Archinect - Features

AI, Complexity, and Ecological Futures: A Conversation with Alisa Andrasek

2023-12-12T08:00:00-05:00

For Alisa Andrasek, a career in architecture represents a point of convergence for her dual passions for art and science. For the past two decades, a respect for both the mathematic and emotional, the computational and the creative, has propelled Andrasek's enthralling investigations into an ecological vision of urbanism.

Describing cities as "the most complex constructs humanity has ever created," Andrasek sees artificial intelligence, computation, and mathematics as a vehicle for delivering urban and infrastructural environments that respect the planet while instilling a sense of "wonder and discovery" in both designers and citizens alike.

In July 2023, Archinect’s Niall Patrick Walsh spoke with Andrasek about her background, her work across academia and practice, as well as her reflections on the relationship between computation, data, and architecture. The discussion, edited slightly for clarity, is published below.

This article is part of the Archinect In-Depth: Artificial Int...

'Beauty Is a Measure of Ecological Intelligence'; A Conversation with ecoLogicStudio Founders Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto

2023-07-31T09:00:00-04:00

Against the backdrop of a frenzied AI discourse dominated by end-product tools such as ChatGPT and Midjourney, Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto articulate a refreshing call to adventure. The two ecoLogicStudio founders have built their professional and academic careers at the intersection of computation and biology, allowing them to articulate a vision of artificial intelligence that, in their words, "is more like a slime mold, a spider's web, a microalgae colony, or a mycelium network." Here, the computational and biological find common ground in their use of patterns as meta-language; a commonality that, when pushed, invites both human and non-human designers to shape the built environment as an organism itself rather than a static entity enlivened only by our own mechanics.

For Pasquero and Poletto, this is no theoretical exercise. ecoLogicStudio has already won wide acclaim for its real-world applications of ecological systems in the built environment while also articulating ...

Gehry Prize Winner Sophie Akoury Retells Histories of the LA River Through an Architectural and Archival Lens

2023-01-06T14:12:00-05:00

During SCI-Arc's 2022 M.Arch graduation, three students were awarded the Gehry Prize for the Best Graduate Thesis. In December, we highlighted prize winners Ian Wong and Sue Choi for their project, Earthly Passage. Continuing with our Thesis Review series, we connected with the third Gehry Prize winner, M.Arch graduate Sophie Akoury, to discuss her project, 51mi + 25km = 13ft.

Akoury shares her motivation behind exploring the city's infamous LA River and how its physical and historical existence parallels Lebanon's Beirut River. "Few places can be as contradicting as the Los Angeles River. Without it, LA would not exist (which sounds quite surprising since its existence is often neglected, and calling it a 'river' is sometimes questionable)," she explained. "When I moved to Downtown Los Angeles from Lebanon, I noticed the Los Angeles River's uncanny resemblance to the Beirut River. That intrigued me since the two cities are so different yet share almost the same urban entity as a pa...

The Revival of Human-Centered Architecture

2022-11-10T08:23:00-05:00

For too long, we have incessantly glorified freshly-poured concrete Romanesque columns and marveled over crumpled-paper-inspired museums. This isn’t real architecture. The real architecture that is worth observing, touching, feeling, admiring, studying, critiquing, and understanding is the one that lives in the unassuming shadows. The type made for ordinary people with ordinary lives; one that seeks not to occupy the cover of architectural digest, but to improve the lives of those who have been marginalized, under-designed-for or forgotten. Architecture where the artist fought for a little more sunlight, a little more fresh air—a little more space to plant a tiny tree that blossoms during gloomy, winter days, inspiring hope where it was seemingly lost. It is these artists and these battles that need our acknowledgement, our praise, and our motivation so that they may continue to design a better world.

‘I Seek To Create an Escape From Everyday Life’; A Conversation With Ma Yansong of MAD Architects

2022-10-15T07:16:00-04:00

Much has changed for Ma Yansong since Archinect last spoke to him in 2014. From their roots in Beijing, China, Yansong’s firm MAD Architects has expanded to offices in Los Angeles and Rome, employing over 160 people on major architectural commissions. In 2022 alone, our editorial has offered updates on the firm’s work across continents, be it the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, the Cloud Center in Aranya, China, or the commercial MoLo complex in Milan. Added to this list in October was the Quzhou Sports Park, whose newly-completed stadium marks the first step in what will become the world’s largest earth-sheltered complex.

Following news of the stadium’s completion, Archinect’s Niall Patrick Walsh spoke with Ma Yansong for an insight into the project, and how it represents MAD’s architectural philosophy. We also use the discussion to reflect on Yansong’s own journey through architecture, his role in MAD, and his thoughts on nature, cities, and history. The discussion, ...

Op-Ed: A Unique Moment for Landscape Architects

2022-09-21T13:38:00-04:00

I recently joined American Society of Landscape Architects President Eugenia Martin, FASLA, and hundreds of other global leaders in landscape architecture in Gwangju, South Korea, at the International Federation of Landscape Architects World Council Meeting. IFLA represents landscape architects worldwide, with 77 member associations globally, including ASLA in the United States.

The time together was a reaffirmation that the global community of landscape architects share goals to promote and diversify the profession, set high professional standards, and exchange knowledge and best practices across cultures and communities.

Investigating the Histories and Futures of Water-Based Crises with Nathan Stanfield, Sam Fox Ambassadors Fellow at Washington University in St. Louis

2022-04-15T17:43:00-04:00

While highlighting fellowships has been a regular editorial topic on Archinect, we developed a special series (starting in 2018) to understand what these positions offer for both the fellows themselves and the discipline at large by presenting their work and experiences through an in-depth interview. Archinect's Fellow Fellows series is about bringing attention and inquiry to academia's otherwise maddening pace while also offering a broad view of the exceptional and breakthrough work done by people navigating the early parts of their careers.

For this Fellow Fellows feature, we'll be connecting with participating fellows from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. In this special two-part feature, we speak with Nathan Stanfield, Sam Fox Ambassadors Fellow (2020–2022) and Divided City Graduate Fellow (2021). He is a graduate of Sam Fox School at Washington University in St. Louis where he received his B.S. in Architecture as well as an M.Ar...

Fostering Civic Engagement in Architecture School With Jeanine Centuori, Director of Woodbury’s ACE Center

2022-02-23T10:46:00-05:00

How can architecture schools better engage with the communities surrounding them? For faculty and students at Woodbury School of Architecture, the words civic engagement are more than just umbrella terms used as curriculum aides for student learning. Instead, they are pillars to facilitate ongoing discourse and action towards helping underserved communities in Southern California. Through architecture, design, non-profit work, and business initiatives, the school's Agency for Civic Engagement (ACE) program uses a multidisciplinary approach to designing for the public.

ACE stemmed from an idea led by a group of dedicated Woodbury faculty members. What began as a visionary project has become an essential public interest program. To learn more about ACE's history and the community-driven projects born out of the program, I spoke with its Director, Jeanine Centuori, FAIA. During our conversation, we also discussed public art and its relationship to architecture, the importance of exposi...

Investigating the Relationship Between Public Art and Public Space with LAA Office

2021-12-13T15:25:00-05:00

When public art is incorporated into a design space, how does it interact with its surrounding architecture and landscapes? For Lulu Loquidis and Daniel Luis Martinez, the importance of bridging the gap between public space, community-driven design, and the built environment is essential. The duo are co-principals of the multi-disciplinary design studio LAA Office based in Columbus, Indiana.

After living and working in New York City for several years, their move to the Midwest helped foster an eye-opening opportunity for creating positive design interventions. They explain: "Some of the biggest issues that need to be addressed relate to social, economic, and cultural inequities that privilege certain groups over others. Specifically, in our work, we're hoping to find ways of making art and design accessible to folks that can't normally afford it or who see themselves removed from the processes that shape the built environment around them."

To learn more about LAA Office's path to s...

Woodbury M.Arch Student Highlights Armenian Culture by Using Architecture as a 'Tool to Reconstitute, Protect and Expose' Its History

2021-08-30T13:57:00-04:00

Continuing with Archinect's ongoing Thesis Review series, connecting with recent graduates allows us to amplify student voices as they share their experiences and final thesis projects. For this iteration of Archinect's 2021 Thesis Review, we connected with M.Arch student Maneh Tahmasian. A recent graduate of Woodbury School of Architecture, Tahmasian's thesis project "Through Thick and Thin" propels architecture's cultural and historical implications by highlighting the importance of recognizing "the old" to inform "the new" in Armenia.

She explains, "'Through thick and thin' is looking at the spatial aspect of the dome as a historical and cultural element of Armenian architecture. It does not describe the dome as it is, or have been understood, but as it could be reconstituting the matter into something: more powerful." Together we discuss the architectural and cultural themes found in her thesis. She unpacks the importance of heritage and how it can be used to challenge architect...

‘What Is the Future of the Middle City?’ — Larger-Than-Life Exhibit Columbus Installations Activate the City of Columbus, Indiana

2021-08-25T14:37:00-04:00

On Saturday, August 21, the city of Columbus, Indiana welcomed thirteen larger-than-life installations displayed throughout the area as part of Exhibit Columbus' 2021 Exhibition. The program explores art, architecture, design, and community in Columbus. While the city itself has garnered a reputation for being the home of notable modernist architecture, landscapes, and art, this year's curators and exhibition team unpack the meaning of civic life by showcasing a series of design projects aiming to identify and question: "What is the future of the middle city?"

The theme, New Middles: From Main Street to Megalopolis, What is the Future of the Middle City?, raises an important question about cities located within the center of the U.S., their ties to the past, present, and future through site-specific and site-responsive installations. According to the Exhibition's curators, Iker Gil and Mimi Zeiger, the design programming this year asks to "re-evaluate, refresh, and reframe" the city...

Woodbury Graduate Addresses the Importance of Water Infrastructure for California Droughts in Their Thesis WATER INFRA-CULTURE

2021-08-04T17:42:00-04:00

The Summer of 2021 has proven to be another challenging season. However, during this time, architecture students have continued to persevere. By adjusting, exploring, prototyping, and expanding their architectural perspectives, students have used the events taking place in their daily lives to push and challenge the issues facing the industry today. To learn more about these students and the work produced, we continue with our ever-so-popular Archinect Thesis Review series.

We begin our Summer 2021 iteration by connecting with Woodbury School of Architecture B.Arch graduate Khun Hein where he discusses his thesis, WATER INFRA-CULTURE. "Droughts are a significant concern in the present and future, which is exacerbated by ongoing climate change," shares Hein. "Extracting underground water from aquifers in desert conditions is necessary for humans to adapt to the changes we are experiencing in our climate [...] My thesis raises ethical questions and challenges our assumptions about it...

Beyond the Street: ODA Proposes a Zoning Regulation To Expand the Public Space in New York

2021-07-24T09:00:00-04:00

ODA has released a new video advertising Beyond the Street, which promises to hack New York’s infamously rigid gridiron to unlock hidden courtyards New Yorkers never knew they were missing. The proposal, which has no official client, aims to create new privately owned public space by opening the interior of city blocks to pedestrians and street-level retail.

The speculative project by the New York-based firm is being promoted through a glossy animation depicting the potential change to Manhattan’s Flower District, where the architects keep an office space.

FireCity | FireLAnd: New Models of Resilience and Community with UCLA's Hitoshi Abe and Jeffrey Inaba's Research Studios

2021-07-22T13:48:00-04:00

What does building resiliency look like for urban landscapes? With the effects of climate change increasing, architects, urban planners, and landscape architects must work towards land use design strategies while having humans and nature coexist effectively.

The University of California, Los Angeles Department of Architecture and Urban Design's faculty and students continue to unpack challenges between land development and urban conditions. An institution that focuses on collaborative research between its students and faculty, it strives to create learning environments fueled by experimentation and discovery. To highlight these initiatives, Archinect connected with Associate Adjunct Professor Jeffrey Inaba and Professor Hitoshi Abe to discuss their collaborative research studios FireCity and FireLAnd. In addition, they explain common misconceptions students have when learning about urban regeneration, land use, and ways to approach design strategies for fire resilient urban infrastr...

Trashing the Community-Backed BIG U: East Side Coastal Resilience Moves Forward Despite Local Opposition. Will NYC Miss Another Opportunity to Lead on Climate and Environmental Justice?

2021-07-13T08:28:00-04:00

In late October 2012, Superstorm Sandy crashed into the East Coast. Causing more than $70 billion in damage, the storm ripped buildings from their foundations and flooded streets. In New York City, the hard concrete edge that separates Lower Manhattan from the East River was breached, filling the FDR expressway with brackish water and short-circuiting ConEdison’s 14th Street Substation, causing the much-circulated image of a near-total blackout in all points south. With the freeway flooded and the Lower East Side dark, this unprecedented damage came to represent the vulnerability of coastal infrastructure.

Meet the Architects Designing Software to Fight Climate Change

2021-06-14T13:57:00-04:00

The 21st century has seen rapid advances in technology, allowing an ever-increasing portion of the architectural and urban planning process to move into digital space. At the same time, our understanding of the climate crisis and momentum to address it have also gathered pace. Responding to both technological advances and climate awareness, architects and designers have begun to embrace software not just as users, but as creators. To explore this further, we speak with four architecture and design studios who are developing digital tools that respond to the climate crisis. From BIM software plug-ins and carbon calculators to interactive tools that generate location-specific environmental design strategies, these four teams are carving a potential future path for the profession; one with responsibility for the design of both digital and physical systems.

M.Arch Students From Washington University’s Sam Fox School Publish Studio Work Investigating International Housing From a Social, Cultural, and Environmental Framework

2021-05-10T09:00:00-04:00

The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis recently announced the publication of International Housing Studio: 2017-2019, which highlights the work of the 419 International Housing studio in the Master of Architecture program.

A core studio taken by all graduate architecture students, the 419 International Housing studio draws from the diverse expertise of Washington University faculty and visiting faculty, with project sites located in different parts of the world. The studio begins with a set of rotations, where students work for two weeks in one city with one instructor before moving to another city with a different instructor, with whom they develop their project for the remainder of the semester. Students explore how each city’s climate, history, and sociocultural particularities inform the making of collective housing.

To dive into the collection of student and faculty research, Archinect previews the publication that was published in Marc...

People Over Cars: What does it mean to pedestrianize a quarter of NYC streets?

2021-03-23T10:34:00-04:00

Over the past year, since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, urban life has been transformed. This seems especially true in New York where the pressure of the lockdown was released in a burst with last summer’s uprising against racialized police violence in May and June. With people anxious to spend more time outside, the city launched a series of programs including Open Restaurants and Open Streets. Intending to buoy the struggling foodservice industry and alleviate crowding in New York’s congested public spaces, with the stroke of the Mayor’s pen, restaurants could construct semi-enclosed structures—little cabanas—atop once-precious street parking, and city officials deployed temporary wooden barriers—essentially saw horses—at intersections to create new pedestrianized corridors. Overnight, New Yorkers could dine out in sheltered sidewalk cafes and stroll car-free lanes.

Get to Know the Presenters at Exhibit Columbus’ March 19th Design Presentations

2021-03-18T09:00:00-04:00

On March 19th and 26th, Exhibit Columbus invites the public to experience its annual exhibition in a new virtual format. A program led by the Landmark Columbus Foundation, this year's theme New Middles: From Main Street To Megalopolis, What Is The Future of The Middle City? allows visitors to "preview design concepts of thirteen site-specific, future-oriented public installations and experience the design process first-hand."

Taking place this Friday, March 19th, and next Friday, March 26th, the exhibition event is broken into four, two-hour sessions. Each featured designer will discuss their work and site installation during virtual sessions across the four themes Ecologies, Geographies, Visibilities, and Possibilities. As the official media sponsors for Exhibit Columbus' Design Presentations, Archinect explores each session to learn more about the designers and their work.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of Archinect's coverage of the event, where we dive into the two remaining sessions ta...

X-WORLDS: UCLA's 2020 IDEAS Summer Studio Transforms Their Summer Programming Into an Incubator for Remote Exploration

2020-11-15T12:59:00-05:00

Summer 2020 proved to be a season of tackling the unknown as the pandemic impacted architectural academia. With nearly all summer programs pivoting and transitioning to remote learning, popular summer programs aimed to find a way to motivate students during such challenging times with online experiences that allowed them to explore digital possibilities within architecture.

UCLA's IDEAS Summer studio shares with Archinect, "This year's IDEAS Summer Studio "X-WORLDS" marked the first entirely virtual introduction to the one-year Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design (M.S.AUD) program at UCLA Architecture and Urban Design. The six-week program provided an immersion into the intersecting worlds of each of the four M.S.AUD research studios: Entertainment, Mobility, Technology, and Urban Strategy."

Archinect connected with the team from UCLA's IDEAS Campus Summer Studio to learn about the program's goals and highlight the work of student participants created during their s...

Fellow Fellows: Galen Pardee

2020-10-27T13:17:00-04:00

In this latest installment of Fellow Fellows we connect with Galen Pardee, M.Arch graduate of Columbia University, where he received the Alpha Rho Chi Medal. Pardee chats with Archinect about his work and latest exhibition, "The Great Lakes Architectural Expedition." While academia transitions and shifts to better address and adhere towards fighting social and racial injustice with architecture, Pardee shares what he's learned in the process as 2019-2020 (now 2021) LeFevre Emerging Practitioner Fellow at The Ohio State University.

Fellow Fellows is a series that focuses on the role fellowships play in architecture academia today. These prestigious academic positions can bring forth a fantastic blend of practice, research, and pedagogical cross-pollination, often within a tight time frame. By definition, they also represent temporary, open-ended, and ultimately precarious employment for aspiring young designers and academics. Fellow Fellows aims to understand what these positions off...

Academia and Social Responsibility: A Closer Look at Tulane School of Architecture's Graduate Programs

2020-10-22T11:47:00-04:00

Located in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the heart of the Gulf Coast, is Tulane University's School of Architecture. Rooted within the institution is an academic environment that houses its architecture, preservation, and real estate development graduate programs. In this feature, we take a closer look at the school's mission, its goals for its students and faculty, and how it aims to foster an environment of socially responsible learning.

According to Director of Graduate Architecture Benjamin J. Smith, Ph.D., the school's graduate programs share a "commitment to design excellence and social responsibility. With studio, seminar, and lecture courses that bridge intellectual, technical, social, and physical areas, our graduate students examine architecture by understanding its discipline and its consequence. To impact culture in positive ways, our students use architecture to ask challenging questions and deliver meaningful responses."

To learn more about the school's graduate programs...

Architects take Climate Action! Archinect speaks to practitioners and educators taking on the challenge of adapting to the climate emergency

2020-10-12T10:53:00-04:00

The IPCC, backed by the UN Secretary-General, issued a warning in fall 2018 that there are just 12 years left to take action on the climate emergency before triggering a global environmental and economic crisis. ‘Architects Take Climate Action!’ Part I investigated how, catalyzed by inertia in the construction sector, architects have self-organized to call for change and launch targeted campaigns. Major industry bodies, including the AIA, have now confirmed their commitment to support urgent climate action and exponentially accelerate the decarbonization of the built environment. How can architects bring about the deep operational change required across the construction industry in the 10 years which remain?

In Part II, Archinect explores the work of practitioners and educators striving to embed climate principles into their practice and organizations. Matthew Barnett Howland and Dido Milne from CSK Architects, a UK Architects’ Declare signatory firm, explore the opportunities and c...

Woodbury Graduate Jesus Montes-Herrera Uses Interactive Layering and AI to Create a Tower Responsive to a Pandemic

2020-09-25T13:41:00-04:00

B.Arch graduate Jesus Montes-Herrera of Woodbury University explored the possibilities of designing a tower resilient enough to withstand a global pandemic at a structural and performative level. In his thesis, The Xenophilactic Tower, Herrera explains the structure "introduces the topic of interactive layering as a protective skin. Concentrating on the manipulation of a variety of scientific experiments as the technical processes for form-finding." The result, Herrera tells Archinect, is that "in the event of a worldwide pandemic the tower may become the genesis of civilization. The intent is "to find the relationship between Hypertrophy and entropic spaces" using techniques such 3D printing, layering, and casting.

Despite a turbulent year with many challenges facing students across the globe, Archinect connected with the recent grad to learn about his thesis project, job prospects, the misconceptions he had about the industry as it faced a global pandemic.

Archinect's Spotlight on...

UofT Daniels Graduate Mariam Malaty Architecturalizes Grottoes

2020-09-03T11:57:00-04:00

M.Arch graduate Mariam Malaty of the University of Toronto John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design used the figurative and literal forms of grottoes to explore formal concepts in pursuit of "fantastical design" possibilities. In her thesis, The Grotto of Illusive Forms, Malaty explains, "these propositions are an open exploration of form found within the spectrum of the 'familiar' and the 'unfamiliar.'” The result, Malaty tells Archinect, "is the creation of four grottoes, each the venue and the result of three acts of colonization."

Archinect connected with Malaty to learn about her thesis, the process for creating the "digital artifacts" that make up her project, and how she has applied the skills she learned in architecture school to her family's residential and hotel business.

Archinect's Spotlight on 2020 Thesis Projects: 2020 has been an extraordinarily challenging year for architecture graduates. Students were displaced as schools shut down, academic ...

B.Arch Graduate Jose Lacruz Vela Modernizes the Spanish Countryside

2020-08-24T13:40:00-04:00

IE School of Architecture and Design B.Arch graduate Jose Lacruz Vela designs a new, enriched landscape that focuses on dismantling the idea of "rural picturesque" views and focuses on creating interactive and performative architectural landscapes that respond to their inhabitants. Unearthing issues facing the rural countryside of Spain, specifically in the town of Docenario in Extremadura, Spain Lacruz, Lacruz Vela uses his thesis project Rural Alchemy to "transform the landscape into holistic artificial natures, from hyper-productivity to third natures."

Lacruz Vela shares, "The proposal aims to challenge depopulation, an issue affecting the Spanish countryside, by retaining and attracting talent through providing jobs of diverse educational levels, while generating a new local economic model." Archinect connected with the recent grad to dive into his thesis project and learn more about his experience entering the workforce after graduation. Lacruz Vela's project was awarded Best...

University of Melbourne Graduate Naveen John Thomas Pays Homage to Australia's Indigenous Communities

2020-08-18T13:18:00-04:00

Pulling focus towards the history of aboriginal cultures in Australia, University of Melbourne M.Arch graduate Naveen John Thomas used his thesis "MEMORIAL REPRESENTATION REMEMBRANCE" to highlight the importance of incorporating culture and history within architectural design and narrative.

Thomas shares, "the recent events around the killing of Mr. Floyd in the US and similar reports from Australia regarding the percentage of imprisoned among the First Nation population, only reiterates the importance of acknowledgement of the past, living with that acknowledgement and respect in the present and planning for the future [...] The aim should be to make the architecture communicate. It should communicate the stories, the history, and the purpose." Archinect connected with Thomas to discuss his thesis project and his observations with how the pandemic has influenced Australia and the architecture industry as a whole.

Archinect's Spotlight on 2020 Thesis Projects: 2020 has been an extra...

MIT M.Arch Graduate Angeline Jacques Designs a New Conceptual Framework for Glacier National Park

2020-08-13T12:40:00-04:00

Recent MIT M.Arch graduate Angeline Jacques focuses her thesis project, Mission 2066, on the state of National Parks, specifically Glacier National Park in Montana, and how our perceptions and interventions within these parks might change for the future.

According to Jacques, her thesis seeks to, "adapt and deploy a series of interventions that augment and artificialize melting glaciers. These interventions not only assist in easing the speed of change to ecologies and economies reliant on the glaciers but also provide new inhabitations of the park." Archinect connected with Jacques to discuss her thesis project as well as her experiences entering the workforce during a pandemic. As one of the lucky students able to secure a job post-graduation, she shares with us her experiences as a young designer learning how to start her professional career remotely.

Archinect's Spotlight on 2020 Thesis Projects: 2020 has been an extraordinarily challenging year for architecture graduates. Stud...

CCNY Spitzer School of Architecture Graduate Martin Zanolli Channels Wind as a Medium to Create New Urban Park Typologies

2020-07-31T10:49:00-04:00

Recent CCNY Spitzer School of Architecture graduate Martin Zanolli explores new ways of creating urban parks to respond to their environments through his thesis, Re-conditioning the Urban. According to Zanolli, "Urban environments often dissociate us from the pleasures of the elements [...] By momentarily defamiliarizing urban dwellers from their routines, my project produces a new kind of urban park – encouraging escape and a reconsideration of the human position within the urban ecosystem.

Archinect connects with Zanolli as he shares his experience as an undergraduate student who has completed his final year during such a challenging time. He also shares his experiences during the transition to remote learning in addition to his thoughts on the industry and the value of thesis work.

Archinect's Spotlight on 2020 Thesis Projects: 2020 has been an extraordinarily challenging year for architecture graduates. Students were displaced as schools shut down, academic communities had to ad...

Architectural Memory and Film with UCLA's Alekya Malladi, Gesthimani Roumpani, and Yanrong Yang

2020-07-29T13:11:00-04:00

Architecture and it's ability to frame visual narratives has impacted film and entertainment for decades. With the evolution of design techniques and software, a new form of digital storytelling can aide how architecture is used to test design process and pedagogy. University of California Los Angeles Architecture and Urban Design M.Arch students Alekya Malladi, Gesthimani Roumpani, Yanrong Yang use film to dissect architecture and AI in their project, Incognito.

Advised by UCLA's IDEAS Entertainment Studio advisors Natasha Sandmeier and Nathan Su, the group explains how their film "serves as an exposé on memory, spatial reconstruction, and the role of contemporary media in delivering fact and fiction." Archinect connected with the trio as they share their perspectives on working through the pandemic and what their future holds as they enter professional practice. "Our interactions with professionals in the architecture industry have shown us that establishing a clear identity and i...