Archinect - Features

Exploring Architecture’s Uncertain Nature With Schidlowski Fellow François Sabourin

2023-04-17T17:28:00-04:00

Academic fellowships provide unique opportunities for designers and researchers to explore specific topics of interest while teaching. Archinect's Fellow Fellows series showcases individuals who are currently in or have recently finished an architecture fellowship.

For our latest interview, we're featuring François Sabourin, the 2021–22 Schidlowski Emerging Faculty Fellow at Kent State University. Sabourin discusses his fellowship experience as he explored "architecture's relationship with uncertainty." Themes from the works of Georgios Eftaxiopoulos, Douglas Spencer, and Axel Kilian inspired Sabourin to develop "To be determined," an exhibition consisting of robotic walls that "interact in scripted yet unpredictable ways with visitors." As an emerging faculty fellow, Sabourin reflected on his pathway as an educator and how this fellowship helped expand his perspectives as an instructor.

Uncovering the Untold Histories of American Campus Expansions with Boghosian Fellow Leen Katrib

2023-04-10T12:31:00-04:00

Archinect's Fellow Fellows series showcases individuals who are currently in, or have recently finished, an architecture fellowship. During our conversations, we discuss their architectural journey, areas of research, and their overall experience as academic fellows.

For our latest interview, we connected with Leen Katrib, the 2021–22 Harry der Boghosian Fellow at Syracuse University School of Architecture. Katrib shares her fellowship experience, her passion for uncovering the forgotten histories and influence of marginalized communities in architecture, the studio she taught, and details about her fellowship exhibition titled LESS IS...

Exhibit Columbus’ University Design Research Fellows Showcase Proposals That Activate the 'Invisible Spaces' of Columbus, Indiana

2023-04-07T12:16:00-04:00

How do you activate invisible spaces, and what does it mean to design for the public? These were the themes that sparked important conversations at Exhibit Columbus’ 2023 Design Presentations organized by the Landmark Columbus Foundation. Each Exhibit Columbus cycle focuses on a new theme along with a hand-selected team of curatorial partners, community advisors, and participating designers. Selected designers are chosen by the curatorial team and are recognized as J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize winners, University Design Research Fellows, and High School Design Team winners. As media partners, Archinect visited the city of Columbus and listened in as architects, designers, artists, urban planners, and academic researchers pitched their design presentations to guests and the local community of Columbus.

During our coverage, we focused on seven projects presented by the 2023 University Design Research Fellows. Each year, the Foundation releases an open call to university profess...

Fellow Fellows: Zelig Fok Discusses Architecture, Photography, and Its Relationship To Manipulating Space

2022-11-16T15:21:00-05:00

Archinect's Fellow Fellows series connects with individuals who are currently in, or have recently finished, an architecture fellowship; discussing their architectural journey, areas of research, and their overall experience as academic fellows.

For our latest interview, we connected with Zelig Fok, the 2021–2022 Howard E. LeFevre '29 Emerging Practitioner Fellow at The Knowlton School of Architecture at Ohio State. We discuss his fellowship experience, his passion for photography, the studios he teaches, and work from his fellowship exhibition, titled Déjà View.

Exploring Methods of Resiliency in Society, Ecology, and Design with Kevin Mojica, Sam Fox Ambassadors Graduate Fellow at Washington University in St. Louis

2022-04-27T09:07:00-04:00

Continuing with our spotlight on architecture fellowships and the individuals behind the work and research, we present Part Two of our special (2020–2022) Sam Fox Ambassadors Graduate Fellow at Washington University in St. Louis features. Last week, we highlighted the work of fellow Nathan Stanfield. Here, we share our interview with Sam Fox Ambassadors Graduate Fellow Kevin Mojica about his research.

Mojica's path to studying architecture was influenced by his upbringing in Mexico and the architectural disparities he observed growing up in Southern Florida. During our in-depth interview, Mojica identifies the stark realities immigrant families face when it comes to housing and challenges in climate change. He discusses how his experiences influenced his design perspectives and focus on climate resiliency projects and design's impact through a social and cultural lens. "To understand my interest in design and architecture, I feel it is important to share my background as a first-ge...

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...

Architecture Gets Psychosocial, Socioracial & Sociospatial: A Conversation with Todd Brown, UT Austin's 2021–2023 Race and Gender in the Built Environment Fellow

2021-10-22T14:28:00-04:00

Fellowship opportunities provide design professionals with a bridge to explore and expand their research in an academic environment. Educational institutions have increased their fellowship opportunities for students, graduates, and emerging design professionals. Within these past few years, there has been a distinct push for more social justice, race, and gender-focused fellowships and their relationship to the built environment. Fellow Fellows is a series that focuses on the role fellowships play in architecture academia by connecting with the fellows themselves. For this iteration of Archinect's Fellow Fellows series, we connected with Todd Brown as he embarks on his new role as the University of Texas Austin's 2021–2023 Race and Gender in the Built Environment Fellow.

Brown dives into his eclectic academic background that combines a series of disciplines that are often seen as separate approaches intertwining later in practice. After receiving his Master of Public Health and la...

Fellow Fellows: Jennifer Meakins Interrogates Power Imbalances Within Architectural Pedagogy

2021-08-23T13:37:00-04:00

Fellowships can help spark critical career-changing moves for designers and academics looking to establish their research and design perspectives through teaching. However, besides the teaching experience, research exploration, and funding, what else can an architecture fellowship provide young professionals? In Jennifer Meakins' case, she received much support as the 2020—2021 Schidlowski Emerging Faculty Fellow at Kent State University College of Architecture and Environmental Design.

For this iteration of Archinect's Fellow Fellows series, we unpacked Meakins' research and studio she taught. While her research primarily focused on "architecture's role in upholding and furthering systems of inequity and injustice," we also dove into the current state of fellowships and how they impact the careers of design professionals. In addition, Meakins provided insight into why she pursued a fellowship versus a full-time position at a firm and her thoughts on fellowships as a vehicle or con...

Michael Jefferson Talks the Future of Fellowships and the Biases of AI Application in Architecture

2021-02-08T09:00:00-05:00

In our latest installment of Fellow Fellows, Archinect connects with Michael Jefferson, the 2019-2020 Innovation in Design Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Together we unpack his fellowship experience and his exhibition False Walls. "The fellowship was organized as a series of exercises that examined rules, standards, and conventions when interpreted and reconfigured by artificial intelligence." According to Jefferson, the project was "an exhibition of fake walls built with real materials. Tied up between the computational logics of artificial intelligence and the conventional tectonic arrangements of stud framing, the protocols of the machine were mapped on to traditional methods of construction."

The nature of fellowships and their exhibition outcomes will continue to adjust as the COVID pandemic continues. When discussing his thoughts on fellowships, Jefferson makes an intriguing point that renders some reflection. "The 2019-2020 fellows (across the US) may end up...

Benjamin Vanmuysen Explores the Opposing Extremes of the Design Spectrum

2021-01-04T13:12:00-05:00

In this latest installment of Fellow Fellows Archinect connects with Benjamin Vanmuysen, the 2019-2020 Harry der Boghosian Fellow at Syracuse University. Vanmuysen shared with Archinect the details of his work and his latest fellowship exhibition in October. He also discusses the rules and methods in which architecture is currently being taught and will be changing going forward. "The COVID-19 pandemic has really shaken up the academic world and brought traction behind some pressing social issues," shares Vanmuysen. "It’s crucial for institutions to teach students the social and political implications of our discipline."

Fellow Fellows is a series that focuses on the role fellowships play in architecture academia. 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 you...

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: Jonathan Rieke

2020-08-14T12:31:00-04:00

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. They also, by definition, represent temporary, open-ended, and ultimately precarious employment for aspiring young designers and academics. Fellow Fellows aims 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. Fellow Fellows is about bringing attention and inquiry to the otherwise maddening pace of academia, while also presenting a broad view of the exceptional and breakthrough work being done by people navigating the early parts of their careers.

This week, we Archinect connected with Jonathan Rieke, M.Arch graduate of Harvard GSD and the recipient of the 2018-2019 Schidlowski Emerging Faculty Fellow a...

A Conversation with Katie Swenson On Rebuilding Trust Through the Design of Safe and Healthy Spaces

2020-04-08T09:00:00-04:00

The question of the architect's role within the community has continued to grow and change in recent years thanks, in part, to the work of dedicated individuals like Katie Swenson. Her involvement and leadership within organizations like Enterprise Community Partners and MASS Design Group have enabled her to help redirect architecture’s creative and generative energies towards fulfilling social and community goals through projects that include the creation of affordable housing and healthful spaces.

Archinect was able to chat with Swenson and learn about her journey from comparative literature to architecture, housing, and community development. In addition, Swenson discusses what it means to be a community architect in the COVID-19 era and how two fellowship opportunities changed the course of her professional career.

"I went in with the question,” Swenson tells Archinect, “‘how can love and kindness be tools for community development?’ I came out appreciating the broader implicati...

Bridging the Gap Between Architecture and Healthcare with Dr. Andrew Ibrahim and the University of Michigan's Health and Design Fellowship

2020-04-02T10:00:00-04:00

Fellowships offer individuals the opportunity to dive into specialized areas of practice where topics and ideas can be explored and fostered within the context of the university setting. Like most architectural fellowships, many fellowships engage in work that oscillates between teaching, theory, pedagogical questioning, research, and design prototyping. However the University of Michigan offers a unique fellowship opportunity that submerses a fellow into medicine and healthcare design.

Through a partnership between the University of Michigan's Department of Surgery and the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, a Health and Design Fellowship works to encourage, as program director Andrew M. Ibrahim MD, MSc. explains, a "merging of networks [...] to create an opportunity for individuals to have a foot in both doors - architecture and healthcare." Architecture and planning haven't done a good job interfacing with healthcare and healthcare policy. However, alongside our t...

Fellow Fellows: Unearthing the Architectural History of Early Schools for the Deaf with Kelly Daviduke

2019-11-29T09:00:00-05:00

Fellow Fellows is a series that focuses on the increasingly important 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. They also, by definition, represent temporary, open-ended, and ultimately precarious employment for aspiring young designers and academics. Fellow Fellows aims 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. Fellow Fellows is about bringing attention and inquiry to the otherwise maddening pace of academia, while also presenting a broad view of the exceptional and breakthrough work being done by people navigating the early parts of their careers.

This week, we talk to Kelly Daviduke of the University of Washington, the recipient of the Society of Architectural Historians- and Ath...

Fellow Fellows: Ranitri Weerasuriya, the 2018 Goodman Fellow at GSAPP

2019-10-25T13:00:00-04:00

This week, we talk to Ranitri Weerasuriya, the 2018-2019 Percival and Naomi Goodman Fellow from Columbia University Graduate School of ...

Fellow Fellows: Brittany Utting

2019-08-12T14:11:00-04:00

This week, we talk to Brittany Utting, the 2017-2018 Willard A. Oberdick Fellow at the University of Michigan Taubman College of Archit...

Fellow Fellows: Destabilizing Context with James Leng

2019-07-18T12:05:00-04:00

Fellow Fellows is a series that focuses on the current eruption and trend of fellowships in academia today. These positions within the academic realm produce a fantastic blend of practice, research and design influence and traditionally within a tight time frame. Fellow Fellows sits down with these fellows and attempts to understand what these positions offer to both themselves and the discipline at large. Fellow Fellows is about bringing attention and inquiry to an otherwise maddening pace of refreshed academics while giving a broad view of the exceptional and breakthrough work being done in-between the newly minted graduate and the licensed associate.

This week we talk to James Leng, 2018-2019 Harry der Boghosian Fellowship at Syracuse University School of Architecture.

Discussions on Domestic Hydrology with Elizabeth Galvez

2019-05-29T12:57:00-04:00

This week we talk to Elizabeth Galvez who is was the 2018-19 Muschenheim Fellow at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College.

Fellow Fellows: De Peter Yi

2019-05-10T12:23:00-04:00

This week we talk to De Peter Yi who is currently the 2018-2019 Walter B. Sanders Fellow at University of Michigan's Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning.

Fellow Fellows: Viola Ago

2018-03-30T09:00:00-04:00

Fellow Fellows is a series that focuses on the current eruption of fellowships in academia today. Within this realm, these positions produce a fantastic blend of practice, research, and design influence, traditionally done within a tight time-frame. Fellow Fellows sits down with these fellows and attempts to understand what these positions offer to both the participants and the discipline at large. It is about bringing attention and inquiry to the otherwise maddening pace of revolving academics while giving a broad view of the breakthrough work being done by those who exist in-between the newly minted graduate and the licensed associate.

This week, we are talking to Viola Ago. Viola was the William Muschenheim Fellow during the 2016-2017 academic year at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning.

Fellow Fellows: Hans Tursack

2018-03-23T09:00:00-04:00

This week, we are talking to Hans Tursack. Hans was the Willard A. Oberdick Fellow at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning for the 2016-17 academic year.

Fellow Fellows : D-ESK

2018-02-23T09:00:00-05:00

This week, we are talking to D-ESK, the creative architectural practice led by David Eskenazi. David has completed both the Oberdick Fellowship at the University of Michigan and the LeFevre Fellowship at Ohio State.

Fellow Fellows: Outpost Office

2018-02-02T09:00:00-05:00

Fellow Fellows is a series that focuses on the current eruption of fellowships in academia today. Within this realm, these positions produce a fantastic blend of practice, research and design influence, traditionally within a tight time-frame. Fellow Fellows sits down with these fellows and attempts to understand what these positions offer to both themselves and the discipline at large. Fellow Fellows is about bringing attention and inquiry to the otherwise maddening pace of refreshed academics while giving a broad view of the breakthrough work being done by those who exist in-between the newly minted graduate and the licensed associate.

This week we are talking to Outpost Office. Outpost Office is lead by Ashley Bigham and Erik Herrmann. Both Ashley and Erik have both Walter B. Sanders Fellows at Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning at the University of Michigan. (Ashley in 2015-16 and Erik in 2016-17.)

Fellow Fellows: Zachary Tate Porter

2018-01-11T12:40:00-05:00

This week we talk to Zachary Tate Porter. He is a historian, educator, and designer based in Los Angeles. He uses objects, images, and texts to explore the shifting conceptions of ground that undergird architectural production. Zachary Tate Porter was the 2015-2016 Design of Theory Fellow at SCI-Arc.

Recent Wheelwright recipient Samuel Bravo discusses unearthing the architectural vernaculars of the Amazonian region and beyond

2017-07-14T11:45:00-04:00

The Harvard University Graduate School of Design awarded its coveted 2017 Wheelwright Prize to Chilean architect Samuel Bravo for his proposal Projectless: Architecture of Informal Settlements. His work focuses on the traditional architectures and informal settlements of communities in Chile, Peru, and the Amazonian region. Past projects include organizing community-led rebuilding efforts in earthquake-damaged Chile and designing/constructing a lodge, shamanic center and school for the Shipibo people in the Peruvian Amazon.

Branner Fellowship Summary: Drip | Dry : Systems that Seep

2011-02-11T13:25:57-05:00

The John K. Branner Traveling Fellowship, awarded each year to three masters of architecture students in their final year at the University of California, Berkeley, gives recipients the opportunity to travel the world for twelve months in pursuit of architectural inquiries that will later inform their theses. This fellowship represents one of the most extensive pre-thesis travel research grants awarded to master level students in the United States. The 2010 Branner Fellows, Adriana Navarro-Sertich, Eleanor Pries, and Melissa Smith have just returned from their travel and are in the midst of thesis production.

Branner Fellowship Summary: Aging Modernism

2011-02-09T13:00:20-05:00

Branner Fellowship Summary: Favela Chic

2011-02-07T14:00:08-05:00