Amy Nicole Swift is an architectural design-builder, writer, and artist living-working-advocating in the city of Detroit. In 2012, she formed Building Hugger to fill what she saw as a void in accessible renovation design and development services focused on marginalized vernacular structures. BH also serves as a platform for experimentation with and promotion of creative methods of material and building reuse.
Amy taught adaptive architectural design at the University of Detroit Mercy in 2012. She now teaches 20th Century Architecture and Integrated Design Studio labs focused on building tectonics, materials, and space at Lawrence Technological University.
She studied Architecture at Kent State University, holds a BS in Interior Architecture from Lawrence Technological University, and completed a MS in Historic Preservation from Columbia University in NYC.
She boasts 8 years of experience in architectural practice and has worked previously with firms in Chicago, New York, and San Francisco.
Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, MI, US, adjunct professor
20th Century Architecture (4 semesters)
Integrated Design 2 Lab (1 semester)
Integrated Design 3 Lab (1 semester)
Building Hugger L3C, Detroit, MI, US, Principal
University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, MI, US, adjunct professor
Vertical Design Studio, adaptive reuse (1 semester)
Perkins&Will, New York / Chicago / San Francisco, Designer II & Sustainability Leader
Dorothy Miner Thesis Research Travel Award, Scholarship
