Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning University of Michigan
One of the qualities I cherish most about Taubman College is the partnership between students and faculty in a mutual commitment to excellence. Faculty challenge our students to develop new capacities — and students, in turn, challenge us by asking fresh questions, advocating for new standards, and imagining unforeseen worlds. That spirit of inquiry suffuses work throughout the curriculum, but it comes through with special clarity in the capstone presentations, thesis reviews, awards ceremonies, and studio exhibitions that culminate our degrees.
This year, we commemorated the 25th anniversary of Al Taubman’s transformative naming gift to the college. Mr. Taubman’s endowment has been instrumental in revolutionizing the college, enabling it to evolve over time and fostering a global perspective among students. And as it grows, the endowment supports students who will apply what they learn at Michigan to the work of building better futures.
You can get a sense of how our students are imagining those futures in the showcase that follows within these pages and continues online. You’ll find formal and material studies, design-build proposals, furniture pieces and building component prototypes. Civic institutions, workplaces, and housing. Intimate vignettes juxtaposed with territorial panoramas. Visionary and speculative propositions next to highly developed building sections. Projects developed through teamwork and partnership as well as those that come from a singular imagination.
Our students are engaging with communities locally and around the world. Working with faculty in our first-of-itskind Urban Technology degree, undergraduates partnered with the State of Michigan’s new Chief Growth Officer on an initiative to increase the state’s population by attracting
and retaining residents. Through an endowed internship program, two architecture students studied and helped to design public-interest architecture in Rwanda. And students in the Transformative Food Systems Fellowship are working with faculty across disciplines to address food inequality in Michigan and abroad.
At Taubman College, we take pride in offering students a unique breadth of opportunities for intellectual development and learning. We are equally proud of all that our students do to expand our horizons via student organizations, co-curricular programming, political advocacy, and initiatives such as the Radical Planning Speaker Series and the annual MLK Symposium — or the inaugural edition of the Taubman Architecture Ball.
A quarter-century after Al Taubman changed the course of our college through his transformative gift, the college is a testing ground for interdisciplinary viewpoints and innovative thinking. I was inspired at our commencement ceremonies by the knowledge that Taubman College graduates will fulfill the university’s mission to “challenge the present and enrich the future.”
Jonathan Massey, Dean Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning University of Michigan
20 Cultural Immersion, Catalyst for Growth Longo International Architecture Interns Natalie DeLiso, M.Arch ’24, and Michael Thut, M.Arch ’24, share thoughts on their transformative experience with MASS Design Group in Kigali, Rwanda
22 What Are You Thinking About?
Through captivating designs and plans, undergraduate and graduate students in architecture,
Roy Khoury, M.Arch ’25; Jenna Li, B.S. Urban Tech ’25; Vaidehi Shah, M.U.R.P. ’24; J.P. Silva, B.S. Arch ’24
28 Scanning Sites with Remote Sensing Technology
Taubman College faculty are bringing transformative technology to U-M through an innovative academic-industry partnership
30 Hungry for Change
Associate Professor Lesli Hoey takes on global food inequality through multidisciplinary alliances, bold environmental research, and transformative student initiatives
32 A Kaleidoscopic Career
Architect and educator Kelly D. Powell, B.S. Arch ’95, has traveled worldwide, but her roots remain firmly planted at Taubman College
34 Placemaking and Bridging Communities For Michael Guthrie, M.Arch ’98, public projects can impact culture and uplift the human spirit
36 Community Conversation
Katie Johnson, B.S. Arch ’03, M.B.A. ’10, and Keiaron Randle, M.U.R.P. ’24, discuss the interdisciplinary approach to equitable, sustainable development
CLASS NOTES / 39
IN MEMORIAM / 43
CLOSING / 44
Students hosted the first Taubman Architecture Ball, titled “Frameworks,” a night to celebrate collaborative creation throughout the college and all the students, faculty, and staff who make it possible. The ball featured student-built installations, interactive displays, live student DJs, games, dancing, and more.
Jeffrey Nesbit and Charles Waldheim presented insights from their recent book Technical Lands: A Critical Primer as part of the Architecture Program’s Winter 2024 Series, “Building Culture.” Through the effort of various studios, student initiatives, and faculty inquiries, the series highlighted the vital role of the collective imagination of design in developing a rich and diverse architectural culture at the college.
Students gathered in the Commons to write notes of appreciation to Taubman donors during the annual Hail Yeah event, part of U-M’s “Maize Days.”
The 2024 Taubman College Winter Career Fair was a bustling event held in person and virtually over two days. 95 employers, including 12 new participants, networked and met one-on-one with students to share information about employment opportunities.
Urban designer, artist, and MacArthur Fellow Emmanuel Pratt presented the annual Kelbaugh Lecture as part of Taubman College’s 2023-2024 Public Programming Series. Pratt shared thoughts on how cities utilize public resources, labor, land, and materials to address challenges and plan for the future of the built environment.
Taubman community members gathered for the 2024 student-led MLK Symposium, “Beyond Performative — Dismantling Evasive Institutions.”
The annual event included a distinguished panel of faculty, alumni, and students discussing how we can move beyond theoretical discussions to generate a more substantial impact, addressing the challenges faced by people of color (POC) communities across various domains, especially within academia.
The Prototype Grant, or Protogrant, aims to spotlight and support the exciting work in the emerging field of urban technology. This year’s recipients, David Pitt, Alexandria BradyMiné, and Ghislain Irakoze, explored EV battery maintenance, water quality monitoring, and environmental impact assessments following the competition theme, “Green Seeds.”
Five Taubman College alumni have been elevated to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) College of Fellows in 2024. The highest membership of the AIA honors architects for their exceptional work and contributions to architecture and society. Taubman College alums among the 2024 honorees include (from left) Drew Deering, M.U.D. ’06; Michael Guthrie, M.Arch ’98; Anderson Lee, B.S. Arch ’93; Catherine Seavitt Nordenson, B.S. Arch ’91; and Edward Steinfeld, M.Arch ’69, D.Arch ’72.
Designed by Laura Peterson, lecturer in architecture and co-founder of 1+1+ Architects, and assembled at Taubman College for the only undergraduate urban technology program in the country, the new Urban Technology Studio serves both as classroom space and a home base for students to study, work on projects, and connect with peers. The flexible, light-filled space at the far end of the third-floor East Studio includes movable tables, chairs, and rolling boards to maximize collaboration on projects, both physical and digital.
U-M faculty and staff convened at the Commons for a second workshop centered around the Low Carbon Building R+D Initiative. Participants in this multidisciplinary initiative collaborated to identify specific research areas to prioritize based on research capacity and funding landscape, take stock of current research strengths at U-M to identify gaps that need to be addressed, and identify potential external industry partners and stakeholders to engage.
What materials and methods will allow us to design and construct low carbon buildings? How can architects and designers promote social justice through community ownership of land? Through its Pressing Matters grant program, Taubman College has funded five faculty-led research and creative practice projects that address these questions.
“Backed by the breadth and depth of resources at the college and one of the nation’s top public research universities, our faculty and students are testing ways to limit anthropogenic climate change, promote human resilience in confronting it, and promote just outcomes and equitable flourishing in the built environment,” says Jonathan Massey, dean of Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning.
Cheers to the Class of 2024! Graduating students enjoyed a special evening of food and friends to mark their transition from Taubman College students to new members of our alumni community.
Innovative ways of working, making, and representing architecture were showcased at the Liberty Research Annex for the annual Architecture Student Research Grant exhibition opening. Student-led projects focused on digital technologies, gendered workplaces, and “maker space” materials.
From the secreting labor of silkworms to the migratory lives of a public housing development in Rome, from the fantasies of the perfect home to the silvery handholds of commercial building space, Fellows Strat Coffman, Salam Rida, Anna Mascorella, and Alina Nazmeeva presented a gathering
the
Touch Points.
Rachel Hrobon, M.Arch ’18, has received Taubman College’s 2024 George G. Booth Traveling Fellowship, which provides a stipend to a recent alum pursuing architectural research requiring international travel. Hrobon’s proposal, “Rethinking the City: Understanding the Relationship between Urban Planning and Human Wellbeing,” involves travel to Barcelona, Paris, Copenhagen, and Stockholm. She says the rapid development of cities and the effects of climate change have caused many nations to rethink strategies for building successful urban environments. She plans to document what it means to have a “green city” through a European lens by mapping urban conditions, drawing sectional relationships through cityscapes, photographing examples, and writing an analysis of each city.
“These regions have all taken dramatic steps to implement innovative sustainable strategies to combat climate change and improve quality of life,” says Hrobon. “Experiencing each of these cities firsthand will allow for a better understanding of the successes of their sustainable practices in everyday life as well as how these concepts can be translated into effective strategies in the United States.”
The North Campus Deans’ MLK Spirit Awards are given to students, student organizations, staff, and faculty on North Campus who exemplify Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through their commitment to social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Learning and Scholarship Award recipients include Lecturer Chanel Beebe and also the Radical Planning Initiative — Professor Larissa Larsen, Sukhmony Brar, M.U.R.P. ’25; Catherine Diggs, M.U.R.P. ’24; Anna Lou Lively, M.U.R.P. ’25; Vaidehi Shah, M.U.R.P. ’24; Griffin Sproul, M.U.R.P. ’24; Brooke Troxmondo, M.U.R.P. ’24; and Yutong Zhao, M.Arch ’24 Community Building & Impact Award recipients include Diana Anda, M.U.D. ’23, and jøn kent, M.U.R.P. ’25. Christopher Dewitt, B.S. Arch ’25, received a Mentoring and Inspiration Award.
Taubman College students Jamie Brackman, M.U.R.P./M.S. M.P.P. ’25, jøn kent, M.U.R.P ’25, Chen Lyu, M.U.R.P. ’25, Lauren Jenkins, M.Arch/M.U.R.P. ’24, and Jessie Williams, M.U.R.P./J.D. ’26, were among those named 2024 Dow Sustainability Fellows. The fellowship cultivates the next generation of sustainability leaders. The students are working with Habitat for Humanity, The Nature Conservancy, Amcor, Elevate, Friends of the Shiawassee River, and the Western Lake Erie Basin Partners.
AS WE CONCLUDE OUR 25TH YEAR AS TAUBMAN COLLEGE, we celebrate the dynamic work of our students. The following pages celebrate the work of Taubman College students in studios and capstones in the Bachelor of Science in Architecture, Bachelor of Science in Urban Technology, Master of Architecture, Master of Urban Design, Master of Science in Architecture –Digital and Material Technologies, and Master of Urban and Regional Planning.
Through their captivating designs and plans, students explored the innovative use and reuse of natural materials and addressed critical societal issues such as sustainability and social justice in the built environment. →
Learn more about the design virtuosity of Taubman students
Learn more about the design virtuosity of Taubman students
Ilkyaz Sarimehmetoglu / Arch 703 (M.S. Virtual Engagement)
Caroline Stahl / Arch 672 (Propositions)
Cameron Blakely and Tao Chou / UD 712 (M.U.D. Studio I)
Yancong E, Yufei Tang, and Jingwen Zhang / Arch 672 (Propositions)
Learn more about the design virtuosity of Taubman students
Learn more about the design virtuosity of
2024 STUDENT SHOW
Undergraduate (UG)
Erin Kurtycz / Arch 312 (UG1)
Isa Cirulis, “Dumping and Decomposition Grounds” / Arch 322 (UG2)
Man Wah Leung, “Bio Machine” / Arch 432 (UG3)
Graduate: Form, Situation, and Institutions
Chun “Sheila” Wang, “Strike House” / Arch 412 (Form)
Orli Schwartz, “Aggregate Aggregated” / Arch 422 (Situation)
Martin Rodriguez Jr., “Turn into Candy!” / Arch 552 (Institutions)
Graduate: Collectives, Propositions, and Thesis
Deanna Baris, Hannah Dorian, and Sophie Pacelko, “Farm // Form // Frame” / Arch 562 (Collectives)
Caroline Stahl, “Fiber-Form”/ Arch 672 (Propositions)
Katie Shipman, “Found in Translation” / 2023 Thesis
Master of Urban Design
Cameron Blakely and Tao Chou, “Draining the Suburbs” / UD 712
Master of Science in Architecture, Digital and Material Technologies
Jake Brown, Ali Fahmy, Abdallah Kamhawi, Raha Sadat Kamravafar, “Manta” / Arch 739 (M.S. Capstone)
FEATURED CAPSTONE PROJECT
Outstanding Graduate Student Project Award, 2023 Planning Excellence Awards, Michigan Association of Planning
“Preserving Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing in Detroit: A Case Study of Oakman Boulevard Community along the Joe Louis Greenway”
Maya Baker, Melika Belhaj, Anthony Bui, Christian Carroll, David Elam, Alexis Farrell, Maria Garcia Reyna, Tianhong Ge, Nick Hill, Michelle Marin, and Yifei Sun
FACULTY: Lan Deng, Ph.D. student Rand Makarem
This capstone project addressed one of the most critical planning challenges the United States faces today: the preservation of naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH). Working with the City of Detroit Housing and Revitalization Department, the student-led team
2024 WALLENBERG STUDIO
Emmalyn Kukura and Mason Magemeneas, “Post Office”
2024 THESIS
Qilmeg Doudatcz, “Yertönts, the Vertical World”
Learn more about the design virtuosity of Taubman students
examined NOAH preservation issues in the Oakman Boulevard Community neighborhood located along the city’s proposed Joe Louis Greenway (JLG).
“In our data analysis process, we focused on creating a replicable model, so that NOAH properties could both be
identified as well as preserved in neighborhoods beyond Oakman,” says Melika Belhaj, M.U.R.P. ’23. “Our goal was always focused on the people — the data gives us information about what is happening at the parcel and census tract level, with respect to condition and market trends, but behind the data are real people living in real properties, and we wanted to envision a research process that could center their staying power.”
Community engagement activities identified the specific challenges in operating and managing NOAH properties in the area. Case studies of NOAH preservation practices in other cities have revealed gaps in local preservation policies. The project then developed five recommendations to help preserve NOAH properties in the neighborhood.
“The findings helped us better understand the unique challenges facing the area, and their recommendations have informed and added nuance to potential strategies that could be used for preservation in the impact area of the greenway,” says Rebecca Labov, director of preservation, City of Detroit Housing and Revitalization Department. “As a result of their work, we will be able to develop more informed and effective approaches, and we expect to be able to engage with stakeholders in more meaningful ways to move the work forward.”
FEATURED CAPSTONE PROJECT
“Fostering Racial Equity in Access to Green Spaces in Southeast Michigan”
Kira Barsten, Kathryn Economou, Dana Gentry, Srishti Jaipuria, Gurleen Kaur, Caroline Lamb, Xianwei Lei, Annie Linden, Manvi Nigam, Anna Pasek, Kimberly Swinehart, and Yuan Wu
FACULTY: Robert Goodspeed, graduate student instructor Shubhayan Ukil
Southeast Michigan has experienced social, racial, and economic inequalities for decades. Exclusionary policies and individual discrimination together have produced patterns of racial segregation that pose challenges to economic, physical, and social mobility today. Among these challenges are stark disparities in equitable access to green spaces. To guide their capstone project, the students created and utilized five core principles of green space equity that were developed from leading theories: 1) Acknowledge and confront systemic oppression; 2) Discard universal approaches to localized issues; 3) Recenter community in process design and decision-making; 4) Build community power and capacity; and 5) Commit to sustained green space equity.
“Our research on green space accessibility uncovers a harsh reality: while there are many green spaces in the region, they are not equitably distributed geographically, making them inaccessible to many residents in the region,” says Srishti Jaipuria, M.U.R.P. ’23. “Our analysis found that green space is less common in areas with higher percentages of marginalized populations. Our focus was to improve social and transportation accessibility to rectify a history of uneven community investments in quality and accessible green spaces.”
Students conducted interviews with various stakeholders and supplementary research, resulting in a shared problem statement that identified three major dimensions to accessibility: (1) social accessibility, (2) green space availability and transportation accessibility, and (3) embedding equity in the planning process. Their report contains key strategies for how the region can pursue greater equity in green space.
“These barriers are more acutely felt in our urban centers and so we must take an inclusive approach to increase access not only in terms of the number of green, natural spaces, but also in terms of a better transit system that would allow individuals to actually access these areas,” says Ross Gavin, director of urban land use, infrastructure, and transportation for the Michigan Environmental Council. “These spaces provide overwhelming benefits, from the improved mental and physical health of individuals to better stormwater management practices for municipalities, and these must be a priority for local governments as well as the state.”
Taubman College students partner with the State of Michigan’s Chief Growth Office on an initiative to grow Michigan’s innovation economy
THE STATE OF MICHIGAN’S new Chief Growth Officer, Hilary Doe, B.A. ’08, M.P.P. ’09, was looking for fresh ideas about how to grow Michigan’s innovation economy by attracting and retaining lifelong residents.
Undergraduate students in Taubman College’s new Urban Technology program were eager to get hands-on experience working with a real-world client.
In 2024, Doe and the students came together to form a unique partnership that yielded big benefits for everyone.
During the winter semester, 18 Urban Tech juniors in the Service Design and Urban Needs studio course developed technology-driven urban services aimed at attracting and acclimating, aka “onboarding,” young people to Michigan. It was the inaugural year of the studio course.
The students met periodically with Doe to update her on their research, analytics, ideation, and prototypes for three different projects designed to help newcomers feel welcome and put down roots.
“As part of our state’s growth effort, we’re appealing to 18- to 34-year-olds, including recent graduates, young professionals, and growing families to make sure they can see their futures here in Michigan,” Doe says.
Michigan faces declining school enrollments, eroding tax bases, and employers needing talent, all of which are byproducts of slow population growth. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appointed Doe last year as the nation’s first-ever chief growth officer and tasked her with creating a statewide effort to tackle population stagnation.
Collaborating with Urban Tech students on the design of onboarding projects enabled Doe and her team to tap into new thinking about the application of digital technology to policy problems and urban planning challenges.
“The students brought a fresh, cross-functional perspective that we need to consider and represent in our solutions for appealing to young people who will grow our state,” she remarks. “Their insights into issues such as the need for a well-connected public transit system will help us home in on the challenges we must address.”
Bryan Boyer, director of the Urban Technology program, says the college’s partnership with the state has created valuable synergy around important urban needs.
“This collaboration demonstrates we can use the academic setting to think about pressing issues here in our own backyard,” explains Boyer, assistant professor of practice in architecture.
“And it shows we can join the conversation about how to collectively improve outcomes for Michiganders by bringing the design perspective to challenges of user experience within local cities and communities.” On a practical level, the studio course provided third-year students with realworld tools and experience in all stages of developing a service delivery project for an actual client.
“We carefully structured every phase of the class, from the research to the practicum, to give students hands-on skills they will be able to use in future jobs when they start their careers,” says studio instructor Ron Bronson. “This has been a unique experiential opportunity for them.”
Devin Vowels, B.S. Urban Tech ’25, says gaining realworld career experience in a class format enabled her to create and problem-solve without workplace pressures. She also strengthened her intuition as a designer and built greater confidence.
“I have learned how much I enjoy concept building, strategic thinking, and prototype design,” Vowels remarks. “I’ve also learned how to tell the stories of the people we’re designing for, as well as the story of our project and how
[Opposite page, from left] Student projects WorldWide MI and Fourth Spaces aim at making Michigan more attractive to young people. [Above] The MittenCorps student team presents its findings.
it fits into people’s lives. Getting others to see and believe your vision is truly an art form that I’ve been cultivating because of this project.”
Vowels’ team project, WorldWide MI, is a digital platform/service that addresses the needs of newcomers who are trying to reconnect with their communities and find a sense of belonging. The onboarding project facilitates the sharing of culturally relevant experiences that can lead to genuine connections and meaningful engagement with other community members.
Two other student projects have taken a different approach to onboarding. Fourth Spaces is a digital platform that connects independent shop owners and entrepreneurs through pop-up events designed to stimulate community engagement. MittenCorps is a talent-retention project that helps recent university and community college graduates find job opportunities around the state.
At the end of the studio course, all three project teams made a formal presentation at Newlab Detroit to Doe and her team, who will decide the next steps.
“This has been an incredible partnership,” Doe says. “From the beginning, our ideal scenario was to find some elements of the onboarding ideas presented by the students that we can take forward, scale up, and pilot in our communities to help us pursue growth and attract people to our state.” — Claudia Capos
The partnership with MASS Design Group, a nonprofit firm based in Boston and Kigali, provides students with practical training at the forefront of public-interest architecture. Students are exposed to cultures, landscapes, socio-political considerations, environmental concerns, and other challenges that might differ from what they experience at home. These backgrounds are becoming increasingly critical with the growing international nature of architectural practice.
The program is made possible through a generous gift that created an endowed fund at Taubman College: the Longo International Architecture Internship Fund. A significant bequest has strengthened the fund, allowing more students to benefit from this gift in the future. Each year, two interns are selected through a competitive application process.
The internship with MASS Design Group in Rwanda in the summer of 2023 was a transformative experience for Natalie DeLiso, M.Arch ’24, and Michael Thut, M.Arch ’24, providing invaluable exposure to the practice outside of a U.S. context. For DeLiso, the internship provided avenues to converge her passions for design, health, and cultural exchange. Her collaborations on healthcare projects reinforced her conviction in the role of architecture as a means of achieving health equity for both communities and individuals, encouraging her to explore architectural paths in mission-driven contexts. In engaging with local artisans, she discovered the importance of handmade crafts within Rwandan culture, especially as a tool for empowering women through financial independence and community building.
For Thut, the internship in Rwanda was a memorable experience that went beyond the office. Immersed in Rwandan culture, he gained empathy and understanding by attending traditional weddings, exploring Rwandan cuisine, and engaging in conversations with locals.
At MASS Design Group, Thut collaborated with talented leaders, strengthening his skills and approaches to earlyeducation projects. His involvement in the schematic design phase of a kindergarten school showcased his creativity and problem-solving abilities with architecture program and structural engineering logics. Overall, the internship broadened his architectural knowledge and cultural horizons, shaping him both personally and professionally.
Both DeLiso and Thut had the opportunity to engage with built work firsthand: gaining insights into the challenges, successes, and life of projects post-construction. They appreciated the interdisciplinary nature of MASS Design Group, which facilitated meaningful collaborations and discussions and exemplified unique approaches to the discipline. Ultimately, the internship served as a catalyst for their growth, instilling in them a deeper understanding of global issues, the value of cultural exchange, and the transformative power of architecture in improving lives.
1. Natalie DeLiso climbs a hill in Kigali. 2. A visit with a lead designer of the African Leadership University in 2020. 3. A traditional Rwandan meal.
4. Eric, a local tour guide, explains the process of growing and harvesting coffee beans. 5. DeLiso and a friend at an eco-lodge in Uganda. 6. A wall of Rwandan sisal and sweetgrass woven baskets.
A. Intersectionality of architecture with other fields
Why is this interesting to you?
Prior to starting graduate school, I had a bucket list of career aspirations that I wanted to start crossing off: working in a corporate office, designing a three-day music festival, volunteering in disaster relief; the list goes on. However, since starting graduate school, my bucket list only grew longer and more diverse.
Taubman College allowed me to entertain whimsical ideas and explore them. Rather than focus on architectural design alone, I now investigate how my project’s approach might relate to my favorite book, song, or movie, and explore how to best represent these ideas. During my first studio project, that method was storyboarding and modeling. Now, it is fabrication in the Collectives studio; in other classes, it extends to both comics and technical building details.
Studying through these explorative methods has pushed me to dive deeper into research, broadened my understanding of the applicability of architecture within different fields, and morphed into a study of how to better use design as a tool for societal impact. Today, rather than entertaining a bucket list, I find myself
M.Arch ’25
Linn and Grace Smith Memorial Scholarship
expanding upon a skillset that feeds and forms my sense of practice while pushing my work’s intersectionality with other fields. My list grows, I hold onto these thoughts, and I look for moments to continue exploring and reexamining them.
J.P. SILVA
B.S. Arch ’24
Taubman Scholar, JMB Scholarship Fund
Why is this interesting to you?
Since my fall semester UG3, where I had the opportunity to work on an
adaptive reuse project, I’ve been thinking about the wastefulness of the construction industry and the importance of reusing existing structures when possible and creating new buildings that allow for their future reuse. As environmental sustainability becomes a leading concern for many architects, I believe the field will be forced to reckon with the disposability of many newly constructed buildings: the built environment accounts for a large portion of carbon emissions, meaning that architectural design, and how we build, are incredibly important factors affecting our climate.
The impending obsolescence of many structures plagues our contemporary built landscape: not just due to the materials used, but due to the forms of buildings themselves. For example, an office building with a wide floor plate cannot be easily converted into a use that requires natu-
ral light and ventilation. I think of the old Kmart headquarters in Troy, MI, which is currently being demolished, having outlived its original program, to a former Ford office tower in Dearborn, MI, also under demolition, which was used for a mere 32 years, or to the countless suburban office parks, half-empty due to work from home, which seem soon to share the same fate.
While I’m not sure what we can do for buildings whose landfill fate seems to be predetermined, I do believe that we can do better going forward. Older buildings designed with principles that allow for programmatic flexibility are the ones that are still in use today: if we are to create things that are allowed to outlast their original purpose, be more adaptable, and be more permanent, we can have a positive impact on the environment through our work and foster a more sustainable industry.
A: Siting of utility-scale renewable energy projects in Michigan, centering fair transition for local communities
Why is this interesting to you?
The capstone project I’m working on in a team of eight M.U.R.P. students led by Dr. Sarah Mills opens up new perspectives for understanding how planners can be involved in the landscape of renewable energy transition. We are working with the Michigan Public Service Commission to suggest how the recent Public Act 233, which is shifting the siting authority for large-scale renewable energy projects from local to state-level control, can be made more workable to respect local zoning ordinances.
Wind and solar renewable energy projects require more land than the power plants they are replacing, so most of these projects are being hosted by rural communities on
their agricultural or industrial-zoned lands. In our interviews with developers and local officials across different counties and townships in the state, we are getting to know how communities have very limited meaningful opportunities for participation. They are not just few in number but come much later in the siting process when not much can be changed from public feedback, and with the state taking control of the siting process, there is a risk of superseding certain nuances of local ordinances that are carefully made to envision specific future outcomes for the community. This makes me even more excited to engage as a planner in the renewable energy space as I believe this is going to be a big transition that all states in the country are going to participate in very soon, and above everything, we need to work toward making it a fair transition for all.
VAIDEHI SHAH
M.U.R.P. ’24
Graduate Student Assistant
B.S. Urban Tech ’25 Taubman Scholar
A: Third spaces, public places that promote community building
Why is this interesting to you?
My winter semester Urban Technology Studio sparked my
interest in exploring how the third space can improve the quality of life and foster a stronger bond between individuals and their communities. Third spaces are spaces outside the home or workplace that facilitate social interaction and the building of new connections between community members. It's a space where people can share information and feel relaxed after a long day. It ranges from public spaces, including parks and libraries, to private spaces like your local barber or coffee shop, or even the digital space, including Reddit and other social media platforms.
As someone who enjoys taking walks outside, I wish third spaces could become more accessible and inclusive for newcomers and marginalized communities. I realized the stark contrast between the quality and
availability of third spaces for different communities based on location. In an affluent neighborhood like Ann Arbor, there is an abundance of coffee shops and communal areas for students and locals to gather and interact safely. However, places like the library and parks are significantly understaffed and poorly maintained in my hometown — a cultural hub for immigrants.
Following the pandemic and the growing emphasis on public health, the third space is rebuilding and reshaping to align with emerging trends of the hybrid space while preserving its core values of collaboration and discussions. My vision for third spaces goes beyond being a new hub of innovation and flexibility to also nurturing local economies and communities through inclusivity and sustainability.
For Tala Dababna, B.S. Arch ’25, becoming an architect was a childhood dream she had nearly forgotten until she decided on a college major.
“Drawing and art always brought me joy,” she says. “In one of my early sketches, I depicted myself as an architect, wearing a construction hat and proudly labeling the drawing ‘The Architect.’”
As a third-year architecture student, Tala believes in working hard and collaboratively while having fun. She is co-president of the American Institute of Architecture Students’ (AIAS) U-M chapter and a peer mentor. She also served as Taubman’s elected representative with U-M Central Student Government and as a Jones Russell Ambassador with Taubman College Admissions.
Tala enjoys the college’s diversity of subjects and supportive faculty. “This personal connection with professors has allowed me to receive guidance, feedback, and mentorship that goes beyond the classroom,” she says. “Even for a larger school, there is a sense of community that has made a significant impact on my education and overall experience.”
Tala is a two-year recipient of the Justin Henshell Scholarship. “This scholarship means a lot to me because it has helped me pursue my big dreams that keep growing. I have never expected myself to be where I am today: in the United States, at one of the best universities, studying my passion, and trying to impact the world and people around me. Due to the support of donors, I’m now able to excel in my studies, relaunch AIAS/U-M, mentor fellow students, and get real-world experience without worrying about finances.”
A gift to Taubman College supports the next generation of leaders shaping the built environment — including Tala.
taubmancollege.umich.edu/give
The use of innovative 3D printing for the construction industry by Taubman College’s Mania
and her interdisciplinary research team has the potential to transform the industry sustainably.
By implementing human-in-the-loop, interactive, intelligent multi-robot technology, Taubman College Assistant Professor of Architecture Mania Aghaei Meibodi and her interdisciplinary research team in the DART Laboratory are working to enhance standard 3D printing practices for construction, making the process more efficient, accurate, and cost-effective. Their innovative approach to 3D printing methods has strong potential to transform the industry’s future sustainably.
“Construction doesn’t have a choice. It’s in a stage where it has to make a change to survive and also respond to rapid urbanization. Right now, one-third of the world’s CO2 is produced from construction, one-third of the world’s waste is from the construction industry, and we are running short of construction workers and building materials,” says Meibodi.
“Through 3D printing, especially, it will open up new opportunities. We focus on pioneering novel technologies in the realm of robotics and 3D printing in construction. There has been more and more interest in employing 3D printers on the largest scale and in construction. 3D printing in architecture and construction is still facing some challenges today — scalability, affordability, speed, and even the material that you can print with. The concept of multi-robot 3D printing is to overcome these challenges.
“This is not only a new technology, it is a new introduction to a new field within architecture, engineering, and construction. I think we will see a lot of human interaction with machines in contrast to the prior time when automation meant replacing the laborer.
“We will have to educate a new set of future leaders in technology for design and technology for construction. Our work with the Office of the Vice President for Research to envision the establishment of the world’s leading robotic 3D printing center has been extremely helpful in rethinking what it means for the United States and the world.”
Watch the full interview
Taubman College faculty are bringing transformative technology to U-M through an innovative academic-industry partnership
Robert Adams and Lecturer Dawn Gilpin are collaborating with FARO Technologies, a global leader in 3D digital measurement and developer of the 3D Terrestrial LiDAR Scanner. They co-direct the Empathy in Point-Clouds Scan-Lab, which uses FARO equipment to scan critical sites, including landscapes and buildings.
LiDAR, or light detection and ranging, is a remote sensing technology that uses laser scanners to create highprecision 3D models of buildings and environments. The partnership with FARO Technologies provides the core infrastructure for the Scan-Lab.
Michelle Edwards, director of global services at FARO Technologies, says the partnership empowers “the next generation of architects and researchers to explore new frontiers in 3D documentation and spatial analysis.” Gilpin says that the LiDAR scanner collects “millions
of points in minutes” to produce a high-resolution photorealistic 3D point-cloud, creating a precise digital twin of any space. LiDAR also allows the architect and contractor to validate construction processes to detect if anything was installed incorrectly so they can review the exact time and date when the error occurred to determine what needs to be done to repair it. “It’s a highly effective technology for architecture, engineering, and construction,” Gilpin says.
Adams explains that compared to conventional survey methods, using LiDAR to scan a site saves about 90% of the time in the field, reduces errors, and provides more valuable, accurate data. “Today, LiDAR scanning is like when Google Earth evolved into Google Maps and Street View through aerial surveys and panorama photography,” he says. Gilpin says it’s a useful platform for producing videos and spatial narratives to communicate the story of the site in ways that deepen empathy and understanding.
Gilpin teaches a course called Point-Clouds and Unreal Worlds, which introduces students to advanced techniques in 3D laser scanning and photogrammetry integrated into the gaming software Unreal Engine for immersive storytelling. Gilpin introduces students to the FARO scanner in the field and teaches them how to synthesize 3D data for visualization using FARO Scene software. “The FARO/U-M partnership has accelerated our research and provides engaging educational opportunities for our students,” Gilpin says.
Scanning technology is expensive. Cynthia Radecki, Taubman’s assistant dean for advancement, worked with FARO Technologies to secure an 18-month
contract valued at $120,000. The contract includes a scanner, software, and training toolkit for certifying 30 students. This enables students to gain “job-ready skills in an emerging market that’s really blowing up,” Radecki says.
The FARO/U-M partnership launched in February 2023 at the former Packard Automotive Plant in Detroit, where historic buildings are being demolished. Adams and Gilpin worked with FARO experts to develop a preservation strategy using the FARO scanner to create a digital twin that preserves a digital record of the structure.
Adams and Gilpin are developing a similar strategy in collaboration with the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan to survey the Mt. Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School, which existed from 1893 to 1934. Adams says that the school was part of a “federally sponsored program to erase indigenous culture, language, and rituals by forcibly removing Indigenous children from their homes and indoctrinating them into a White authoritarian patriarchal system of education.” He calls it a “genocide,” in which over 200 children died, were murdered, or disappeared. Given the traumatic history, the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan wants to share the
story with the public. Adams and Gilpin are creating a digital twin of the site, which will integrate archival photos and oral histories to honor survivors.
With funding support from the University of Michigan Humanities Collaboratory, Adams and Gilpin will travel with their research team to Mexico City this summer to develop a survey of a UNESCO World Heritage Site at Teotihuacán. The U-M team will work with Sergio Gómez Chávez at the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia; he is an internationally renowned archaeologist who discovered a tunnel revealing 300,000 ritual and ceremonial artifacts. This project will launch a three-year funding effort to bring this discovery to a global audience.
Adams says that the partnership with FARO Technologies has particular value in making archaeological sites and works of architecture that are often difficult to access accessible to a broader public, especially for people with disabilities. Though people may not be able to visit the site, they can navigate the 3D model online and “experience it in an immersive digital environment.”
Gilpin adds that technology allows students to have an immersive experience of the space instead of relying solely on orthographic drawings and photographs. Teaching best practices on the LiDAR scanner and expanding design education so students can learn more about the stories of the site “is really promising in terms of expanding the education of an architect and therefore the discipline.”
— Julie Halpert
Read more about these projects
Associate Professor Lesli Hoey takes on global food inequality through multidisciplinary alliances, bold environmental research, and transformative student initiatives
THROUGHOUT HER ACADEMIC CAREER , Lesli Hoey has addressed inequality in food systems. Growing up with few resources in a remote area of Bolivia and rural Pennsylvania, she felt the impact personally. It’s a topic that Hoey, an associate professor of urban and regional planning at Taubman College, addresses in an introductory interdisciplinary course called Foundations of Sustainable Food Systems that she teaches with Andy Jones, associate professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health (SPH) and Jennifer Blesh, associate professor of ecosystem science and management and food systems in the School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS). Hoey makes sure to educate students on the perils of using the term “food deserts,” which she says doesn’t reflect institutional and structural racism — the role that planners and governments had in creating areas of cities with little access to affordable, fresh foods. She says the term food deserts “implies that this just naturally happened.” She prefers the term activists are using: food apartheid. “Food apartheid is saying that this was constructed; there were human actors and policies involved in creating a situation where
we have many communities that cannot access affordable, fresh food.”
Hoey also supports underrepresented students studying food systems. She and colleagues in the Sustainable Food Systems Initiative secured over $1 million from the USDA, Rackham, and the three participating colleges — SEAS, SPH, and Taubman College — to launch the Transformative Food Systems Fellowship in 2022. The fellowship supports 12 students and focuses on experiential learning through field trips and workshops. By learning from food systems leaders in Michigan and abroad, Hoey says students learn “tools and strategies for mobilizing people, changing policies, and starting innovative nonprofits and businesses.”
The fellowship covers a significant amount of tuition and includes a stipend and funding for travel. Hoey says few master’s programs generously fund underrepresented students to study food systems. “This fellowship has been energizing,” she says. “It’s brought in some amazing students from around the country, as well as Detroit.”
Hoey says food crises, food apartheid and threats to people’s food sovereignty, biodiversity loss, and climate impacts on food systems all disproportionately affect people from low-income communities and people of color. The fellowship brings in students from the most affected communities. “To have their experience in the classroom has elevated the conversations that we were having. It’s invigorating to have them on campus.”
The cross-disciplinary fellowship forms cohorts of students from the three departments. “You’re never going to tackle complex food system problems adequately unless you involve people from different disciplines,” Hoey notes. If you don’t include those who have experienced those challenges, “you’re going to have blind spots and miss important insights.”
About two years ago, Hoey, Blesh, and Nancy Love, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at U-M, started pursuing a new direction: circular nutrient economies. This stems from Love’s longtime work on urine-derived fertilizer, or “pee-cycling.” Hoey says peecycling “could be as simple as peeing on a garden. But on a systemic level, urine diversion could have major implications for climate neutrality and adaptation, water pollution, reducing dependency on synthetic fertilizers, and more.”
Her team received a $100,000 grant from the U-M Office of the Vice President for Research and a $650,000 National Science Foundation Convergence Accelerator grant. Hoey studies the regulatory and policy aspects of scaling up nutrient recovery. “You have to revolutionize the way we think about wastewater treatment systems and infrastructure” as well as impacts and changes to the fertilizer industry, she says. “It’s more than just changing our toilets and how we collect urine. It’s about changing the codes and regulations that govern all these different steps between our toilet and the farmer’s field.”
Hoey and colleagues are speaking with county health departments and state agriculture officials about possibly producing a urine-derived fertilizer. Initially, she thought this was just an “interesting academic exercise” but soon realized that many people are exploring urine cycling.
You’re never going to tackle complex food system problems adequately unless you involve people from different disciplines.”
— LESLI HOEY, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR “
She says communities have been circulating nutrients from wastewater systems for centuries, and she’s encouraged by places that conduct the practice on a large scale in the U.S., Europe, and Africa.
Her team aims to create a test bed, both on the agriculture side and on the processing and urine collection side. “We’ve been having a lot of fun thinking about what that could look like.” Possibilities include holding an annual “piss off” at Michigan Stadium against a U-M rival — a play-off of the “blood battle” in which U-M and Ohio State students compete to donate blood to the Red Cross.
Hoey is energized by her interdisciplinary collaborations, whether among faculty or students. “Having all these collective voices,” she says, “pushes us to think differently about things that we always take for granted.”
— Julie Halpert
Architect and educator Kelly D. Powell, B.S. Arch ’95, has traveled worldwide,
but her roots remain firmly planted at Taubman College
KELLY D. POWELL, B.S. Arch ’95, calls Detroit home.
But over the past 25 years, her creative work as a licensed architect, educator, and project lead has taken her to various locations in North America, the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe.
“I’ve been very lucky to work in a wide variety of firms and institutions over the years,” Powell says. “These include the historic Fox Theatre in Atlanta, a university in Detroit, and several large-format architecture firms. I’ve also
worked directly for global corporate firms, representing the client. The experience of working as both a designer and the client provided a greater appreciation of the complexities surrounding a project’s development.”
In September 2022, Powell stepped into a new role as director of space planning and design at The New School, a private research university in New York City.
“Currently, I’m immersed in campuswide planning and operational initiatives at The New School,” Powell says.
“I love being in an academic environment again. Early in my career, I worked and taught at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture within its Detroit Collaborative Design Center. Working among people who are constantly in a mode of discovery and investigation is thrilling.”
Powell’s artistic inclinations were nurtured early in life.
“My mother exposed me at a young age to the performing arts and design, and encouraged my interest,” she recalls.
“In her professional network, she knew several Black architects in Detroit, so I had an early introduction to the profession. But I didn’t decide to pursue architecture until I decided to go to Taubman College at the University of Michigan instead of The New School’s Parsons School of Design to study fashion design.”
The academic foundation and faculty support Powell received during her undergraduate years at Taubman College helped her navigate the highly competitive professional landscape of architecture and design.
“Michigan, at the time, had a very rigorous program that prepared you for the large amount of work and coordination you encountered either at graduate school or after joining an architecture firm as a young designer,” Powell remarks.
One professor of architecture left a lasting impact on her.
“Dr. James Chaffers was by far the most influential professor I’ve had across my undergraduate and graduate studies,” Powell says. “His courses taught me and others how to develop and investigate the larger contexts of projects, and the implications of our actions as future architects. He instilled the need to be conscious, to be vanguards, and to be disrupters, if necessary. He also taught us to know our worth and intrinsic value as artisans.”
Several career milestones stand out in Powell’s mind. “Winning the prestigious Rome Prize in Architecture from the American Academy in Rome led me to teaching a design studio in Paris for my graduate school alma mater, the Georgia Institute of Technology,” says Powell, who later joined the American Academy’s board of trustees and became president of its alumni association, The Society of Fellows.
Other career highlights include working for the iconic Black architect J. Max Bond at the architecture firm Davis Brody Bond and spearheading an annual lecture in his honor while serving as president of the professional design association nycoba/NOMA in New York City. She also worked internationally on Kuwait University’s
College of Arts and College of Education and Dar Al-Handasah’s headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, while she was at the architecture and design firm Perkins + Will.
In 2018, Powell launched 222 East Society in New York City. “I started my own practice after working on the American Express account for CBRE Group Inc. because I wanted to get back into design since my role was heavily focused on strategy and operations,” she relates. “Unfortunately, just as I was gaining momentum, the COVID-19 pandemic started and hit my base (commercial interiors) really hard.”
I’M PROUD TO BE AN ALUM OF THE INSTITUTION [DEAN MASSEY] IS CURRENTLY RESHAPING TO BE MORE DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE, NOT ONLY IN THOUGHT BUT ALSO IN ITS COMMUNITY OF STAFF, FACULTY, AND STUDENTS.”
— KELLY D. POWELL, B.S. ARCH ’95
Giving back to Taubman College is an important priority for Powell, who has served on the Alumni Council and supported the Architecture Student Support Fund. “I deeply appreciate Dean Jonathan Massey’s efforts to create a more welcome space for BIPOC and LGBTQ students,” Powell says. “Taubman College’s strength lies within its leadership and the direction the dean sets forth. I’m proud to be an alum of the institution he is currently reshaping to be more diverse and inclusive, not only in thought but also in its community of staff, faculty, and students.”
Powell has encouraging words for today’s students. “There are many paths in architecture besides working in, or starting, a traditional design firm,” she says. “Be it working in academia, for a developer, or directly for the client in an array of industries, our training and abilities are unparalleled.” — Claudia Capos
For Michael Guthrie, M.Arch ’98, public projects can impact culture and uplift the human spirit
FOR ARCHITECT Michael Guthrie, M.Arch ’98, his decades of practice are rooted in placemaking, community impact, and design innovation. This work can be particularly impactful in large-scale urban design projects, including pedestrian bridges that have become world-class destinations, economic actuators, and places for people to connect with their communities and the surrounding ecologies.
In April of 2000, two years after finishing his M.Arch at Taubman College, Guthrie co-founded INFORM Studio to “inspire and impact.” The firm was strategically located in Northville between Detroit and Ann Arbor with an emphasis on professional work in the city of Detroit while continuing to be engaged in the Taubman College ecosystem.
The Federal Highway Act of 1956 divided cities all across the nation. In recent years, cities and states and the Department of Transportation (DOT) have worked toward creative solutions to stitch back together severed communities. In southwest Detroit, the Bagley Street Pedestrian Bridge was designed by INFORM to provide an accessible pedestrian crossing and to return public space to the citizens whose neighborhood had been severed by several highways.
Meanwhile, in Providence, Rhode Island, I-95 sliced through the city. Residents experienced the disconnect between neighborhoods and Downcity, and Brown University struggled with developing its expansion into the new Knowledge District. In the 2000s, city leaders asked the DOT to relocate the section of the highway that had cut off the community. INFORM reworked the abandoned highway infrastructure and designed a bridge, the Van Leesten Memorial Bridge, completed in 2019, that has become an integral part of the city.
Guthrie has emerged as a leading figure in the field, championing the transformative potential of pedestrian bridges as not only mere connectors but as vibrant hubs of community life and economic prosperity. The Van Leesten Memorial Bridge was awarded the 2023 AIA Award in Urban and Regional Design and has not only redefined the city's skyline but has also become a central gathering place and generated significant economic impact, breathing new life into the surrounding areas. Named after Michael S. Van Leesten, a civil rights advocate, community
leader, and lifelong Providence resident, the bridge now stands as a celebration of his life’s work and uncanny ability to gather people to build community and shared cultural experiences.
Beyond Providence, Guthrie's influence extends to other cities, including Miami, where he is spearheading the design of the Miami I-395 Baywalk connection. This ambitious project exemplifies Guthrie's holistic approach to urban planning, integrating transit connectivity with ecological preservation and cultural enrichment. By reimagining the built environment in this way, Guthrie is not only shaping the future of infrastructure but also setting a precedent for socially conscious design practices across the nation.
Guthrie’s influence on INFORM’s mission, to change the design and delivery process of the built environment, manifests itself largely through a commitment to computational design implementation. Parametric design, coupled with collaborative relationships inclusive of digital fabrication partners, pushes the envelope of precision, affordability, and speed of construction. Guthrie's willingness to take risks provided direct-to-fabrication models for the M1 Concourse Event Center in Pontiac, Michigan, and the Van Leesten Memorial Bridge without the need for traditional shop drawings. In addition, his negotiation with the Rhode Island Department of Transportation provided a new special provision to allow digital models to be a part of the bidding and fabrication approval process.
Guthrie's commitment to excellence and innovation has not gone unnoticed. In 2024, he was elevated to the AIA College of Fellows. He continues to push the boundaries of architectural practice, seeking out new opportunities to foster placemaking, community impact, and innovation in every project he undertakes.
Reflecting on his journey, Guthrie attributes much of his success to his time at Taubman College. He describes how the focus on critical thinking shaped his design methodology and how the relationships he developed continue to influence his work to this day, particularly the mentoring by Enrique Norten in his final year of graduate school.
As an alumnus, he taught at Taubman College from 2001 to 2006 and cherishes the partnership he developed with Associate Professor of Practice Lars Gräbner in initiating a study abroad studio to the Shenzhen and Guangzhou regions in China. Guthrie continues to be available for studio reviews at Taubman College today as the INFORM Studio headquarters continues its presence in downtown Northville (in a building that was a Ford valve plant designed by Albert Kahn). INFORM has also opened an office in Chicago as its footprint of work grows nationally, and even globally.
Looking ahead, Guthrie remains enthusiastic about urban placemaking projects nationwide. He aims to continue bridging communities and shaping urban landscapes for future generations. His work underscores design’s power to inspire, connect, and enhance collective experiences, guiding cities toward vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable futures. — Deniz McGee
Katie Johnson, B.S. Arch ’03, M.Arch/M.B.A.’10, Managing Principal at AECOM, and Keiaron Randle, M.U.R.P. ’24, discuss the
approach to equitable, sustainable development
Katie Johnson
B.S. Arch ’03, M.Arch/M.B.A. ’10
Keiaron Randle
M.U.R.P.
’24
RANDLE: At Taubman College, knowing that the urban planning professors talk to the architecture professors and vice-versa, I think a lot of their common themes leach through in our coursework and our discussions. That’s what drew me into urban planning, and so just being able to continue that conversation throughout my education has been really good. Taubman professor Scott Campbell talks about the “planner’s triangle” – the idea that there are three main goals of the planning profession and that we should hold those things in tandem: economic development, environmental protection, and equity. And just the consideration that each stakeholder group has to come together to create a sustainable environment.
JOHNSON: Education, in particular, is intentionally meant to be foundational and to give you the space to learn those foundational skills. The University of Michigan and Taubman College are quite intentional about fostering that creative systems thinking — what is it that early career individuals need to learn as foundational for the rest of their careers? If I think about some of my favorite architecture courses at Taubman, all of them actually had some sort of planning element.
RANDLE: I’ve noticed it through the internships that I’ve had as well. Last summer I worked in the Planning Department for the City of Detroit. Through the Community Benefits Ordinance, we would have these mega-meetings with engineers, developers, transit specialists, the architect for the building, and potential
residents and community members. Everyone was involved to see it through, from the site review to focusing on the different elements of this huge structure like sustainability, water, the proximity of the building to the river — no one person could focus on every detail. You really have to bring everyone to the table in order to get the development done right.
JOHNSON: That project you did for your internship is a really great example of how we as professionals try to address systematic challenges, the huge global challenges of our day like equity and climate change. It’s exciting to be part of those conversations but it’s also like, no one’s solved them so far. They’ve only been progressively addressed, right? It really does take complex project teams and big stakeholder groups. Honestly, that’s what excites me about working at AECOM and being here in Detroit. The AECOM internship we have with Taubman College intentionally looks for how we can support individuals who have interdisciplinary backgrounds if possible. The fact that Keiaron has a different background in social work that she’s now bringing to the planning field and then interfacing with all these different people, including architects, that’s where we can potentially create new solutions.
RANDLE: I think there are moments where sometimes people are left out of the development process. Sometimes community members feel like they’re left out, but that might be because they live outside the geographic boundary of the development. And business owners might be a group that are more often left out because I think we sometimes forget that this development could impact nearby businesses and how would that happen? And what communication is appropriate to help them?
JOHNSON: I do think that is something, whether through advocacy or process and approach, that architects and planners can bring to the table with the clients and communities that we serve. I think Detroit, particularly with the passing of the Community Benefits Ordinance, has developed some of the processes to think more creatively about engagement as well as how the community can come to the table. And frankly, that stems from a history of disenfranchisement. That’s the big lesson of 1960s and 1970s planning. Whether there are ways that can
be improved or not, I think Keiaron and I have both benefited locally from a real conscientiousness about the profession, but that is not to say that is the case everywhere. I think that’s an opportunity, when we have seen successful engagement processes, to share those stories so other places can benefit from them. We should continue to look to other cities as well for good examples. How do we engage people in a way that is actually impactful toward the direction of our design decisions and not performative in nature? Those are the details of what we really grapple with.
RANDLE: For me, one of the biggest needs we have is diversity of housing in our cities. With the housing supply crisis that we have in what seems like every U.S. neighborhood these days, that would really help. So not just single-family homes, but also duplexes and multiplexes all within one cohesive neighborhood. There should be a mixture of for-sale and for-rent properties together in the neighborhood.
JOHNSON: I feel like to some extent we’re getting a little bit of the wish right now around climate change and funding. We’re seeing a lot of decarbonization efforts. It’s exciting to me how many cities, counties, states, and firms have decarbonization goals, and it’s started to change the conversation from a return-on-investment conversation to a necessary imperative. We’ve seen some federal funding in particular that has provided a nice shot in the arm to support some of that, but I do still wonder if we have sufficient commitment around decarbonization. We’re really at a practical point right now. Decarbonization is a big-sounding word, but the impact we can have as professionals on our planet, on our built environment and incorporating equity and resilience into those initiatives, is pretty profound.
Including Taubman College in your estate or financial plans is one of the easiest ways to make a lasting impact. You can even generate income for yourself and your family while benefiting the college and generations of students. Types of planned gifts include gifts from a will or trust, beneficiary designations, and property.
Making a planned gift is a rewarding way to support your alma mater. Contact the Taubman College advancement team at taubmancollegeadvancement@umich.edu or 734.764.4720 to learn more about establishing a planned gift for Taubman College or to let us know if you already have included the college in your will or estate plans.
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Share your news with your fellow alumni in a future issue of Portico. Send your class note (along with a high-resolution photo, if you would like) to taubmancollegeportico@umich.edu or complete the online form at taubmancollege.umich.edu/alumni.
Kenneth Knuckles, B.S. ’73, is the recipient of Taubman College’s 2023 Distinguished Alumnus Award. The award honors an individual who has made significant contributions to their chosen profession and a lasting impact on their community. Input from the Taubman College Alumni Council, alumni peers who serve as college representatives, and college leadership inform the selection.
Knuckles spent 15 years as the president and CEO of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (UMEZ), focused on economic development as a catalyst for job creation. When he announced his retirement in 2018, UMEZ had invested over $240 million in small-business enterprises, mixed-use real estate development, and arts and culture grants, creating nearly 10,000 jobs across Harlem. Knuckles also serves as vice chair of the New York City Planning Commission, a member of the Regional Economic Council for New York City, and a board member of Harlem’s Carver Bank. He is a past deputy Bronx Borough president and assistant housing commissioner. In addition to his Taubman College degree, he holds a JD from the Howard University School of Law.
Daniel C. Caudy, M.Arch ’66, still practices architecture as a one-person operation in Elmhurst, IL. “For the past 14 years since I entered forced retirement at a large Chicago firm, I have teamed with a college roommate doing automobile dealerships throughout the United States. I now hold six active licenses in addition to my NCARB certificate. I’ve been trying every day to stay out of my bride’s way by going to the office.”
Daryl J. Carter, B.S. ’77, founder, chairman, and CEO of Avanath Capital Management LLC, received the Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed by the African American Real Estate Professionals’ Los Angeles chapter. The honor recognizes his over four decades of real estate investment and advocacy. Carter was awarded the Taubman Distinguished Alumnus award in 2022.
June Manning Thomas, Ph.D. U.R.P. ’77, received the 2023 Distinguished Educator Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP).
Daryl D. Morey, M.U.P. ’85, retired after 35 years working for the City of Lakeville, MN. He spent 22 years as the planning director in Minneapolis and St. Paul suburbs. Morey’s planning career spans 38 years and includes being a planner for the cities of Fridley and Andover, MN.
Matthew Petrie, AIA, B.S. ’89, started a new position as a senior project manager with Beyer Blinder Belle in Boston.
Regina Myer, M.U.P. ’84, was featured in Center for an Urban Future and Brooklyn Org’s report on creating a stronger and more equitable Brooklyn.
Emily Bonato, M.Arch ’98, started a new position as chief operating officer at DAHLIN Architecture, Planning, Interiors.
Derek Dinkeloo, B.S. ’90, M.Arch ’92, was promoted to partner at TMP Architecture.
Megan Gibb, M.U.P. ’96, started a new position as a hospice spiritual counselor at Housecall Providers.
Fernando Luiz Lara, M.S. ’99, Ph.D. Arch ’01, started a new position as a professor of architectural history and theory at the Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania.
Erin Perdu, AICP, M.U.P ’98, was elected president of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).
Tom Dillenbeck, M.Arch ’02, was promoted to executive vice president
at Hobbs+Black Architects in Ann Arbor. He has been with the firm since 2006 and focuses on healthcare projects, overseeing new building projects for nearly all health systems in the state of Michigan.
T’Chana Harden, M.U.P ’07, started a new position as finance director at Connections for Abused Women and Their Children.
Meghna Khanna, M.U.P. ’06, was promoted to deputy executive officer at Mobility Corridors Los Angeles Metro.
Kelly Koss, M.U.P. ’08, was promoted to partner at Barnes & Thornburg LLP.
Komal Kotwal, M.Arch ’06, started an entrepreneurial journey as the founder and principal consultant of their own business, EquiSustain LLC.
Amy Lam, M. Arch ’01, started a new position as associate director for UCSF Health. She is a California-licensed architect
expanding her experience to include healthcare facilities management. She oversees the UCSF Cancer Center, Adult and Children Hospital at Mission Bay, San Francisco, including the Bayfront Medical Building, which will soon open in 2024. She focuses on sustainability, process improvement, and best practices to drive excellence in construction and facilities.
Raju Mann, M.U.P. ’06, started a new position as president and CEO at Battery Park City Authority.
David Parent, M.U.P. ’01, was appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer to another term on the Michigan Community Service Commission.
Melissa J. Smiley, M.U.P. ’06, started a new position as chief of staff and university relations officer at Wayne State University.
Kelly Weger, B.S. Arch ’02, started a new position as the director of sustainability–North America for Qcells. Weger is building a new sustainability department for the leading solar PV manufacturer in the U.S., working on an ultra-low embodied carbon solar option for the design industry.
Peter Winch, M.U.P. ’07, started a new position as principal at WRT.
James Witherspoon, M.Arch ’09, was promoted to senior vice president, architecture & design at Bedrock Detroit.
The recently completed fire rebuild home of Jordan W. Wyatt, B.S. Arch ’04, in Malibu, California, was featured on the AIA Los Angeles Annual Arch Tour Fest on Oct. 29. Rebuilt from the 2018 Woolsey Fire, it demonstrates design approaches taken to respond to changing climate to create a more
sustainable and resilient home based on passive house design and construction methodologies.
Sarah Carlson, M.U.P. ’12, started a new position with the Real Estate, Tax Incentives & Special Projects team at the Detroit Housing and Revitalization Department.
Christopher Corbett, M.U.R.P. ’19, started a new position as director of planning and development at the City of Willmar, MN.
Payton Heins, M.U.P. ’12, started a new position as president of the Northern Lakes Economic Alliance.
Grant Herron, M.Arch ’15, started a new position as a project manager with Nestle.
Aditya Inamdar, M.U.D. ’11, was selected for Mass Transit Magazine’s Top 40 Under 40 Class of 2023.
Katie Moss, M.U.P. ’15, started a new position as a senior planner at Toole Design Group.
Lui Orozco, M.Arch ’15, successfully defended his doctoral dissertation titled “Co-Design and AgentBased Methods for Multi-Story Wood Building Systems” at the Institute for Computational Design and received a Magna Cum Laude. His research focuses on increasing the diversity of forms and functions of timber buildings to allow the construction industry to better address the environmental and humanitarian housing crises.
With grant funding from Kaiser Permanente, Frank J. Romo, M.U.R.P ’14, CEO of RomoGIS, collaborated with the Hope & Heal Fund to create visualizations and tools used to share the available California county gun homicide data with the public. The Mapping Gun Homicides in California project shared GIS skills with the community in an effort to effectively advance innovative gun violence prevention efforts that leverage GIS capabilities.
Shahida Sharmin, M.S. ’16, was promoted to associate principal at ZGF Architects.
In recognition of the National Champion Michigan Football team, Jamie Simchik, M.U.P. ’15, lit up The Hotel Concord in Concord, NH, to show that there are, in fact, Wolverines in New Hampshire.
Alivia Stalnaker, M.Arch ’11, is a principal design architect at SmithGroup.
Peter Swinton, M.U.R.P. ’19, obtained a new certification of AICP Certified from the American Institute of Certified Planners.
Karis Tzeng, M.U.R.P. ’19, joined ThirdSpace Action Lab as a senior fellow, content + research.
Jess Wunsch, M.U.R.P. ’19, started a new role as director of city engagement at NYU Furman Center.
Emilie Yonan, M.U.P. ’18, started a new position as a senior government affairs representative at Duquesne Light Company.
Alicia Adams, M.U.R.P. ’22, was promoted to principal at SmithGroup.
Roland Amarteifio, M.U.R.P. ’22, started a new role as a planner I at Cincar Consulting Group.
Ujijji Davis Williams, M.U.P. ’17, is the recipient of Taubman College’s 2023 Outstanding Recent Graduate Award. Now in its third year, this award was created by the Taubman College Alumni Council Awards Committee to recognize a graduate of the last 10 years who has achieved significant recognition or accomplishment in their chosen field.
Davis Williams is the founding partner of JIMA Studio in Detroit, a landscape and planning studio. JIMA Studio focuses on developing beautiful, resilient, and culturally relevant spaces for communities of color — from an urban farm in a New York public housing community to a neighborhood plan for a historic Black church in Detroit. Williams has taught at the University of Detroit Mercy, and in 2019, she taught an introductory undergraduate planning course on cultural planning, policy, and creative cities at Taubman College. She received the Michigan American Society of Landscape Architects 2020 Emerging Professional of the Year Award. She was named one of 2022’s Notable Women in Architecture, Design, and Construction by Crain’s Detroit.
Gage Belko, B.S. ’16, M.U.R.P. ’21, is now certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).
Rowan Brady, M.U.R.P. ’21, started a new role as a planner at the City of Grand Rapids.
Christian Hunter, M.U.R.P. ’21, is now certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).
Kayla Hunter, M.U.R.P. ’20, started a new position as a program associate at the Surdna Foundation.
Sarah Jammal, M.U.R.P., ’22, M.U.D. ’22, started a new position as assistant director of the Ashtabula County Department of Planning and Development in Ohio and is now AICP Certified.
Carley Leckie, M.Arch ’21, was selected by Metropolis Magazine for its first Arch30 under 30 cohort in San Francisco.
Christopher LeFlore, M.U.R.P. ’21, started a new position as associate program officer–Detroit Program at The Kresge Foundation.
Samuel Limerick, M.U.R.P. ’23, started a new position as senior data scientist at the Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities. Also, his academic paper entitled, Community Gardens and the 15-minute City: Scenario Analysis of Garden Access in New York City was published in Urban Forestry and Urban Greening.
Michelle Marin, M.U.R.P. ’23, passed the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) exam.
Nathan McBurnett, M.U.R.P. ’21, started as an urban planner I with the Area Plan Commission of Tippecanoe County, IN.
Mrithula Shantha Thirumalai Anandanpillai, M.U.R.P. ’20, passed the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) exam.
Brittany Simmons, M.U.R.P. ’20, started a new position as a planner at OHM Advisors.
Danielle Stewart, M.U.R.P. ’22, received an award from KimleyHorn for Outstanding Client Service. They also passed the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) exam and are now an AICP candidate.
Danielle Wallick, M.U.R.P. ’23, started a new position as a housing data analyst at the Detroit Housing and Revitalization Department.
Lauren Ashley Week, M.U.R.P. ’23, earned first place in the APA Planning and Law Division Smith-Babcock-Williams Writing Competition for her piece “Climate Change in Unincorporated California: The Consequences of Limited Regulation for Land Use, Lodging, and Livelihoods in the Wildland Urban Interface.”
Justin Henshell, B.Arch ’49 October 7, 2023
Robert P. White, B.Arch ’50 December 30, 2023
Robert E. Greager, B.Arch ’52 December 1, 2023
Robert J. Boerema, B.Arch ’53 August 19, 2023
James W. Bauer, B.Arch ’55 November 6, 2023
Eugene T. Tanke, B.Arch ’57 October 30, 2023
Leslie D. Tincknell, B.Arch ’58 January 17, 2024
William D. Porter, B.Arch ’58 January 14, 2024
Robert B. Powell, B.Arch ’60 January 7, 2024
William P. Midgley, B.Arch ’60 November 9, 2023
William J. Waffle, B.Arch ’62 August 27, 2023
Charles A. Johnston, B.Arch ’63 September 13, 2023
Gerald L. Couch, B.Arch ’66 December 4, 2023
Oscar D. Turner, B.Arch ’67 January 10, 2024
J. Scott Hester, B.Arch ’69 December 6, 2023
George F. Herrity, B.S., M.Arch ’71 January 4, 2024
Richard P. Bilden, M.U.P. ’72 December 16, 2023
Sheila L. Jack, M.U.P. ’78 November 1, 2023
Thomas M. Atkins, B.S. ’80 September 29, 2023
Michael R. Strother, B.S. ’82, M.Arch ’84 February 25, 2024
Kelly L. Ryan, B.S. ’89, M.Arch ’91 December 15, 2023
Scott D. Busse, M.U.P. ’96 February 12, 2024
Agnieszka Drelich Smith, B.S., M.Arch ’09 December 12, 2022
“Taubman College students: Thank you for challenging our assumptions and teaching us new perspectives. I hope you’ll bring a similar spirit of reciprocity to the next phase of your lives and careers. Whether in graduate school, industry, professional practice, or other realms, you have plenty to learn — and so much more to offer. We count on you to fulfill the university’s mission by challenging the present and enriching the future.”
— Dean Jonathan Massey to the Taubman College graduating class of 2024 PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN MCMORROUGH, PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE
University of Michigan
Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning 2000 Bonisteel Blvd. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2069 USA taubmancollege.umich.edu
Jonathan Massey Dean
Cynthia Enzer Radecki, A.B./B.S. Arch ’87, M.Arch ’88 Assistant Dean, Advancement
Kent Love-Ramirez Director, Marketing and Communications
Andy Henion Editor
Liz Momblanco Senior Graphic Designer
Contributing Writers:
Claudia Capos, Julie Halpert, Deniz McGee
Image Credits:
Sam Hollenshead (pp. 3, 32), Lon Horwedel (pp. 39, 42), Brian Lillie/U-M School of Public Health (p. 31), John McMorrough (pp. 44), Devin O’Neill (pp. 24), Dori Sumter (inside front cover, p. 19 )
Portico is a semiannual publication for alumni and friends of Taubman College, produced by the Office of Advancement. This issue was printed by University Lithoprinters.
We welcome alumni news, letters, and comments at taubmancollegeportico@umich.edu. You also can submit class notes online at: taubmancollege.umich.edu/alumni/portico
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