Statement

Throughout my time at KCAD in the Master of Architecture program, I have had the opportunity to re-imagine the built environment and experiment with different design processes. This year, I have been conducting research into adaptively re-use of spaces. In the fall semester, I experimented with adaptively re-using a vacant building and turning it into a civic theatre. For my thesis research, I looked at the adaptive re-use of the ubiquitous typology of the suburban strip mall. 

My thesis challenges the lack of site specificity that drives current strip mall development and addresses how the typology, site and program can be adaptively re-used, to improve existing infrastructure and spatial experiences in creative and pragmatic ways. As I enter the profession, I continue to explore how architecture can bring awareness to contemporary issues.

Currently, I am conducting research with Michigan State University’s Department of Domicology and the Detroit Land Bank Authority, that looks at structural abandonment, material salvage and re-use processes. I believe that these are important issues that should be addressed, which will inevitably impact the way that I design in the future.