Current Fellows

Imaging Underground: Illustrating Wastewater Challenges and Opportunities to Inform and Empower Alabama’s Black Belt Communities

“Imaging Underground” will produce a Wastewater Design Manual for stakeholders and municipalities in the Black Belt. It will include three components: a history of regional wastewater practices, an explanation of cluster system functions, and suggested tools to give communities control over design decision-making during the economic development driven by new wastewater systems.

Aurélie Frolet
Auburn University School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture

Emily McGlohn
Auburn University School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture

Jillian Maxcy-Brown
Auburn University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Soft-Urban Riverfront: A New Paradigm for Headwater Metropolises

Pig’s Eye Lake at the Mississippi River in St. Paul, a site of historical pollution with significant Indigenous heritage and ecological importance, will serve as a catalyst project of the “Soft-Urban Riverfront: A New Paradigm for Headwater Metropolises” studio. Through a cross-disciplinary and cross-scalar approach, the studio will work with ecologists, scientists, historians, policymakers, and community stakeholders to create design strategies that enhance biodiversity, public health, and cultural awareness.

Dingliang Yang
University of Minnesota The Schools of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Interior Design (ALI)

Jennifer Yoos
University of Minnesota The Schools of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Interior Design (ALI)

Maura Rockcastle
University of Minnesota The Schools of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Interior Design (ALI)

Ross Altheimer
University of Minnesota The Schools of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Interior Design (ALI)

Roger Cummings
University of Minnesota The Schools of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Interior Design (ALI)

Daniel Carlson
University of Minnesota The Schools of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Interior Design (ALI)

Changó Cummings
University of Minnesota The Schools of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Interior Design (ALI)

Coastal Register: Research and Design of Nature-based Solutions for Wetland Water Security

“Coastal Register” aims to lay the foundation for efforts to protect and restore coastal wetlands along the western seaboard in County Mayo. This project asks the research question: How can architectural methods and interdisciplinary collaboration support the implementation of nature-based solutions for water security?

Steve Larkin
Technological University Dublin School of Architecture Building and Environment

Helen McFadden
Technological University Dublin School of Architecture Building and Environment

Ferras Coulibaly

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute School of Architecture

Erin Kurtycz

University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning

Beni Lawson

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign School of Architecture

Salma Rodriguez

Texas Tech University Huckabee College of Architecture

Vertical Deconstruction, Housing Equity, and Humanistic Care

Based on urban vacancies and population density, Zhangxiang Dai will visit four cities in China and Japan in order to explore sustainable housing forms that conceptually challenge the status quo.

Zhangxiang Dai
Chang'an University School of Architecture

Re-Inhabit the “Invisible Room”

Wenxiao Xiang will travel to four European countries to study the concept of “invisible rooms” in collective housing—shared spaces that serve residents’ well-being by providing natural light, air, and views. Despite historical challenges in prioritizing these spaces over profit, this research proposes that “invisible rooms” balance resident welfare and economic interests, fostering healthier communities.

Wenxiao Xiang
Hunan University School of Architecture and Planning

Adapting Housing Strategies: Temporary Construction and Code Compliance

In this proposal, Xiangqing Zheng will explore how adapting housing strategies responds to new realities from the perspective of codes. When existing housing buildings that follow the old codes confront new realities and needs, how does the temporary construction of both bottom-up extension and top-down adaptation meet the requirements of the current codes? How do we find solutions under constraints and conflicts?

Xiangqing Zheng
The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Architecture

Exploring Innovative Housing: A Playbook for Optimism

Global trends are creating pressures to find housing solutions that meet a multidimensional array of criteria. This project aims to create a playbook for optimism: a survey of nineteen case studies to identify innovative solutions that create meaningful impacts on housing outcomes.

Elizabeth Claypool
Stanford University School of Engineering

Hospes: Housing Justice and Multispecies Cohabitation at the Wildland-Urban Interface

Hospes is a curatorial and artistic research project that investigates the frictions and affinities between environmental and housing justice organizations in Los Angeles, aiming to spark dialogue, collaboration, and exchange towards just and multispecies futures.

Maya Livio
American University School of Communication