e-SPAN Alumni Newsletter

In this edition of the e-SPAN newsletter, we introduce the Revolutions/Resolutions Public Programs theme and talk to Carnegie Mellon Architecture alumni about what revolution means in their careers. Stephen Wilder (Master of Science in Architecture ‘04) shares how he built his firm, Think Wilder, to be a point of architectural contact in his community. Elizabeth Monoian (MFA ‘00) and Robert Ferry (B.Arch ‘98), founders and principals of the Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI), tell us how they’re taking a fresh approach to the renewable energy revolution.

We look forward to an already invigorating academic year in the latest edition of the e-SPAN newsletter. We talk to Erica Cochran Hameen, the director of the historically successful UDream program which re-launched this summer after a multi-year pause. We also share stories about student and faculty summer travel, photographs from the EX-CHANGE 2023 launch and a welcome to new faculty at the school.

In this edition of the e-SPAN Newsletter, we reflect on the Spring 2023 Public Programs series which explored the relationship of architecture to the extraction of materials. We have a conversation with Christine Mondor, a faculty member whose Urban Ecology seminar led the opening and closing discussions for the semester. We also hear from a few of the Master of Urban Design (MUD) students about how their perception of extractivism evolved over the course of the lecture series. Finally, we look back on a memorable spring and celebrate our newest graduates.

In this edition of the e-SPAN Newsletter, we explore how social justice work can happen in the architecture field. We speak with two alumni who put these principles to work in their professional lives: Nina Barbuto (B.Arch ‘07), Executive Director of Assemble in Pittsburgh, and Paúl Moscoso Riofrío (MUD ‘18), whose work at the US-Mexico border pursues cross-border solutions to environmental and social challenges. We also showcase student work tackling social justice issues, advised by Stefan Gruber and Jonathan Kline, and look forward to the relaunch of the UDream program and Spring Carnival.

In this edition of the e-SPAN Newsletter, we speak with two computational design leaders within the field of architectural design, Ardavan Bidgoli (PhD-CD ‘22) and Ji-Hyun Lee (PhD-CD ‘02). Both researchers embrace the unknowable potential of artificial intelligence while training emerging designers to keep their own ingenuity at the center of the process. We also highlight compelling examples of computational design work being done by the Creative AI + Design Launchpad (CRAIDL), a research group founded within the CMU SoA by Bidgoli, Manuel Rodríguez Ladrón de Guevara (MAAD ‘18, PhD-CD expected ‘23), Jinmo Rhee (MSCD ‘19, PhD-CD expected ‘23), and Pedro Veloso (PhD-CD ‘22).