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Aligned with the first week of the fall term, Graduate Thesis at SCI-Arc cultivates an inevitable link between the theses of outgoing graduates and the curiosity of incoming students. The weekend of reviews gives graduate thesis students an invaluable platform to articulate, propose, and defend their work to the SCI-Arc community and beyond. 97 students and 21 faculty advisors will converge with an array of invited guest critics from within and outside the discipline of architecture, to review, debate, and contemplate the provocations of this year's thesis projects.

“This year's graduate thesis projects at SCI-Arc are rooted in a profound understanding of the persistent social, technological, and climatic challenges we face globally,” notes Jackilin Hah Bloom, Graduate Thesis Coordinator. “Students have established new capacities to address these issues, not from a problem-solving approach, but one that focuses more on crafting novel processes and frameworks to enhance our understanding of the built environment. While each project represents a unique and personal exploration, collectively, this year's thesis projects will invigorate discussions around technology, building, and ecology.”

Special thanks to all the constituents at SCI-Arc who help to make all Graduate Thesis events happen.

DIRECTOR/CEO

Hernán Díaz Alonso

VICE DIRECTOR/CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER

John Enright

GRADUATE PROGRAMS CHAIR

Elena Manferdini

GRADUATE THESIS COORDINATOR

Jackilin Hah Bloom

ASSISTANT TEACHER

Richard Mapes

TEACHING ASSISTANTS

Kelly Dix Van Benjamin Elmer

HISTORY + THEORY ADVISORS

John Cooper Erik Ghenoiu Marcelyn Gow

DESIGN ADVISORS

Matthew Au Kristy Balliet Jackilin Hah Bloom Ramiro Diaz-Granados David Eskenazi Soomeen Hahm Damjan Jovanović Karel Klein Zeina Koreitem Karen Lohrmann Elena Manferdini Rachael McCall Eric Owen Moss Anna Neimark Casey Rehm David Ruy Marcelo Spina William Virgil
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Adelle Bunch

Karen Lohrmann

Re/presenting Representation

 

Folk Art, Scenography, Cultural Appropriation

This thesis examines how folk art appears in set design to determine where cultural appropriation happens in the design process. Hollywood film sets, costumes and props are often inspired by folk art of marginalized cultures and the industry has historically participated in skewed representation and systemic racism. By seeking out and producing art that lives (sometimes uncomfortably) between folk art and mainstream production; this project will further our understanding of appropriation and (hopefully) develop some principles to inspire successful representation.

The discourse around representation brings us to the question of abstraction. How do we abstract design elements from indigenous cultures without appropriating them? When transitioning from folk art to larger design gestures, it can be difficult to keep meaning intact. Some of the ways we experience these abstractions at an architectural scale with oversized textures, forms and figures, materiality, and scripted movement through a space. The importance of the design’s meaning can be extrapolated in a completely different way than the original art form. This is particularly relevant when we use our work to propel the conversation about representation and misappropriation forward.

My thesis experiments with the process of making and how scaling both the production and artifacts impacts what our design communicates. These pieces and the reflections on them explore the nuanced space between representation and appropriation, while finding both successful and uncomfortable attempts at representing folk art.

 
 

Beading Test

Beading Test

Handmade Alebrije

 

Concept Alebrije

Alex Aguilera · Ahmed Almohanna · Omar Alrejaib · Lieven Baert · Maddy Berthold · Arjun Bharat · Adelle Bunch · Charite Carballo · Angelina Castagnola · Mackenzie Champlin · Junyi (Joy) Chen · Kai-Yen Chen · Wan-Yu (Wendy) Chen · Wei-Hung Chen · Yilong Chen · Yuyan Chen · James Chidiac · Shuang Chu · Jenny Cook · Kai Daniels · Emily Dinnerman · Solace Enwere  · Zarina Farmer-George ·  Kristoff Fink · Jack Freedman · Miaoyan Ge · Diba Ghazia · Qian Gu · Evelyn Hinojosa · Meng-Jung Ho · Jingbo Huang · TeKuei Huang · Matthew Hunt · Benjamin Jepsky · Suyue Jin · Xiao Jin · Abhishek Kadian · Krishna Kakadia · Yara Kamali · Morgan Knowles Sobotka  · Kaustubh Kulkarni · Aleksandra Lapshina · Daniel Chek Lam Lau · Wonjae Lee · Samson Levi · Sijia Li · Chloe Sijie Lin  · Bingkun Liu · Chunjia (Haruka) Liu  · Lexin Liu · Yanchu Liu · Freeland Livingston · Sizhe Lu · Amin Marandi · Jila Mendoza · Arthur Modine · Zhao Mu · Corey Norman · Lejian Ouyang · Matthew Pak · Jingyi (Casey) Pan  · Piyush Panchal · Hanna Park · Jinyong Park  · Nehal Patel · Felix Reyes · Mohamed Rezk · Jack Sheffield · Jiangyao Shen · Fang Shu · Man Shu · Yangmin Su · Pan Tan · Claire Trout · Marbella Vasquez Farach · Maria (Meli) Vasquez  · Jiehao Wang · Wei-Chieh Wang · Zeyu Wang · Michael Webb · Jixun Wen · Zhifeng Wu · Jinxin Xu · Huaiben Yang · Yuexiao Yang · TIffany Yu · Xinyuan Yue · Rebecca Zamani · Hiwot Zegeye · Jiaxin Zhao · Rui Zhao · Yiyu Zhou · Wei Zhu · Qingyang Zong · Haocun (Joseph) Zou  · Mange Zou · Kyle Zufra · Kyle Zufra ·  Alex Aguilera · Ahmed Almohanna · Omar Alrejaib · Lieven Baert · Maddy Berthold · Arjun Bharat · Adelle Bunch · Charite Carballo · Angelina Castagnola · Mackenzie Champlin · Junyi (Joy) Chen · Kai-Yen Chen · Wan-Yu (Wendy) Chen · Wei-Hung Chen · Yilong Chen · Yuyan Chen · James Chidiac · Shuang Chu · Jenny Cook · Kai Daniels · Emily Dinnerman · Solace Enwere  · Zarina Farmer-George ·  Kristoff Fink · Jack Freedman · Miaoyan Ge · Diba Ghazia · Qian Gu · Evelyn Hinojosa · Meng-Jung Ho · Jingbo Huang · TeKuei Huang · Matthew Hunt · Benjamin Jepsky · Suyue Jin · Xiao Jin · Abhishek Kadian · Krishna Kakadia · Yara Kamali · Morgan Knowles Sobotka  · Kaustubh Kulkarni · Aleksandra Lapshina · Daniel Chek Lam Lau · Wonjae Lee · Samson Levi · Sijia Li · Chloe Sijie Lin  · Bingkun Liu · Chunjia (Haruka) Liu  · Lexin Liu · Yanchu Liu · Freeland Livingston · Sizhe Lu · Amin Marandi · Jila Mendoza · Arthur Modine · Zhao Mu · Corey Norman · Lejian Ouyang · Matthew Pak · Jingyi (Casey) Pan  · Piyush Panchal · Hanna Park · Jinyong Park  · Nehal Patel · Felix Reyes · Mohamed Rezk · Jack Sheffield · Jiangyao Shen · Fang Shu · Man Shu · Yangmin Su · Pan Tan · Claire Trout · Marbella Vasquez Farach · Maria (Meli) Vasquez  · Jiehao Wang · Wei-Chieh Wang · Zeyu Wang · Michael Webb · Jixun Wen · Zhifeng Wu · Jinxin Xu · Huaiben Yang · Yuexiao Yang · TIffany Yu · Xinyuan Yue · Rebecca Zamani · Hiwot Zegeye · Jiaxin Zhao · Rui Zhao · Yiyu Zhou · Wei Zhu · Qingyang Zong · Haocun (Joseph) Zou  · Mange Zou · Kyle Zufra · Kyle Zufra ·