DECOLONIZING DESIGN examines relationships between imperialism, colonialism, and today’s built environment, proposing ways to challenge the continuing power imbalance between places, people, and ideas. Topics include British resource extraction and the resulting capital flows and architectures produced; links between colonialism and climate change; and decolonizing teaching methods for architecture history and theory.
Publications:
“Dystopia’s Ghost: Architecture, Power, and Nationalism in India.” Places Journal (2022).
“A Reading List for the End of Architecture.” Dialectic VII: Architecture and Citizenship—Decolonizing Architectural Pedagogy (ORO Editions, 2019).
“Native Citizenship,” Form N-X00: New Forms for Citizenship, Dimensions of Citizenship online exhibition (2018).
PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT considers how the built environment can positively impact public health crises, with a focus on Covid-19 and the opioid epidemic.
Publications, Grants, Presentations, and Press:
“Design for Covid-19: Rethinking an American Campus and the Dilemma of the Second Wave.” The Plan Journal Vol. 7 Issue 1 (2022).
Campus Research Board Research Support Award, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, $21,195 (2020).
“Venice Methadone Clinic,” Jury Shortlist, Emotions, Architecture, Opioids International Ideas Competition (2019).
The Declaration of Dependence, an online manifesto and series of design proposals for opioid addiction mitigation and rehabilitation (2018).
“The Opioid Epidemic and the Built Environment.” Extension School Annual Conference, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL (November 2018).
“Landscapes of Dependence.” A Millennial Manifesto: How Millennials Will Save the World, American Society of Landscape Architects Illinois Chapter, Chicago, IL (panel presentation, August 2018).
Mortice, Zach. “Labyrinths of Dependence.” Landscape Architecture Magazine (12 June 2018).
CURRENT RESEARCH ASSISTANTS
NIHA LADIWALA
Niha Zahrah Ladiwala is a Master of Architecture candidate with a concentration in Building Performance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She aspires to initiate change at the deepest level in both the physical and social structures of society, to bridge existing imbalances. Having always been intrigued by solving puzzles, as an aspiring architect she is curious to learn more about detail design in academia and professional practice.
AMIR ZAREI
Amir is a graduate student from Iran, currently pursuing a Master of Architecture degree at UIUC with a hope to excel in both the professional field and in academia. He worked at HAMAAN Studio in Isfahan, Iran as an Architectural Designer before coming to the United States for graduate studies. In summer 2022 he worked as an Architectural Intern at SOM Chicago.
PAST RESEARCH ASSISTANTS
FELIPE FLORES
Felipe Flores earned his M.Arch from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2020, through a Fulbright scholarship. He is currently undertaking a PhD in Planning, Design and Construction at the University of Oklahoma. His research “Unveiling Indigenous Dwelling Patterns in Western Amazonia” seeks to discover how regional planning policies and design standards that respect Indigenous rights to self-determination and territorial sovereignty could be linked to climate change mitigation and biodiversity preservation.
KAYLA MYERS
Kayla received her Master in Landscape Architecture from the University of Illinois in 2020. She studied Animal Sciences as an undergraduate, and is the co-founder of The Well-Fed Caterpillar, an Illinois native plant nursery that offers landscape design and management plans.