshops, maker labs, and rotating gallery exhibitions. This not only supports education and creative exchange but also activates local industries and emerging designers. Public spaces flow seamlessly from interior to exterior, with open reading terraces, pop-up markets, and interactive art installations drawing pedestrians and cyclists into the space.

The project’s strategy of adaptive reuse reduces environmental impact while celebrating the poetic tension between heavy infrastructure and light cultural use. By stitching together circulation paths, layered programming, and expressive steel structure, Continuum becomes a new node in Shanghai’s civic network, a platform for exchange, creativity, and community resilience.

In a city of constant flux, Continuum offers a space for pause, reflection, and cultural production, anchored in history, yet always looking forward.

Instagram: @as.h_l.and, @joyce.lyx, @artravelersr, @natalie.xy.ou, @archawaii, @global_track_architecture

The Creative Exchange by Bridget Knudtson, Sarah Gurevitch & Jasmin Dickinson, M.Arch ’25
University of Texas at Austin | Advisor: Matt Fajkus

“The Creative Exchange” is an artist collective and performing arts theater in downtown Austin, located across from Republic Square. Designed to unify Austin’s disconnected arts scene, the project provides a hub where both locals and visitors can easily engage with the city’s vibrant cultural offerings. The raised proscenium theater, capable of accommodating a variety of performances, allows the ground level to remain entirely open to the public, ensuring it remains activated even when performances are not occurring. The design incorporates bold, angled geometries that signify the cross-pollination of ideas happening within the building. 

Central to the Creative Exchange is a grand staircase that connects all six floors of the podium, ascending from the ground floor lobby up to the theater. This staircase serves as a visual and physical cue, inviting movement upward and symbolizing the exchange of ideas and collaboration among artists. In the floors between, an artist’s collective provides studio space, a workshop, and other resources to Austin’s creative community. A perforated metal facade shields these interior spaces from direct sunlight, protecting the art inside and enhancing energy efficiency in Austin’s hot climate. 

The top floors of the podium include an asymmetrical theater design, meant to invert the hierarchies created by a traditional auditorium layout. Encasing these floors is a massive steel truss that runs along the building’s perimeter, enabling the front and back of house programs to cantilever on the north and south facades. On the Republic Square side, this cantilever creates a grand, sheltered entry and drop-off zone, while on the 6th Street side, it frames a large garden terrace, adding much-needed green space to the bustling urban context. Similar cutouts in the residential tower above provide views out to the city. 

Altogether, the building’s design effectively and efficiently fills the needs of Austin’s growing artistic community. Its distinctive visual language, innovative structural design, and careful mixing of programs establish the Creative Exchange as a clear cultural hub for the City of Austin. 

This project was nominated for a Design Excellence Award at the UT School of Architecture and was a finalist among award selections.

Instagram: @bridgetthetwin, @sarah_gurevitch, @jazzy_colors, @mf.architecture

(IN) ORDINATIO by Luis Leonardo Flores Hernández, B.Arch ’25
Tecnológico de Monterrey | Advisors: Guillermo Nieto Ross & Jorge Santos Quiroz

“Ordinatio” is an innovative architectural and urban masterplan strategically designed to transform the community of Ocoyucan in Puebla, México, by directly addressing socio-spatial segregation and fostering inclusive community integration. Positioned at the intersection of diverse socio-economic contexts, the project elegantly blends traditional urban patterns from Santa Clara Ocoyucan with the contemporary residential fabric of Lomas de Angelópolis, creating dynamic spaces for equitable interaction and communal growth.

The project’s central feature is a vibrant marketplace comprising agricultural and culinary sectors, complemented by advanced aeroponic greenhouses, significantly reducing resource consumption while directly benefiting approximately 65% of local families dependent on small-scale farming. This strategic economic and cultural hub acts as a catalyst for communal exchange, revitalizing the local economy and nurturing social cohesion.

Architecturally, Ordinatio reinterprets traditional forms through contemporary lenses, utilizing locally sourced materials and visible structural elements to promote a sense of identity and ownership among residents. The community plaza and ephemeral market spaces—framed by elegantly detailed corridors—create essential social nodes that encourage diverse community interactions and cultural activities, reactivating collective memories and traditions.

Integral to the project’s vision is the thoughtful inclusion of a multimodal mobility node, which connects public transport and cycling routes, ensuring everyday urban mobility becomes an enriching communal experience. Additionally, environmental sustainability is woven into the design through ecological restoration along the adjacent Atoyac River, creating essential green corridors and public parks that enhance biodiversity and offer restorative communal spaces.

Ordinatio exemplifies architecture’s potential as a regenerative tool, mitigating socio-economic disparities, avoiding social resentment, and promoting harmonious urban coexistence. This holistic approach not only revitalizes the urban landscape but positions Ocoyucan as a compelling model of equitable, sustainable, and community-driven urban development.

Click here for a closer look.

This project was exhibited at ITESM University’s national architecture festival, “How Space Can?” It was also selected to be presented at EXPO EAAD.

Instagram: @luish_137, @arq.pue.tec

Vortex Theater by Joshua Jolly, M.Arch ’25
Pennsylvania State University | Advisor: Ute Poerschke

The project task was to design a theatre in-the-round as an addition to the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia.

“Vortex Theater” — This design places the theatre as the eye of the storm, a tornado’s core. The central ramp becomes the force around which people, spaces, and artifacts spiral. Its continuous motion reinforces the vertical energy, pulling people into the experiences that the theater has to offer. The surrounding spaces (lobbies, rehearsal halls) act as the rotating winds, positioned in a way that reacts to the ramp’s motion. Due to the ramp’s centrality, each level has a visual sight between programs, enhancing the sense of being caught in a swirling motion and thrown out of the winds. The concept is amplified through the structure and surrounding programs. The ramp isn’t just a means of circulation; it’s the driving force of the architectural experience, pulling everything and everyone into its swirling grasp.

This project won the Design Excellence Award. 

 Instagram: @_jollyj

Stay tuned for Part X!

2024 Study Architecture Student Showcase - Part XIV

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Architecture plays a large role in the restoration and preservation of buildings. The projects featured in Part XIV of the 2024 Study Architecture Student Showcase focus on revitalizing spaces. 

Today, we look at various sites, including areas impacted by natural disasters, former industrial zones, federal buildings, and more. Each project blends old and new, demonstrating the ability to recover and reclaim using architecture and design.

Reclaiming Antakya: Post Disaster Community Recovery for Resilient Futures by Zeynep Dila Demircan, M. Arch ‘24
University of Maryland | Advisor: Ken Filler

The earthquakes that struck Southwestern Turkey and Northern Syria in February 2023 caused extensive damage, ranking among Turkey’s worst disasters in its history. The city of Antakya, especially, suffered severe destruction in its center, resulting in significant losses of lives, culture, and history.

This thesis presents a comprehensive plan to recover and reclaim Antakya’s center, enhancing community resilience through proactive design strategies. It focuses on a specific urban block, a key commercial, residential, and administrative hub across the Asi River and the historical district. The proposal outlines a multi-phased approach to transform this urban block, starting from the post-disaster period and concluding with its complete redevelopment. The phases include recovery, reclamation, reconstruction, and reconnection.

For the recovery phase, temporary shelter and gathering spaces are provided for residents within the grove area existing on the site, while efforts to engage stakeholders in the recovery process begin. Reclamation involves reforming the cleared area based on existing and new street systems, integrating new public streets and courtyards that make up the green infrastructure. Reconstruction involves rebuilding the site in smaller blocks, starting from the middle section and expanding to the upper and lower sections. The reconnection phase focuses on finalizing building blocks and reintegrating them into the larger context. 

This includes the creation of a new urban plaza and the introduction of programs aimed at fostering cultural and social resilience, as well as commemorating the earthquake through a memorial space within a community center. The proposal introduces two main building types: The Block, a mixed-use structure with a courtyard for residents, and The Hub, a community center featuring public spaces, a museum, gathering areas, and studios for local crafts practices.

In essence, this thesis aims to not only reconstruct Antakya’s physical infrastructure but also to cultivate resilient communities through place-making strategies. It endeavors to revitalize cultural and social life while fostering trust and collaboration, ultimately laying the groundwork for a robust and resilient future.

This project won the UMD Architecture Thesis – Director’s Award and the ARCC 2023-2024 King Student Medal for Excellence in Architectural + Environmental Design Research.

The Topographical Reactivation by Yanbo Zhu, M. Arch ’24
University of Waterloo | Advisors: Mohamad Araji & Shiyu Wei

Community Center Design at Kitchener

This design features three keywords: nature, history, and topography.

  1. NATURE: The site is located in the center of Kitchener, with the expansive Victoria Park to the south. However, due to roadways and parking areas interrupting the flow, it’s challenging for this landscape to permeate the site effectively. Simultaneously, with a site area of 15,000 square meters and a required building area of only 1,500 square meters according to the project brief, the strategy involves integrating small-scale structures with the landscape to address the issue of the site’s excessive scale.
  2. HISTORY: Within the site, there is an abandoned Charles bus terminal, with its main hall building well-preserved, but the historical elements of its platforms, bus lanes, and connecting corridors are poorly maintained. In the design, preserving the original waiting hall while removing other elements yet continuing its multi-linear spatial configuration is a critical historical stance.
  3. TOPOGRAPHY: On the eastern side of the site, there is an elevation difference of nearly four meters. In the design, a planted roof is utilized to seamlessly connect, allowing individuals to enter the building from the roof. Simultaneously, the height difference is employed to create outdoor stepped activity areas or sloped gardens. Additionally, to respect historical architecture, a partial sunken approach is employed in spaces like the art gallery and lecture hall, forming various topographical experiences.

This project won the Edward Allen BTES Award and the Second Prize SOPREMA Award. 

Instagram: @yanbo_zhu

Amending the Capitol by Garrett Krueger, M. Arch ‘24
Virginia Tech | Advisors: Susan Piedmont-Palladino, Paul Emmons & Scott Archer

The United States Capitol Building has long been an iconic symbol of the American government and democracy worldwide. Despite this, the United States has had many major events since 1892, and the Capitol has not had any representation of those events.

One example of stalled symbols of change is the number of representatives in the House. Since 1913, the House of Representatives in Congress has had 435 representatives, despite the population more than tripling since then. Many have had the idea to increase this number and expand the House. This idea gives an opportunity to design a new, larger chamber for the House to meet in. This thesis proposes a new chamber to redefine the architecture of the Capitol Building and symbolize the century of history that has yet to be represented in the Capitol.

The idea of making a new expansion to the iconic Capitol Building comes with challenges. This thesis was done amid historic turmoil and record lows in productivity in the House. This thesis also begs the question of whether the building that Congress meets in can be part of the solution. The House Chamber, when completed, had no electric lighting, let alone C-SPAN cameras and smartphones in every lawmaker’s pocket. This new extension aims to provide Congress with a workplace designed to address the difficulties it faces in keeping itself in order. As a whole, this thesis is about the idea of representing change. The nature of a democratic government is one of changing ideas and laws, and this project seeks to have the Capitol Building embody that aspect. Thomas Jefferson himself is known for saying rejecting change is like “requiring a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when he was a boy.” Congress needs a new coat. 

This project won the WAAC Crystal Award. 

Instagram: @vt_waac

Life, Death, and the Eternal Recurrence of Architecture by Geri Roa Kim & Kelvin Hu, B. Arch ’24
Pratt Institute | Advisors: Adam Elstein, Frank Gesualdi & Ashley Simone

Life, Death, and the Eternal Recurrence of Architecture proposes building anew as a form of preservation. Situated along the Arakawa River Island in Tokyo, this project is a story of a building that has grown over time since 1946. The building undergoes successive replication and revision every few years, each edition is built next to its predecessor, eventually becoming an endless, linear, horizontal skyscraper that constantly reinvents itself through time. 

This architectural approach, rooted in preservation, provides a tangible way to experience changes that normally unfold over centuries. Architecture, then, becomes a device to register time.

This project won the Best Degree Project of 2023/2024.

Instagram: @g.eroaii, @kelv.hu

Unbound Beirut: Reimagining Boundaries & Transforming Realities by Sima Fayad, B. Arch ’24
American University of Beirut | Advisor: Makram Al Kadi

This architectural thesis culminates in transforming Beirut’s iconic dome, The Egg, located in Solidere, into a multifaceted public space. It seamlessly integrates medical, educational, and cultural uses through a harmonious fusion of virtual and physical elements. This design transcends Solidere’s boundaries, fostering interaction among diverse user groups within a dynamic environment. Symbolizing Beirut’s resilience and revival, The Egg blends history with a vibrant future, redefining spatial inhabitation by bridging physical and virtual realms.

At its core, this thesis explores the intersection of physical and virtual spaces, emphasizing the enduring significance of tangible structures while delving into the growing realm of digital environments. It investigates how architects can utilize digital technology to craft emotionally and socially resonant spaces that transcend traditional boundaries. Envisioning a future where architecture integrates seamlessly with digital elements, the study challenges architects to reimagine spatial design.

The introduction lays the foundation by recognizing the pivotal role of physical spaces in our spatial understanding, positioning the thesis at the confluence of the tangible and intangible. As digital technologies increasingly influence our physical reality, this thesis calls on architects to incorporate digital elements such as virtual reality and internet connectivity into their designs. It highlights how these once futuristic concepts are now essential tools for creating visually striking, functional, and socially impactful architectural spaces. 

The thesis examines the redevelopment of Beirut’s downtown area, specifically focusing on The Egg, a striking dome in the Solidere district. This site symbolizes Beirut’s resilience and revival post-war, embodying the city’s enduring spirit while highlighting the economic barriers that modern urban landscapes can create. The Egg stands as a testament to Beirut’s cultural heritage, illustrating how architecture can blend the past with a vibrant future, bridging physical and virtual realms to redefine our concept of inhabiting space.

Instagram: @ard_aub

PENINSULAR PAPER CO. by Chase Dietrich, B.S. Arch ’24
Lawrence Technological University | Advisor: Masataka Yoshikawa

The project, PENINSULAR PAPER CO., began with an in-depth site analysis. The design was initially inspired by the natural gathering spots surrounding the existing building. This project aims to renovate and expand the existing structure, guided by the logic of these natural gathering points and the acute angles they form. The contemporary vision for the building’s renovation leverages these convergent points, ensuring the new design seamlessly integrates with the environment while enhancing functionality and aesthetic appeal. By focusing on these natural elements, the project promises a harmonious blend of old and new, creating a revitalized space that respects its historical context and serves modern needs.

This project won the Lawrence Technological University Chair’s Award.

Instagram: @chase.a.dietrich, @masataka.yoshikawa

Steamtown Revival by Mason Ramsey, James Gentilesco & Dalton Metzger, B. Arch ’24
Marywood University | Advisors: Jodi La Coe & James Eckler

The Joseph Biden Presidential Library uses various design concepts to best represent our president’s values. Green walls, aquaponics, water reuse, and bioswales all work together to visually demonstrate President Biden’s environmental priorities. These are new concepts for the proposed site in Scranton, Pennsylvania, currently occupied by the Steamtown Mall, a development that only hurt the economy and environment of the city, as Jane Jacobs argued. The entire site is to be replaced with biking and walking trails to best integrate the cityscape with nature. Inside this presidential library, one may visit Biden’s museum collection, browse through his personal selection of books, and even request access to presidential archives in this new landmark in a regrowing city.

Instagram: @ramsey_architecture, @gentilesco_architecture, @jodilacoe

“Navigating Uncertainty” in Lebanon by Karly Abou Dib, B. Arch ’24
American University of Beirut | Advisors: Trevor Ryan Patt & Rana Haddad

“Navigating Uncertainty” embarks on a detailed exploration of oil terminals, delving into their structural intricacies and temporal dimensions. By examining the historical significance, contemporary functionalities, and future uncertainties of these terminals, the study unfolds a narrative that seeks to craft a transformative blueprint for their decommissioning and sustainable future.

At the heart of this exploration is the concept of transforming challenges into opportunities for innovation through human collaboration. The uncertainty surrounding oil terminals is reimagined as a productive force, driving the evolution of a resilient and environmentally conscious infrastructure. The study proposes a shift from impermeable industrial containers to porous courtyards or “voids” that invite nature to reclaim and transform these spaces. This transformation symbolizes a transition from industrial to ecological, where past structures are enveloped by greenery and become communal spaces that foster biodiversity and community interaction.

Strategically designed “solids” are introduced within these voids, serving as eco-friendly program holders that benefit the environment. These solids house activities such as labs and workshops, green markets, and human energy-powered gyms, directly engage with and enhance their natural surroundings. The design and proportion of these solids vary based on their environmental impact, with programs that have a significant positive effect on nature occupying more prominent spaces.

The interface between the new solids and the voids is filled with community engagement opportunities and pathways that foster educational and cultural experiences. Visitors navigate through these transformed spaces, engaging with layers of information and activity that promote a deeper understanding of sustainability and its impact. This dynamic environment educates and inspires, cultivating a greener mindset among its visitors.

The project transforms an industrial site into a vibrant green space through the development of a porous wetland. This wetland enhances social well-being, supports biodiversity, and aids in natural water treatment and flood mitigation. It serves as an educational hub promoting environmental sustainability and highlights the role of wetlands in urban ecosystems. By integrating water into the site, the wetland mitigates flood risks and improves urban microclimates, showcasing how industrial areas can be reclaimed by nature

Instagram: @ard_aub

Global Educational Center for IT Specialists and Migrants in Istanbul by Anatolii Savoskin, Diploma in Strategic Interior Design / Private Master Degree ’24
IE University | Advisor: Elvira Munoz

For my graduate project, I tackled the challenges faced by skilled migrants, drawing from my own experience and that of friends worldwide. Using design tools, I aimed to provide solutions by identifying a real client in crisis and repurposing an underused building. Researching the client’s needs and challenges was pivotal in shaping our design strategy. We chose a historic building in central European Istanbul, strategically located near public amenities and transportation hubs to cater to our target audience: migrants with IT backgrounds. Detailed user mapping helped to understand their expectations and needs. My design concept focused on four key elements: an Al educational center, a rebranding campaign for Blackberry, integration of multicultural design elements reflecting migrants’ cultures, and a transition from classical to modern styles throughout the building’s floors.
Instagram: @iearchdesign, @anatolii_savoskin

Extending The Patchwork | The Pier by Jillian Sproul & Olivia Nunn, M. Arch ’24
Toronto Metropolitan University | Advisors: Joey Giaimo & Julia Jamrozik

Located in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, a tourist beach town, the project proposes an extension of the current pier providing opportunities for vendor expansion. The new pier proposal is achieved through the implementation of subtractive and additive heritage strategies. It provides locals with the agency to expand their business onto the structural modules that will aggregate as needed based on future growth, extending the existing vendor and architectural patchwork. The existing main pavilion has been opened up as a midpoint for resting and [eating]. The newly designed end pavilion embraces the past entertainment values of the site, showcasing live performances and expansive views out to the water. The form of the performance structure is shifted to align with the main street of the town, inviting visitors to adventure through the entirety of the pier, especially during sunset, when sun rays reflect off of the metallic panels. The two-storey performance pavilion is accessible with the feature ramp leading tourists on a journey separated from the busy vendor stalls. The total pier addition allows the current architectural and vendor patchwork to be valued as a key component to the pier’s long-standing success since 1899.

The physical model utilizes three types of wood to visualize the architectural patchwork of the current pier and the proposed extension. The burnt maple represents existing components of the pier, while the cherry represents existing components that have undergone renovations. This is contrasted with the basswood that represents the proposed patchwork extension.

Instagram: @jilliansproul, @olivianunn14

Reshaping Red Hook: Creative Placemaking and Connective Infrastructure. by Matthew Tepper, B.S. Architecture ’24
University of Virginia | Advisor: Mona El Khafif

From a manufacturing and transporting port to a refined and vibrant community hub, the masterplan analyzes the demand to unify the Red Hook, Brooklyn neighborhood to its adjacent post-industrialized, underutilized waterfront. It looks at a series of 19th-century waterfront warehouses as a symbolic reference to its connection with shipping and connectivity within the New York Harbor and a dilapidated water’s edge to activate opportunities for public engagement and hospitable, engaging programming. 

Red Hook, named by the Dutch in the 17th century, references its red clay soil and brick construction methods, as well as its jutting peninsula forming into the Upper New York Bay. In the late 19th century, Red Hook was the busiest freight port in the world, serving as the center of the city’s cotton trade. Later on, with the rise of Robert Moses, the Gowanus Expressway and the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel were built in the 1940s, followed by the first federally funded public housing projects in New York City. While Red Hook’s socioeconomic status declined due to a decline in maritime trade and employment access, its economic outlook is rising again as new businesses, artists, and artisans are beginning to bring vitality.

The program explores indoor, outdoor, and interstitial moments as means for a creative ecosystem, expanding a sense of connectivity through the Cobble Hill Tunnel within neighborhood bounds. The Cobble Hill Tunnel, the oldest tunnel in New York City, was rediscovered in the 1990s after being inactive for over 120 years in Downtown Brooklyn. It was imagined to stretch to Red Hook but was never fulfilled. In reimagining the existing lack of public infrastructure within Red Hook, this physical and symbolic representation would allow for connectivity across Red Hook while recognizing the neighborhood’s rich history. 

Forming an experiential approach to this connectivity aims to foster and maintain local, community-driven growth. The proposal intends to re-establish the water’s edge with a realignment of the existing Red Hook gridded organization and shift vehicular traffic to prioritize pedestrian experiences and modes of public transportation. To enable economic incentives for development, existing two-story warehouse buildings will expand upon their mass-timber structure as an extension of contemporary mass-timber building codes to provide a relationship between working and living environments. The existing parking lot will transform into Red Hook’s public square to support local artists, and a central amphitheater will serve as the concluding nexus of the tunnel. These transversal relationships can ensure dialogue between above- and below-ground environments as a new typology for untapped programming and real estate investment.

Instagram: @mattportfolio, @aschool_uva

Fluid Landscape: A Speculation on Edge by Marla Stephens, M. Arch ’24
University of Florida | Advisors: Charlie Hailey & Jeff Carney

Architecture for a Fluid Landscape: A Speculation on Edge, addresses the ephemeral nature of dwelling on Florida’s coastal edge. This project aims to unearth Florida’s fluid strata to resurface a forgotten timeline of architectural ruins and stories lost at sea and to reinterpret future coastal habitation for an accreting landscape. Using Wilbur-by-the-Sea and Cape Canaveral, Florida as stations for witnessing and recording the evolution of an edge, this project will begin to negotiate the nature of impermanence and symbiosis of architecture along the shore. 

As time passes, layers of stories, artifacts, ecologies, and technologies are embedded within the anthropogenic landscape. Is time as fluid as the littoral edge? Is there a way to work between the layers, to establish a permanent marker of change, to record the unfolding of time on an uncertain edge? Time moves quicker and shorter here, each day is a different coast. On the edge, change is felt at a more alarming rate. Here we bear witness to the ecological impact we have made; impacts which are felt slowly, suddenly, or all at once. Can architecture make us notice more? Notice the imprint of a seashell along the shore, and the fluttering of the saturated sand made by a sand flea hiding beneath the surface; to the detrimental effects of toxic runoff which tarnishes the shore with a nauseating green film, and the infrastructural damage inflicted by hurricanes and rising tides. We must notice more, to slow down time once again and decelerate our current path towards exponential degradation, to restore Mother Nature’s natural procession.

This project will collect and unearth objects and stories found along the fluid landscape while using the Florida Houses of Refuge as a generative part for testing markers on the coast. The Houses of Refuge were ten stations along the east coast of Florida constructed for the sole purpose of saving the lives of shipwrecked persons, yet they evolved into much more. This project uses the forgotten coast of Chester Shoal as a proving ground for ever-evolving iterations of stations that witness the transformations of an ephemeral landscape.

Instagram: @charlie.hailey, @marla.stephens

Conservatory of Theater: A Spot Light in the User by John M. Campis-Bobe, B. Arch ’24
Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico | Advisor: Pedro A. Rosario-Torres

The decline of performing arts in contemporary culture can be attributed to a lack of cultural identity. Historically, theater served as a platform for societal reflection and discussion of political and sociocultural issues. Today, this art form has lost its prominence in many countries, necessitating a revival to inspire a new generation. To address this, the project employs the concept of a perfect prism to contrast its surroundings, highlighting the performance space as a vital expression of cultural identity.

Located in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, near the urban train’s last station, the project identifies existing entities and highlights those proposed for improvement. By linking the urban core, it establishes a new theatrical district with an axis running from the town hall through Marti Street to the Theater Conservatory. The conservatory’s design incorporates six strategies from modern theater culture, seamlessly integrated into the urban context, emphasizing both external and internal engagement. Its purpose is to create a series of encounters between performances and spectators, inviting exploration and contemplation throughout the city. For example, urban niches carve fenestration within each façade, showcasing rehearsal rooms, foyers, and terraces to residents and visitors passing by. The black box theater is cantilevered from the building façade, marking the culmination of the theatrical district axis. Inside, there are adaptable spaces for various scenarios that aren’t restricted by a fixed arrangement. This expands on the versatility to reconfigure to the constant changes in our contemporary culture. To improve the user experience and accessibility, an elevated urban plaza is created, bridging the conservatory with the surrounding urban fabric and inviting community interaction. Due to the tropical climate, sustainable features include natural ventilation on all floors, permeable pavement, solar panels, and an underground cistern for water storage.

The final model reveals the axis that unifies the new theatrical district and an alternative route from the train station, designed to enhance pedestrian access. By integrating urban connectivity, cultural engagement, and sustainable design elements, the conservatory sets a new standard for functionality and environmental stewardship, marking a transformative icon for new cultural expression. 


Instagram: @johncampiss

Archi-eulogy: Negotiating Ruination in the Urban Void by Glory Nasr, B. Arch ’24
American University of Beirut | Advisor: Sinan Hassan

In a dense alleyway of a residential suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, lies a neighbourhood-sized construction site, halted at the excavation stage. Where once stood the Laziza Factory, the first brewery in the Levant that was demolished in 2017, remains a 20-meter-deep manufactured chasm, vestiges of the unfinished construction of a high-end, Starchitect-made residential project. The chasm resembles a tomb with no capstone, a tomb for the demolished brewery and the immaterialized lofts, but more importantly for the notion of architecture as a practice above the human realms of economic crisis. The result is an absurd condition caught between architecture, geology, and ruin. 

With this urban condition as the site of the project, Archi-eulogy stands as a manifesto 

critiquing the method with which we build, developing an architecture that is inherently one of nonarchitecture. Building on the image of the site as an urban tomb, Archi-Eulogy proposes the acceptance of death through a lowering of a literal and metaphorical capstone onto the construction site over a 100-year cycle, corresponding to the average lifespan of a building. The capstone houses an art gallery and archival space, preserving the memory of the original brewery. Each height above the street level corresponds to a year, creating a geological stratification of the building height. As the capstone descends 0.5 cm a week 

for a century, matter accumulates and decumulates in the pit. The pit houses a parking space on the upper two floors, while the bottom three floors are left as public space for the residents of the neighbourhood. Once the capstone closes and the excavation is remediated, the project enters its second phase, becoming a curated ruin-scape, allowing for informal uses of the public park. Finally, hundreds of years into the future, archaeologists descend into the pit through its towers, exhuming the archaeological body buried in the tomb. By literally and metaphorically closing the urban tomb, the project aims to remediate the violence the unfinished construction inflicted on the neighborhood. 

This project was the 2nd Prize Winner of the Areen Projects Award for Excellence in Architecture and won the Dean’s Award for Creative Achievement.

Instagram: @ard_aub

Stay tuned for Part XV!

2023 Study Architecture Student Showcase - Part XXVI

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In Part XXVI of the Study Architecture Student Showcase, the featured projects support and serve marginalized populations – from a thesis that presents a series of fictional architectural scenarios to critically question ableism in architecture to multigenerational housing for minority groups to promote cross-generational solidarity. Each project confronts a systemic issue by offering tangible architecture-based solutions.

Towards an Anti-Ableist Architecture by Matthew Schrage, B.Arch ‘23
Virginia Tech School of Architecture | Advisor: Andrew Gipe-Lazarou

This thesis is a manifesto for Anti-Ableist architecture.

Towards an Anti-Ableist Architecture is uninterested in supporting or ascribing to dominant modes of thinking on the topic of disability in architecture. It is uninterested in furthering the endless search for more practical “solutions,” more checklists, or more “easy” answers to further obscure a deeply rooted political and historical problem.

This thesis presents a broad critique of the topic of disability and ableism in architecture. It aims to break architecture from the tired ways of thinking that it sparsely ever questions. It calls on the discipline to critically question and reconsider why it must address disabled bodies in the peculiar ways it does.

Towards an Anti-Ableist Architecture seeks to properly understand the topic of disability and ableism in architecture as a centuries-long political and historical project. It aims to reveal the ways in which architecture has relentlessly dehumanized, erased, patronized, and shut out disabled people while denying our bodies, experiences, cultures, communities, and histories any contribution to architecture itself. It seeks to retire prejudicial ways of thinking that see us as merely a set of functional aberrances, whose bodies are to be paternalistically “granted access” by a unanimously nondisabled profession.

Towards an Anti-Ableist Architecture addresses a discipline that designs its buildings for the mythical norm and views our perspectives as exterior to architecture entirely. It critiques a discipline that universally assumes its subjects to be able-bodied and to unquestioningly possess the qualities of able-bodied people. It attacks architectural histories and theories that aestheticize the able-bodied person as architecture’s definitive human, as “universal,” “pure,” “harmonious,” and “standard.” It critiques a discipline that normalizes our discrimination and nonchalantly allows the production of inaccessible buildings with little to no alarm.

Following the established legacy of “paper architecture” as a tool of ideological critique, this thesis’s main design project, The Ultimatum, formulates a satirical narrative about disability and architecture in a sequence of ten “Acts.” Through a series of fictional architectural scenarios, The Ultimatum parodies the discipline of architecture, calling on it to properly confront its ongoing complicity in the oppression of disabled people and other marginalized groups.

This project received the Undergraduate Thesis Prize for Critique of the Architectural Discipline.

Instagram: @mschrage99 

A STOP WORTH WAITING FOR: designing a better DART bus shelter by Sumayyah Abdullah, Bamluck Abera, Victor Almaraz, Sandra Calzadillas, Marvin Diaz, Maryam Hashim Jacqueline Hernandez, David Hine, Vanessa Huerta, Vanesa Lopez, Diandra Osorio, Kennett Rivera Ayesha Shaikh, Berenice Velasquez, Richa Verma & Tasfia Zahin, B.Arch ‘23
University of Texas at Arlington | Advisor: Julia Lindgren

Public transportation networks impact how our cities function, enhance the quality of life for their residents and stimulate economic development. A good bus shelter is an essential part of any successful urban mass transit system. What constitutes “good,” however, depends upon your point of view. This design-build project proposes a future Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) bus shelter that re-imagines the design of existing infrastructure to optimize public benefit.

DART currently services 13 cities through 6,800 bus stops that accommodate over 20 million riders annually. Under its new bus network plan, DART calculates that 75% of people located in DART’s service area live within walking distance of a bus stop. This offers an opportunity to expand resources to areas that are currently underserved by public amenities, parks, and artistic expression. “A Stop Worth Waiting For” showcases the work of the University of Texas at Arlington’s architecture students who worked in collaboration with DART and AIA Dallas to design and build a prototype to explore what the metroplex’s next-generation bus shelter could be.

UTA’s College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs design-build program works to engage students with communities to tackle our most challenging urban issues. By coupling direct public engagement with design and making, the new bus shelter enhances rider experience, responds to environmental conditions, and expands neighborhood amenities. The prototype and complimentary exhibition were developed during the fall 2022 semester with input from DART bus riders, front-line workers, advisors, and leadership. The prototype was shared publicly on social media to solicit additional public design input that will inform its next iteration. This project was generously supported by DART and AIA Dallas.

This project received the ASLA Texas Student Honor Award

INNER CITY by Sierra Grant, M.Arch ‘23
University of North Carolina at Charlotte | Advisor: Thomas Forget

Inner City creates a connection between neighborhoods. Typically American suburbs are split by socioeconomic segregation and ethnic lines. The original inhabitants of the American suburb have suffered not only from white flight in the 1950s but also from urban revitalization that’s led to our current state of mass gentrification. People are divided and communities are disconnected. Inner City aims to stitch these gaps by creating a suburban green loop throughout the city with a new typology of alternative flex-housing that inserts the city’s nontraditional and underserved occupants into the suburbs while also implementing an intense interplay of public space into private living.

This project was recognized as “Exploration Excellence in Critical”

Instagram: @_sierragrant_

Housing for Youth by Sara Serrano, B.A. in Architecture ‘23
University of Illinois at Chicago | Advisor: Alexander Eisenschmidt

Little Village is one of the densest neighborhoods in Chicago. It has an estimated population of 73,826 people with 17,000 living per square mile. The population is mostly made up of minority groups who co-live with relatives in increasingly dense conditions. Therefore, the proposal envisions collective multigenerational housing that gives each generation an apartment but also encourages interaction between the younger and elderly generations. By organizing their units across from each other and implementing large entrance doors that can swing open to connect to the opposite unit, an interface is created that at least facilitates social exchange and, at best, cross-generational solidarity. Each individual unit is conceived as a single space with alcoves for secondary rooms to sleep, cook, and bath. When the doors to the secondary rooms are closed, a single open space appears while opening the swing doors from one side of the unit transforms the apartment into an enfilade.

Instagram: @Eisenschmidt_a

American Conditions by Pedro Aguero, M. Arch ‘23
University of Nebraska–Lincoln | Advisor: Zeb Lund

In this representation of an American Foursquare house, each side represents different realities that too often simultaneously occupy the same space. 

The contrast between these two conditions raises questions about the impact of short-term rentals on the price and quality of housing for low-income families. When short-term rentals exceed the profitability of long-term rentals, there is an incentive for landlords to book their properties as homestays, reducing the supply of long-term rentals in a city. Furthermore, as the available affordable long-term rentals wane, overcrowding and subpar housing become the only alternatives for the most vulnerable segments of the population.

50/50 Co-op by Yufei Wang, M.Arch. ‘23
University of Southern California | Advisor: Sascha Delz

In response to the escalating housing prices and the evolving demands for living arrangements, 50/50 COOP presents an innovative housing model that facilitates adaptable interior spaces. The limitations imposed by conventional houses on people’s space requirements are now a thing of the past. In here, SPACE breaks into SPACE ELEMENT. Each element represents an essential living experience of housing. By offering a dynamic marketplace, 50/50 COOP simplifies the process of acquiring these space elements, likening it to purchasing a pre-owned car. This unique marketplace for space elements not only enables individuals to reduce their cost of living but also grants them unparalleled flexibility in choosing their desired living arrangements. 

The 50/50 Cooperative will gradually grow from VENICE in Los Angeles to a project that spans the United States. It has four main stakeholder entities, community land trust, 50/50 COOP, members and space elements market, and the COOP keeps the organization running by taking in government funds, community donations, dues and rental stores. All 50/50 COOP facilities adhere to a unified standard that facilitates the seamless movement of space elements within the organization. 

This design philosophy aims to liberate individuals from being bound to a specific house. With the support of 50/50 COOP’s widespread facilities across the country, people can effortlessly relocate their living spaces. This mobility empowers individuals to embrace a more flexible lifestyle, where they are not confined to a fixed location but can freely and easily move their homes within the network of 50/50 COOP facilities.

This project received the USC Master of Architecture Distinction in Directed Design Research

Instagram: @yufei__w, @coop_urbanism

See you in the next installment of the Student Showcase!

Virginia Tech's FutureHAUS Explores Pre-fab Future of Housing

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(via Mobile Mag)

Getting builders to construct your own planned house on your property is like having a car maker come and assemble your car in your driveway. But according to Clive Vorster, visiting professor of architecture at Virginia Tech’s School of Architecture and Design, it makes more sense to build the components off-site then ship them, but he and the research team involved with the FutureHAUS want to do so without flimsy, lightweight materials. The team has been building separate modules for different areas of a house, and they brought the bedroom “cartridge” to the recent KBIS 2017 (Kitchen and Bath Industry Show) in Orlando, Florida. Each separate piece has a sort of piano hinge that allows it to fold up, and three cartridges can fit in or on an 18-wheeler. But the modules can’t just fit together in a structural sense because they need to be synchronized. You see, the goal is to eliminate all visible buttons that you normally see in homes.

When you walk from the kitchen to the bedroom, the light should follow you, thanks to occupancy sensors in the couch and around the room. That means you don’t need light switches. Power outlets are also missing. Instead, the table uses inductive charging to power up your phone. Most of the furniture pulls double duty. The panels on the wall aren’t just decorative; the Gorilla glass hides a transducer that generates sound, instead of installing traditional speakers. Lie down on the bed, and it will adjust to your comfort level, while the other side is suited to your spouse. A panel above the bed can work as a TV screen or light panel. The ambient lighting adjusts based on what you’re watching. Taking a cue from sci-fi films, a screen on the wall lets you select your outfit.

Read more on Mobile Mag’s website. And make sure to visit Virginia Tech’s page on StudyArchitecture!