Rather than presenting a static exhibition, Ma has reconfigured the gallery as a working ceramic studio and Earth Material Resource Center, where she foregrounds material testing, spatial limits, and slow decision-making.

“Craft is an inherently slow process,” Ma said. “My way of working involves extended periods of hesitation, testing, and reconsideration.”

Process as a shared resource

Instead of treating that indecision as something to resolve privately, she makes it visible, allowing the process to unfold within the gallery itself.

“By opening up the process and allowing it to be interrupted or disturbed,” she explained, “I make visible how decisions accumulate, shift, or fail under constraint and pressure.”

For Ma, the physical boundaries of the gallery are not incidental. “Limits of space shape how choices are made and revised over time,” she said. This semester, she thinks of her work “primarily as curating a set of conditions, tools, and materials, rather than producing discrete artifacts.”

The result is a space that operates less as a finished display and more as a laboratory for architectural thinking.

What excites Ma most about this approach is the possibility of turning process into a shared resource.

“By making my methods, tests, and material experiments visible, the work becomes something others can learn from, adapt, or question, rather than something sealed off as a finished result,” she said. “Accessibility, for me, means allowing people to see uncertainty as part of making.”

Working with untamed materials

That uncertainty is embedded in Ma’s material practice. She works with foraged local clay, paper porcelain, and recycled organic aggregates, materials that are deliberately fragile and responsive.

“I often say I choose these materials because they are free,” she said, “not in the sense of costing nothing, but in the sense of being untamed.” She describes them as “feral materials that misbehave, vary from batch to batch, and offer no guaranteed results.”

Rather than attempting to impose control, Ma frames her work as a negotiation. “Instead of asking, ‘How can I control this material?’” she said, “I ask, ‘What kind of relationship can I build with it?’”

Because these materials are locally sourced and variable, they “carry local and temporal specificity” and “resist the idea of universal, standardized solutions.” That resistance, she added, “offers an element of surprise, which is important to me.”

Material practice and architectural thinking

Ma sees clear parallels between this material practice and architectural thinking.

“Architecture often privileges control, efficiency, measurement, and repeatability,” she said. Her interests, by contrast, “lean toward fragility, uncertainty, and instability—qualities architecture typically seeks to constrain or minimize.” The intersection, she noted, “is less about utility and more about perspective.”

Within the gallery, that perspective is evident in how materials, tests, and structures are displayed. Research artifacts are carefully arranged, emphasizing care and intentionality rather than spectacle.

A culmination but not the end

As Ma nears the end of her two-year fellowship, the exhibition serves as a culmination without closure.

“My thinking has shifted from seeking resolution to sustaining inquiry,” she said. Earlier in the fellowship, she was “preoccupied with making a coherent ‘thing,’” but over time learned “to value open-ended investigation and to resist the pressure to arrive at fixed outcomes.”

The decision to transform the gallery into an Earth Material Resource Center reflects that shift. It is, Ma said, “not as a final display of knowledge, but as a platform for shared exploration and ongoing inquiry.”

An evolving space for engagement

Over the spring semester, the space will continue to change as she works in it, offering workshops and walk-in hours for students interested in hands-on material experiments.

“If the space does anything,” Ma said, “I hope it recalibrates attention toward slowness, material origins, and the care embedded in objects and spaces.”

Visitors are invited to return, observe changes, and witness making as it happens.

“We rarely witness how things come into being,” she added. “I hope visitors sense that making is not only about outcomes, but about relationships between time, matter, and care.”

Story by Oliver J. Johnson

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Through an ongoing research initiative known as Ghost Lab, Thibodeaux and his students engage buildings with forgotten histories of use by marginalized communities. The work asks a fundamental question that sits uneasily within conventional preservation practice: how do we assign value to architecture when significant traces within were never meant to be permanent, visible, or celebrated?

“At its core, it’s a bit of an activist project,” Thibodeaux said. “But less focused on advocating for preserving specific buildings than for alternative ways of assigning value that fall outside institutionalized preservation practice.”

Challenging preservation’s blind spots

Ghost Lab grew out of a disconnect Thibodeaux observed between ongoing conversations around heritage value and the regulatory frameworks that govern preservation in the United States.

While there is increasing recognition that buildings used by marginalized groups carry historical significance, preservation standards, he says, continue to privilege material authenticity tied to an architect’s original intent or a narrowly defined “period of historical significance.”

That framework often conflicts with how marginalized communities historically engage architecture.

“Without the material, financial, or sociopolitical resources to build from scratch, marginalized groups frequently occupy and appropriate spaces not built for them,” Thibodeaux said. “Changing use, alongside a frequent need for discretion, typically results in ad-hoc manipulations of a building that—when read through existing regulating documents—are cited as offenses to a building’s material and historical value.”

The paradox, he explained, is that efforts meant to preserve buildings with heritage value for marginalized communities often require stripping away the very adaptations that made those spaces usable and safe.

Ghost Lab operates within that tension.

Reading the “ghosts” in architecture

Rather than advocating for the literal preservation of every physical trace, Thibodeaux focuses on making the human narratives behind those traces legible to the public before they are inevitably erased.

Within the Ghost Lab framework, Thibodeaux refers to these ephemeral traces as “ghosts.”

“We recognize that most of the elements we highlight are going to be stripped away,” he said. “Their legacy is charged by their eventual negation.”

Ghost Lab treats that inevitability as an opportunity. Through on-site installations and exhibitions, students connect physical remnants to the human needs that produced them. A boarded window, for example, becomes a way to understand privacy and discretion within a specific historical context.

“Our interventions allow people to consider why an original window was boarded up for part of its life,” Thibodeaux said. “We celebrate a future where the window can be restored to reconnect the building’s interior to the outside world but want the public to understand why that wasn’t always desirable.”

From archives to on-site research

Most Ghost Lab sites were identified through the , where Thibodeaux serves as a Community Advisor. While archival records provide essential context, Ghost Lab moves beyond documentation by embedding human narratives directly into architectural space.

“It’s easiest to communicate human value through human stories,” Thibodeaux said. “And most of architectural practice is about representing space to the public.”

That approach is carried forward through student-led, on-site research supported by the 51���� Office of Research, including Support for Undergraduate Research Fellow (SURF) grants and an Advancing Research and Creativity (ARC) Grant.

Students are involved at every stage of a project, from early research to installation and public engagement.

One recent Ghost Lab project focused on a building at 1100 E. Kane Place. Initial SURF-supported research by Morgan Greene (BArch 2026) unfolded over multiple semesters and led to a larger ARC-funded installation developed and installed by eleven additional students in an elective studio course taught by Thibodeaux.

“The ARC Grant allowed us to lease the building for the semester and engage it in a way that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise,” he said.

Public memory activated

Community response has reinforced the project’s core premise. Visitors encountering the Kane Place exhibition often arrived with their own memories and stories prompted not by what remained, but by what was gone.

“When people re-enter these buildings, they often have more stories about what is no longer physically present than what currently is,” Thibodeaux said. “It supports the idea that negation inevitably enhances memory.”

For Thibodeaux, those moments affirm the value of slowing the erasure process long enough to acknowledge what came before.

“It feels special to allow the public to celebrate these ghosts before they are laid to rest.”

Looking ahead

A second ARC-supported Ghost Lab exhibition is planned for June, engaging another building with a forgotten history of marginalized use. As with previous projects, the site and form will be shaped by access, student research, and community collaboration.

In the short term, Thibodeaux hopes the work encourages people to pause before dismissing buildings that appear too altered—or too “deviant”—to save. In the long term, the ambition is broader.

“We can only hope that once enough folks on the ground start to look at buildings differently, shifts in value judgment might make their way up the chain,” he said.

That could inform new standards of regulation in preservation practice.

“It’s a lofty goal,” he added. “But the first step is getting in the door before the wrecking ball does.”

Story by Oliver J. Johnson

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For Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD), the historic storm exposed familiar vulnerabilities in the region’s aging infrastructure. For University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee urban planning students, it became a living policy lab.

Teaching in real time

“We hold year-end meetings with our Master of Urban Planning students each May, and many of the students over the last few years have expressed interest in addressing environmental challenges,” said Dr. Robert Schneider. “So I was looking for an environmental policy topic for my Fall 2025 Planning Policy Analysis course.”

When the flood struck, Schneider saw both urgency and opportunity.

“The immediate shock from seeing people in our community being caught in floodwaters and news over the next week about flooded basements, damaged houses, and massive loss of personal belongings drew me toward how we could help the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District with any aspect of their efforts to address flooding,” Schneider said.

Within weeks, Schneider connected with MMSD staff and developed a case study for his Planning Policy Analysis course.

Working from within challenge

Students focused on , which encourages homeowners to disconnect foundation drains from the sanitary sewer system to reduce basement backups.

“Many planning projects aim to improve complex systems to produce long-term public benefits,” he said. “Examining options to improve the effectiveness of the PPII Reduction program was an ideal fit for a planning analysis topic due to its challenges and the many possible options to improve the program.”

More than 100,000 older homes in the region still need to disconnect foundation drains from the sanitary sewer system. Construction can be disruptive and expensive, and some property owners do not realize their foundation drains pose a risk at all. Meanwhile, MMSD must operate within a limited outreach budget.

Against that backdrop, students debated alternatives, evaluated tradeoffs, and presented recommendations directly to MMSD leaders.

Strategies ranged from adjusting financial incentives to refining outreach and advertising, targeting the highest-risk properties, or working with municipalities on regulatory approaches.

From analysis to action

For MMSD, the partnership was more than an academic exercise.

“MMSD sees tremendous value in working with students,” said Hannah Johnson, MMSD Public Engagement Specialist. “Anytime there are residents, community members or students who are interested and engaged in this topic, it benefits the MMSD PPII program tremendously.”

Several recommendations moved quickly from presentation into practice.

“There are a few items that came up in the presentations that we have already started on, including connecting with Neighborhood Improvement Districts (NIDs) in the City of Milwaukee to pair our efforts with theirs and using past Pipe Check participants to create testimonials for the program,” Johnson said.

The agency also reviewed homeowner cost trends and adjusted financial support accordingly.

“One of the largest changes in 2026 financial incentives was an increase in the Foundation Drain Disconnection financial incentive from $2,500 to $3,800, based on trends in homeowner costs.”

Preparing urban planners to make a difference

And MMSD’s exploration of student ideas will continue beyond the initial case.

 “We are also planning to explore a few of the other ideas, in 2026 and coming years, including collaborating with the Fresh Coast Resource Center to find opportunities to partner with the Green Summer program, finding other outreach and partnership opportunities, and using characters that help tell the story to homeowners,” she said.

For students, seeing movement matters.

“They love to see their work making a difference for their clients and the community,” Schneider said. “This gives them a great foundation for their professional planning careers.”

Story by Oliver J. Johnson

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This award marks the 20th year of the Marcus Prize, established in 2005 through the generosity of  Foundation. The prize totals $100,000, with $50,000 awarded directly to the winner and $50,000 supporting a collaborative, semester-long design studio at 51���� with architecture students, focusing on a Wisconsin-based project.

“We believe in crafting specific architecture for a specific place and a specific way of life. The Marcus Prize is a profound encouragement for us to persist,” Gong said.

Gong was selected by an international jury from a pool of accomplished nominees representing 13 countries and four continents.

“Vector Architects offers a statement about the value of the architect and of architecture to our contemporary condition,” said jury member Hans E. Butzer. “Their work appears to beautifully explore questions of tradition, place, and global drifts, while still being comfortably restless and aspirational.”

The international jury also included:

• Juhani Pallasmaa, former professor of architecture and dean at the Helsinki University of Technology
• Alex Timmer, associate professor at 51����
• David Marcus, CEO of Marcus Investments
• Winifred Elysse Newman, dean of the 51���� College of the Arts and Architecture

Gong’s practice has earned international recognition through projects such as Seashore Library (Qinhuangdao, Hebei, China), Yangshuo Sugarhouse Hotel (Guilin, Guangxi, China), renovation of the Captain’s House (Fuzhou, Fujian, China), Pingshan Art Museum (Shenzhen, China), Haibing Center at Nankai University (Tianjin, China), Jingyang Camphor Court (Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, China) and Liyuan Foreign Language Primary School (Shenzhen, Guangdong, China).

Vector Architects’ work has been honored with numerous awards including:

• Architects Regional Counsil Asia Gold Award (2022)
• Royal Institute of British Architects International Award for Excellence (2021)
• Archmarathon Awards (overall winner, 2016)
• Inclusion in Domus’ “100+ Best Architecture Firms” (2019)

“As we celebrate the 20th year of the Marcus Prize, we are honored to recognize Dong Gong for work that shows how thoughtful, site-specific design can enrich communities around the world,” David Marcus said. “Marcus Corporation Foundation created this award to connect global architectural talent with Milwaukee, our hometown, and our partners at 51����. Vector Architects’ commitment to place, material and human experience embodies that vision. We look forward to the ideas that will emerge from Dong’s collaboration with 51���� students and the lasting impact this work will have on Wisconsin and beyond.”

A hallmark of the Marcus Prize is its integration of design excellence with education. As part of the award, Gong will travel to Milwaukee for a public lecture and exhibition and will co-teach a design studio alongside 51���� School of Architecture & Urban Planning faculty, giving students direct access to world-class architectural talent.

“I am thrilled to welcome the newest Marcus Prize recipient, Dong Gong, to the university and the city of Milwaukee. We look forward to sharing our rich history and vibrant city,” Newman said. “The Marcus Prize is one of the most significant awards given by a university in the United States. It allows our local community to be part of the global design community. This is great for everyone, but especially our faculty and students.”

Since its inception, the Marcus Prize has honored some of the world’s most influential architects of our time, including Alejandro Aravena (2009) and Diébédo Francis Kéré (2011) – both later recipients of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Past winners also include Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries (MVRDV); Frank Barkow and Regine Leibinger (Barkow Leibinger); Sou Fujimoto, Joshua Ramus, Jeanne Gang, Tatiana Bilbao, Antón García-Abril and Débora Mesa (Ensamble Studio) and Tiantian Xu (DnA_Design and Architecture).

Learn more about the Marcus Prize.

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The table was fabricated by Master of Architecture student Alec Regan with support from Current Projects, a Milwaukee-based design and fabrication studio.

Conceived as a comfortable space for discussion and understanding, the table is a critical element in an ongoing civil dialogue project supported by a grant from the Wisconsin Institute for Citizenship and Civil Dialogue (WICCD) to the 51���� Divisions of Community Empowerment & Institutional Inclusivity and Student Affairs.

Crafted from soft maple wood, the table’s form invites connection. It bends around each speaker, “hugging” them into the conversation while its angled steel legs emphasize the seats designed for each participant.

The tabletop’s central area features a subtle Naguri texture, a traditional Japanese woodcutting pattern applied here through a combination of handmade and digital techniques. The textured surface literally and figuratively preserves space for dialogue.

“This prevents people from placing objects at the center,” said Sergio Lopez-Pineiro. “The space in front of you remains empty of objects, so the conversation remains more uninterrupted.”

Every detail of the table’s design supports comfort and focus. Smaller scoops in front of each seat, along with additional indentations beneath the table, offer resting places for fidgeting hands and help calm nerves during potentially difficult conversations.

“It is normal to feel nervous,” the project description notes. “Just let your fingertips rest and focus on staying civil.”

Now housed in the 51���� Student Union, the table is available for reservation by students, faculty and staff. By defining a physical space for discussion, Lopez-Pineiro’s design reinforces that civil dialogue can and should be cultivated, taught, and practiced.

“The important thing isn’t the table; it’s just a device,” Lopez-Pineiro said. “The important thing is that people bring their own points of view.”

Story by Oliver J. Johnson

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Selected and curated by Assistant Professor Sam Schuermann, the symposium will gather leading architects, theorists, and educators for a three-day public program centered on the single-family lot.

Titled On Housing: The Single-Family Lot and the American City, the symposium runs October 22–24, 2025, at UW-Milwaukee and will include keynote lectures, panel discussions, student workshops, and an exhibition in SARUP’s Jim Shields Gallery of Architecture and Urbanism sponsored by HGA.

Urban Edge Award recipients and symposium participants are Ashley Bigham & Erik Herrmann, Jennifer Bonner, Mitch McEwen, Laura Salazar-Altobelli & Pablo Sequero, Paul Andersen, Adrienne Brown, Jonathan Tate, and Jesus Vassallo.

In spring 2026, students will engage in a seminar dedicated to editing a publication that documents and expands on the symposium. The resulting volume will feature transcribed conversations, essays, and visual materials by symposium participants.

Milwaukee is an excellent place to question and reconsider the single-family typology for contemporary housing according to Schuermann, who cites the city’s racialized history, labor history, scale, historic rust-belt fabric, and Midwestern ethos.

Through this initiative, the Urban Edge Award continues its mission to support timely architectural research that engages urgent questions in urban design.

About the Urban Edge Award

The Urban Edge Award was created in 2006. Modeled after the school’s Marcus Prize and supported by the Wisconsin Preservation Fund and the law firm of Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren, the Urban Edge Award recognizes excellence in urban design and the ability of individuals to create major, positive change within the public realm. Funding for the Urban Edge Award totals $50,000. Learn more about the Urban Edge Award.

Story by Oliver J. Johnson

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Hans E. Butzer, Juhani Pallasmaa, and Alex Timmer will join David Marcus and Winifred Elysse Newman on this year’s jury, which will convene this fall to select the 2025 Marcus Prize recipient.

Dr. Newman, Dean of the 51���� College of the Arts and Architecture, emphasized the significance of the jury’s expertise. “This group of jurors brings together extraordinary talent, global experience, and deep engagement with the discipline. Their perspectives are critical as we identify the next recipient of one of architecture’s most generous awards,” she said.

Meet the Jury

Hans E. Butzer, FAIA
Professor and Dean of the Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture, University of Oklahoma: Butzer Architects and Urbanism (BAU)

Hans E. Butzer is an award-winning architect and educator, as well as co-founder of Butzer Architects and Urbanism (BAU), alongside his wife, Torrey A. Butzer, Assoc. AIA. Butzer is best known for his role in designing key public sites in Oklahoma City, his civic engagement and advocacy, and his service as an educator and leader at the University of Oklahoma. His work has been recognized with fifteen awards from the AIA and ASLA. His work was celebrated as one of the 10 best designs of 2000 by Time Magazine and listed among the “Top 50 Best Public Art Projects” by the Public Art Network’s Year in Review, as featured by Americans for the Arts. The Dallas Morning News twice listed the Oklahoma City National Memorial among the “Ten Best Designs”—once in 1997 and again after completion in 2000.

Juhani Pallasmaa, SAFA, Hon. FAIA, Int. FRIBA
Former Rector of the Institute of Design, Helsinki; former Professor of Architecture and Dean at the Helsinki University of Technology; former Director of the Museum of Finnish Architecture; Visiting Professorships in several countries; Arkkitehtitoimisto Juhani Pallasmaa KY, Helsinki

Juhani Pallasmaa is a Finnish architect, author, and former professor and Dean of architecture at the Helsinki University of Technology (currently Aalto University). He is considered a leading figure in contemporary architecture, design, and art culture. Pallasmaa’s work is recognized for its emphasis on the psychological, experiential, and tactile aspects of architecture. He has published more than 1,000 essays and 100 books, including The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses, a staple text in architecture schools worldwide. Pallasmaa has served on approximately fifty architectural juries in different countries and received numerous recognitions, awards, and seven honorary doctorates. He was a member of the Pritzker Prize Jury from 2008 to 2014.

Alex Timmer
Associate Professor, School of Architecture and Urban Planning, College of the Arts and Architecture, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

Alex Timmer’s research centers on the interplay between energy systems and architectural design. With a keen interest in the connection between form and performance, his work investigates reasoning within open systems, contingent material processes, and recursive design strategies. His teaching emphasizes strengthening the bond between studio pedagogy and the fabrication lab, focusing on how digital fabrication can foster productive feedback loops within the design studio. Timmer’s contributions are featured in various academic journals and conference proceedings, including ACSA, NCBDS, and the TAD Journal. Collaborating with industry and community partners—such as Habitat for Humanity, Wells Precast Concrete, Vendura, Cherry Street Garden, and the Historic Mitchell Street BID District—Timmer advances his research with a focus on its practical applications.

David Marcus
Board of Directors/CEO, Marcus Investments

David Marcus is managing director and chief executive officer of Marcus Investments. Before forming Marcus Investments, Marcus served as the managing partner of Bridgenet/Netrox, a leading provider of Internet and network solutions to businesses in South Florida. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with an MBA in Real Estate and received his BSBA with a concentration in finance from Boston University. Marcus sits on the boards of several charitable organizations, including the Froedtert Hospital Foundation, City Year, and the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum.

Winifred E. Newman, PhD
Professor and Dean, College of the Arts and Architecture, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

Dr. Winifred Elysse Newman is a professor and Dean at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Her research promotes digital and human–machine hybrid solutions as a paradigm shift in the design and occupation of the built environment. Newman focuses on spatial perception in architecture, ecological psychology, adaptive environments, and neuroaesthetics, with active research in neuroscience and architecture, data visualization, mapping, STEM learning environments, and the history of technology and science. She is the Executive Editor of the Journal for Technology, Architecture, and Design. Recent publications include Data Visualization for Design Thinking: Applied Mapping.

About the Marcus Prize

Established in 2005, the Marcus Prize is a biennial, international architecture award recognizing the talent and achievements of emerging architects in the early stages of their careers. The award recognizes both the past accomplishments of emerging architects, as well as their promise of future contributions to the field of architecture. Past recipients include Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries (MVRDV), Frank Barkow and Regine Leibinger (Barkow Leibinger), Alejandro Aravena, Diébédo Francis Kéré, Sou Fujimoto, Joshua Ramus, Jeanne Gang, Tatiana Bilbao, Antón García-Abril and Débora Mesa (Ensamble Studio), and Tiantian Xu.

Thanks to the generous support of the Marcus Foundation, the $100,000 prize includes $50,000 to the winner and $50,000 to support a design studio in collaboration with SARUP faculty. In addition to the award itself, the Marcus Corporation Foundation provides financial support to host the selection jury and to bring the awardees to Milwaukee for the studio. Learn more about the Marcus Prize.

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Associate Professor and Co-Chair of Urban Planning, Carolyn Esswein, was there from the start, serving on the district’s board for seven years—two as president—and leading the development of visual renderings that helped bring the vision to life.

As the district reaches its 10-year milestone, Esswein reflects on its early days, the progress that has been made, and what she sees as opportunities ahead.

Looking back, what inspired the original vision for the Milwaukee Harbor District, and what were the key goals in the early planning stages?

Connecting people to the waterfront and enhancing the natural environment were key factors in early planning. How can you do this while bringing in new housing and jobs, the key was to engage the community and be bold while respecting the working waterfront.

Your role at SARUP helped shape the district through visual renderings that illustrated the vision’s potential. How important was that in gaining support for the project?

It was difficult for people to imagine something beyond the coal piles and large warehousing buildings. Harbor District, Inc. used our renderings to illustrate how the area could become a vibrant space, connecting people to the waterfront, and integrating new development with existing infrastructure to create opportunities for people to live, work and explore the inner harbor.

Public access to the waterfront was a key priority—how do you feel the district has succeeded in this area?

Harbor View Plaza has been a great success as a place for people of all ages to view the large ships, learn about Great Lakes habitat, and play within water structures. The summer events bring people to the area to learn about everything from sturgeons to kayaking to cultural stories of Milwaukee, showcasing many of our local organizations.

What impact has the district had on jobs and housing in Milwaukee, and what do you see as the next big opportunity?

The planning vision has spurred both new housing and jobs to the Harbor District. The area is home to numerous start-ups and small businesses, Komatsu’s relocated headquarters, and Michels Corporation’s Milwaukee office and riverfront housing. The economic impact is expected to exceed $800 million. Future plans include more housing along Greenfield Avenue, an enhanced boat launch, and the potential for a continuous riverwalk connecting to downtown.

Looking ahead, what excites you most about the future of the Milwaukee Harbor District?

I’m excited for the extended riverwalk, planned to start construction in summer 2025. Part of our early planning vision, the connection along the Komatsu site will offer new opportunities for residents and visitors to engage with the water and view the amazing working waterfront that supports Wisconsin and the Midwest.

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Their achievements follow in the footsteps of fellow SARUP faculty members Lindsey Krug and Nikole Bouchard, who have also received ACSA teaching awards in recent years, reinforcing the school’s reputation for excellence in both teaching and research.

Samantha Schuermann: Elevating Student Collaboration in Research

Assistant Professor Samantha Schuermann emphasizes the importance of collaboration among faculty and students in shaping meaningful research and learning experiences.

“Particularly in conjunction with Adam also receiving the award, to me, this indicates that 51���� SARUP is doing some exciting things both in research and teaching,” Schuermann said. “I think this award is further evidence that constant collaboration with students is essential and necessary to produce compelling research and projects.”

Schuermann’s interdisciplinary work explores the architectural implications of domestic labor and material culture. She has involved students in research projects, leading to national conference presentations, co-authored publications, and exhibition opportunities.

“Because of this award, we will give presentations at the ACSA Annual Conference in May, so that also means that our SARUP students will be cited for their work. They now have some publications that they are co-authors and co-researchers on, and that’s great,” she added.

Schuermann also highlighted the strong support for research at 51����, noting that collaborations with students inspire her to continue seeking funding for student researchers through initiatives like the Support for Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURF) program.

“I’ve had SURF students every semester I’ve been at 51����, which has been incredible for outcomes like publishing papers and doing exhibitions. I also have two students now who have had their own abstract accepted for a national conference on undergraduate research related to things that we have been working on together.”

Adam Thibodeaux: Integrating Identity and Architecture in the Studio

Assistant Professor Adam Thibodeaux focuses his teaching and research on reclaiming and preserving the architectural histories of marginalized communities. For him, receiving the ACSA New Faculty Teaching Award is a testament to the collaborative energy within the school.

“It’s an exciting moment because it feels like there’s a lot of new fresh ideas coming into the school and a lot of energy around what feels like similar approaches to teaching,” Thibodeaux said. “It’s motivating to not just engage our own individual research practices but also situate them in context with each other, but most importantly, supported by student researchers. It creates a network that feels charged in a good way.”

Thibodeaux’s work often challenges traditional architectural discourse by incorporating themes of embodied difference and identity into the studio setting. He acknowledges the challenges of advocating for these perspectives in design education but sees them as opportunities for impactful change.

“One challenge is advocating for different perspectives in design studio settings, particularly dealing with issues of embodied difference and marginalized identity. These topics often manifest outside the studio curriculum, but it’s been a goal of mine to integrate them into the core design curriculum,” Thibodeaux said.

“There is a lot of desire among architecture students to see how their own identities impact their work as architects, and I think enabling them to do that has been one of the most meaningful aspects of my teaching.”

He also emphasized the importance of providing students with research opportunities that extend beyond the classroom, allowing them to take ownership of their work.

“A big part of what I can do as new faculty is to leverage my own research practice as a platform for students to develop their work outside of the classroom. We have amazing undergraduate research funding, and it’s critical to bring students along—not just to give them access to resources but to empower them to take ownership of their own research,” Thibodeaux said.

“Like Sam, I’ve been incredibly appreciative of SURF funding to support paid student researchers in expanding upon threads of faculty research through focused, independent research projects where they can leverage our presence as collaborators rather than as instructors.”

A Culture of Excellence at SARUP

The recognition of Schuermann and Thibodeaux reflects SARUP’s broader commitment to advancing architectural education through engaged research, innovative pedagogy, and meaningful student-faculty collaboration. Their contributions continue to shape the academic experience at 51���� and prepare students to critically engage with the built environment in transformative ways.

“Two of the four recipients of this national award are from SARUP, and I am incredibly proud of that,” said Kyle Reynolds, Acting Head of School. “But above all, I am proud of Sam and Adam. This is well-deserved recognition, and I look forward to seeing their continued impact on architecture students year after year.”

Jurors for the AIAS/ACSA New Faculty Teaching Award included Christian Brack, Oklahoma State University; Joshua Foster, East Los Angeles College; Gilberto Lozada Báez, American Institute of Architecture Students; and June Williamson, City College of New York.

The winners will be celebrated at the ACSA 113th Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA, in March.

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A Studio Rooted in Infrastructure, Ecology, and Community

The Marcus Prize Studio immerses students in an exploration of adaptive reuse strategies of historic architecture, water infrastructure, and its ability to engage the public. The Hattie Street Dam, which connects Menominee, Michigan, and Marinette, Wisconsin, presents a compelling case study. Originally constructed to support industrial activity, the dam and adjacent structures are in good condition and invite a unique opportunity for reimagining their role in the community.

Through site visits, research, and iterative design processes, students will analyze how the dam and its surroundings might be transformed into a multi-functional space that integrate community engagement, education, and sustainable production.

The studio will unfold in three phases: research & analysis, social strategy development, and design interventions. The course will conclude with an exhibition showcasing the design strategies and their potential impact on the Menominee community and beyond.

Learning from a Visionary Architect

Tiantian Xu’s holistic approach to design emphasizes the careful integration of new interventions within existing landscapes. Her firm’s architectural projects have engaged in the economic revitalizing process in China, using a holistic approach described as “architectural acupuncture.”

Assistant Professor Sam Schuermann, who is co-teaching the studio, views the Marcus Prize Studio and Xu’s leadership as an opportunity for students to engage deeply with pressing environmental issues with a visionary architect.

“Tiantian’s work investigates large scale infrastructure and its relationship to local ecologies and communities, so we were interested in bringing this architectural approach to the region,” said Schuermann. “A dam seemed like an appropriate site to engage water, industry, and infrastructure in Wisconsin, and this one checked all the boxes.”

As the semester progresses, Xu joins students through both virtual and in-person reviews. During Xu’s visit to Wisconsin in late March, she will also present the Marcus Prize Lecture highlighting selected projects from her research and practice.

Learn more about the Marcus Prize.

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