51ÁÔĆć

New bid to expand I-94 follows a painful legacy for Black and Hispanic communities

Highway signs

A $1.2 billion proposal to expand Interstate 94 near Milwaukee’s American Family Field has sparked controversy. While state officials argue it will improve safety and the economy, opponents, including the Wisconsin Sierra Club, contend it disproportionately harms Black and Hispanic neighborhoods.

Dr. Kirk Harris, a UW-Milwaukee urban planning professor, explains that highway projects have historically reinforced segregation and economic inequality by prioritizing roadways over public transportation. He advocates for intentional reinvestment in housing, transit, and community development to address systemic inequities. Harris also stresses the need for meaningful public engagement and democratizing planning to create equitable urban spaces, an initiative he intends to lead through a new center at the university.

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Lindsey Krug receives ACSA New Faculty Teacher Award

A collage of graphics and text used by Krug in her submission.

Assistant Professor Lindsey Krug has been selected as one of four recipients of the 2024 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) New Faculty Teaching Award.

According to the , the 2024 Architectural Education Awards honor architectural educators for exemplary work in areas such as building design, community collaborations, scholarship, and service. The New Faculty Teaching Award recognizes demonstrated excellence and innovation in teaching performance during the formative years of an architectural teaching career.

Through the lens of the architectural user as a body in space, Krug studies how design solidifies and reinforces taboos, hierarchies, and inequities into built form, and positions architecture as a biopsying tool that unveils tensions between spatial foibles and cultural conventions of identity, politics, class, and sociality.

Krug’s research interests are organized around relationships between people and contemporary institutions born of American democracy and capitalism and their corresponding architectural manifestations and myths. Two such institutions of focus are the U.S. Supreme Court and the topic of privacy as it’s defined legally and architecturally, and Dollar General Corporation with its small-box retail empire. These research threads are reflected in the courses Krug teaches as her design briefs and syllabi help students confront contemporary issues and current events as part of their design education in order to facilitate students imagining radical and optimistic architectural futures.

Krug’s design research titled “Corpus Comunis: Precedent, Privacy, and the United States Supreme Court, in Seven Architectural Case Studies” was awarded the 2023 Best Peer-Reviewed Research Project by the ACSA College of Distinguished Professors. Along with her frequent collaborator Sarah Aziz, Krug received the 2022 Course Development Prize in Architecture, Climate Change, and Society from the ACSA and the Columbia University Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture. Most recently, the pair was awarded the 2023 Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers by the Architectural League of New York.

Jurors for the AIAS/ACSA New Faculty Teaching Award were Julia Andor (American Institute of Architecture Students), Kody Cheung (Drexel University), Shelby Doyle (Iowa State University), and José Gámez (University of North Carolina at Charlotte).

51ÁÔĆć’s HPI supports Pritzlaff artifact event

Matt Jarosz

OnMilwaukee covered Architectural Artifacts: Strategies for Finding & Reusing, an event organized by 51ÁÔĆć’s Historic Preservation Institute at SARUP held at the historic Pritzlaff Building. HPI led the exhibition of salvaged architectural materials, demonstrating how reclaimed artifacts can be reused in adaptive reuse designs. HPI director Matt Jarosz coordinated the programming alongside speakers including Kendall Breunig and preservation leaders, emphasizing Milwaukee’s legacy of preservation innovation.

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Architecture student Jadyn Anderson receives AIAS Advocacy and Impact Award

Headshot of Jadyn Anderson

Master of Architecture student Jadyn Anderson has been named by the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) as the Advocacy and Impact Award recipient for 2023.

According , the AIAS honors individuals and groups for their exemplary work in areas such as leadership, collaboration, scholarship and service. The AIAS Honor Awards were developed to publicly recognize outstanding achievements by students, educators, and practitioners who have exhibited an exemplary commitment to the education and development of architecture students.

Anderson’s journey to this recognition has been driven by a profound sense of empathy and a desire to make a difference. Hailing from rural Minnesota, her move to Phoenix, Arizona, marked the beginning of her architectural career and her commitment to addressing societal challenges. Witnessing firsthand the struggles of the unhoused, the addicted, and the marginalized, she was spurred into action.

In her own words, she shares, “I could not stand it. I decided that I had hope and I am motivated to never walk through life blind to others’ struggles, again.”

From her initial involvement in service projects to her leadership roles in organizations like the Design Justice Initiative at ASU and the AIAS National Committee for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Anderson has consistently demonstrated her passion for advocacy and social change.

As a member of the 51ÁÔĆć SARUP community, Jadyn’s impact continue. She is actively involved in initiatives, such as the 51ÁÔĆć chapter of Women in Design, to address local issues and champion the voices of underrepresented groups within the field.

For Jadyn, architecture is not just a career; it’s a means to effect meaningful change in people’s lives. Through thoughtfulness, empathy and respect, she is reshaping the narrative of her profession and inspiring others to do the same.

Shifting Gears: Toward a New Way of Thinking About Transportation

Headshot of Susan Handy overlayed on a bright yellow background with an illustration of a bike.

The Innovative Cities Lecture Series

Shifting Gears: Toward a New Way of Thinking About Transportation presentation by , professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at the University of California at Davis and Director of the National Center for Sustainable Transportation

Lecture Summary

The many woes of our transportation – seemingly endless highway expansion, congested roads, car dependence, rising pedestrian death rates, and more – stem from a way of thinking that has dominated the transportation profession for more than a century. Susan Handy takes a critical look at the ideas that make up the traditional way of thinking and explores alternative ideas that are now gaining traction. The new way of thinking promises a more diverse transportation ecosystem that allows for choice in daily travel and produces more just and sustainable communities.

Biography

Susan Handy is a professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at the University of California at Davis, where she is also the Director of the National Center for Sustainable Transportation, part of the federal university transportation centers program. Her research focuses on strategies for reducing automobile dependence, including bicycling as a mode of transportation. Susan also authored Shifting Gears: Toward a New Way of Thinking About Transportation, published in October 2023 by MIT Press.

AICP-CM credits will be awarded – AICP CM .

Equitable Zoning: National and Local Perspectives

Simple graphic icon of three building shapes in blue with orange and teal accents, representing a mix of housing types from apartment to small home.

Equitable Zoning: National and Local Perspectives presentation by Susan Henderson, architect and co-founder of Placemakers, LLC, Sam Leichtling, City Planning Manager for the City of Milwaukee’s Department of City Development, and Tamara “Tammy” Szudy, Planning and Zoning Manager for the City of Wauwatosa.

The Innovative Cities Lecture Series

Lecture Summary

Learn about local efforts and national best practices to update zoning codes and policies to advance planning goals including equity, affordability, and sustainability through zoning. Panelists will discuss the ongoing Growing MKE initiative to update Milwaukee’s zoning code to support housing growth and choice, Zone Tosa for All report and implementation, and provide national perspective on successes and challenges in zoning for equity.

Biographies

Susan Henderson is an architect and one of the founders of PlaceMakers, LLC, an award-winning urban design practice focusing on placemaking, inclusive social and economic opportunity, public health and wellness, and robust community engagement. PlaceMakers helps local governments align growth and development with community vision. Susan is a LEED Accredited Professional, and brings an expertise in sustainability to all of her design work. She is co-author of the Lean Code Tool, a contributor to the SmartCode & Manual, Lean Comp Plan Tool, and author of the SmartCode Landscape Module. Susan is a founding faculty of CNU’s Project for Code Reform, assisting local governments in determining their local capacity and crafting code reform to create more engaging and sustainable places. Susan is the past Chair of the board for the Congress for the New Urbanism and continues to serve on the board.

Sam Leichtling is the City Planning Manager for the City of Milwaukee’s Department of City Development, leading the City Planning Division in carrying out neighborhood and strategic planning, zoning and urban design initiatives, and advising the City Plan Commission. DCD is currently undertaking the Growing MKE initiative to update the Comprehensive Plan and the portions of the City of Milwaukee’s Zoning Code regulating housing development to advance the City’s goals for housing growth and choice. Recent major strategic planning projects carried out by DCD have included the development of the Water and Land Use Plan for Milwaukee’s Harbor District, the Equitable Growth through Transit Oriented Development planning initiative, Connec+ing MKE: Downtown Plan 2040, and the City of Milwaukee’s Anti-Displacement Plan.

Sam has worked for the City of Milwaukee since 2008, including serving as the Program Director for the City of Milwaukee’s Neighborhood Improvement Development Corporation (NIDC), a City-affiliated non-profit that administers housing and neighborhood development programs. Sam’s work in housing and neighborhood development included developing and implementing the recommendations of the Milwaukee Foreclosure Partnership Initiative, leading Milwaukee’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program activities, and launching multiple loan and grant programs to support affordable housing development and rehabilitation.

Sam is a proud graduate of Milwaukee Public Schools, holds master’s degrees in Urban Planning and Public Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a bachelor’s degree from Carleton College. Sam is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) and a National Development Council certified Housing Development Finance Professional (HDFP).

Tamara “Tammy” Szudy is the Planning and Zoning Manager for the City of Wauwatosa. She is responsible for managing the Planning Division, administering zoning ordinances, and reviewing development projects. Currently, Tammy and her team are developing a new comprehensive plan for the city. Tammy received her bachelor’s degree in Architectural Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

AICP-CM credits will be awarded.

51ÁÔĆć alum finds fun and success on Lego reality TV show

Two people stand side by side in a studio set made of LEGO bricks, wearing yellow clothing, with a bright “LEGO MASTERS” sign displayed behind them.

Alum Paul Wellington (BS ’12, MARCH ’15) and his sister are competing on reality TV show LEGO Masters, putting his experience and passion for architecture – and LEGOS – to the test in a whole new setting.

51ÁÔĆć’s Kathy Quirk interviewed Wellington and learned that his favorite LEGO buildings are based on neoclassical or midcentury modern styles. “I don’t actually copy them directly, but I’m inspired by them,” he told her.

He likes the look of historical British buildings as well as New York and Chicago cityscapes.

Paul has built landmarks out of LEGO bricks, including the Fiserv Forum, the Milwaukee Public Library’s Central Library, and the Tripoli Shrine on Wisconsin Avenue.

His model of the National Congress of Brazil by architect Oscar Niemeyer was featured in the book “The LEGO Architect.” That piece and his LEGO version of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple were also featured on the website “Brick Architect.”

Wellington has also written his own book, “Black Built: History and Architecture in the Black Community,” about the work of African American architects.

Read the full story on 51ÁÔĆć Report.

National Photographer Jarob Ortiz Collaborates with HPI

Jarob Ortiz

OnMilwaukee profiles Jarob Ortiz, known for his documentation of architectural landmarks for the Library of Congress and National Archives. Ortiz was hosted by Matt Jarosz of 51ÁÔĆć’s Historic Preservation Institute to photograph sites including Mitchell Park Conservatory’s domes, the Pritzlaff Building, and the Pabst Mansion pavilion. The collaboration highlighted HPI’s commitment to hands‑on preservation and documentation training in real-world settings.

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Realistic Approaches to Supporting Affordable Housing in Urban, Suburban, and Rural Areas

Headshot of Angela Brooks, shown inside a white circular frame on a bright yellow background.

The Innovative Cities Lecture Series

Realistic Approaches to Supporting Affordable Housing in Urban, Suburban, and Rural Areas presentation by , Director of the Illinois office of the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) and President of the American Planning Association.

Lecture Summary

APA President, Angela Brooks, will share how planners can better impact and support both supportive and affordable housing. She discusses ideas beyond zoning changes and incorporates examples from urban, suburban, and rural areas. She will share lessons learned and highlight how communities can realistically attract both market rate and affordable housing. Angela will also discuss the report on Housing Underproduction in the U.S. and how communities of all sizes can respond.

Biography

Angela Brooks is the Director of the Illinois office of the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) and President of the American Planning Association. She is passionate about creating equitable access to safe and affordable housing as well as expanding and improving housing options. In her role at CSH, Angela engages in systems change work and advocacy in housing and health policy and manages loans for acquisition and predevelopment for supportive housing for people experiencing chronic homelessness and people with disabilities. Prior to her role at CSH, she served as the Development Manager for the Chicago Housing Authority. Angela has a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of New Orleans and a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from Jackson State University.

AICP-CM credits will be awarded.

Sam Schuermann presents Model Homes research project at Cornell AAP

Blueprint-style line drawings showing interior room perspectives, including a bathroom, living space, and seating area, rendered in monochrome blue lines.

Assistant Professor Sam Schuermann presented “Model Homes” as part of Cornell AAP’s mini lecture series titled “Discussions on Living and Architecture,” curated by Ekin Erar and Jonathan Levine.

“Model Homes,” discussed architecture, housing, type, and the aesthetics of domesticity—particularly that of the modern paradigm. The lecture highlighted various projects that comment on this confluence, including 99 Rooms and A Room in A Room.

99 Rooms explores rooms as individual domestic typologies. By re-reading via re-drawing canonical domestic spaces (all built between 1927 and 1971) as a series of rooms rather than totalizing buildings, certain formal and aesthetic information is revealed across room types.

A Room in A Room was an installation completed in Spring 2023, primarily highlighting a large curtain wall and a fabricated furniture object. The form of the furniture object directly implicates the 99 drawings- synthesizing particular repetitive, recognizable geometries into a singular object with distinct readings at each elevation through the use of projective geometry and corresponding “linework” (stitches and seams).