Announcing School of Architecture Faculty & Staff Updates and New Hires

The School of Architecture is pleased to announce the following faculty and staff updates and new hires for the upcoming 2022-23 academic year.

Please join us in welcoming the newest additions to our school community. We look forward to their collaboration in the coming year.

**Daniel Cardoso Llach**
Associate Professor with Tenure

Daniel Cardoso Llach has been awarded indefinite tenure with the school, effective July 1, 2022. He teaches architecture as an Associate Professor, where he chairs the Master of Science in Computational Design (MSCD) program and co-directs the CoDe Lab. Daniel is an architect, design scholar, and researcher interested in issues of interdisciplinary creativity, human-machine interaction, and technological cultures in architecture and design. His work explores problems ranging from social and cultural aspects of automation in design, the politics of representation and participation in software, and new methods for using data to visualize design as a socio-technical phenomenon.

**Stefan Gruber**
Associate Professor with Tenure

Stefan Gruber has been awarded indefinite tenure with the school, effective July 1, 2022. He is a registered architect and Associate Professor. He also serves as Track Chair of the Master of Urban Design (MUD) program and holds a courtesy appointment at the School of Design. Stefan’s work spans architectural design, urbanism, and research with a particular focus on spatial justice and the political as articulated through the negotiation of top-down planning and bottom-up transformations of cities. His research and curatorial projects explore spaces and practices of commoning contributing to the transition towards a more equitable, resilient, and self-determined future beyond the paradigms of the market or the state.

**Priyanka Bista**
2022-24 Joseph F. Thomas Visiting Professor

Priyanka Bista is the recipient of a 2022-24 Joseph F. Thomas Visiting Professorship. Priyanka is a Nepali-Canadian architect and designer who has been a lifelong advocate for social and environmental justice. She is the cofounder and design director of KTK-BELT, the studio working with local communities in Eastern Nepal to create the “Vertical University,” a continuous forest belt that will conserve Nepal’s biodiversity and span the 8,000-meter vertical gradient from Koshi-Tappu Wildlife Reserve to Mount Kanchenjunga, the third tallest peak in the world. She earned an MA in International Architectural Regeneration and Development in 2012, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Shelter after Disaster at the Oxford Brookes University in 2013.

**Zaid Kashef Alghata**
2022-24 Joseph F. Thomas Visiting Professor

Zaid Kashef Alghata is the recipient of a 2022-24 Joseph F. Thomas Visiting Professorship. Zaid is a Bahraini-Iraqi designer, researcher, and educator whose current interdisciplinary work is centered on architecture's ecological re-structuring. He is the founder and lead designer of House of ZKA, a collection of architectural explorations produced in the form of projects, exhibitions, and interviews. The work was exhibited at Jai & Jai Gallery in Los Angeles and the Museum of Modern Art in Bologna. He practiced with several offices, including Gensler (Los Angeles) and UN Studio (Hong Kong) on theaters, residential towers, and mixed-use developments of various scales.

**Paul Pangaro**
Visiting Scholar in Computational Design

Paul Pangaro has been appointed as a Visiting Scholar in Computational Design. His work explores the role of conversation in expanding human agency in human-human as well as human-machine interactions. His knowledge and practice of cybernetics, systems, conversation theory, design, and artificial intelligence are the basis of his approach. As an educator, Paul begins with the conviction that 21st-century designers, architects, and technologists must wholly engage with the complex systems that comprise the entangled domains of technology and human nature, society and justice, climate change and planet health. Paul is deeply committed to bringing the field of cybernetics to light across multiple disciplines and domains.

**Jackie Joseph Paul McFarland**
Visiting Special Faculty

Jackie Joseph Paul McFarland joins the school as visiting special faculty for the next two years. His research and creative practice focuses on understanding and putting into context the experiences of African Americans' relationships to space and place. By applying Black theoretical practices – Afropessimism, Afrofuturism, Necropolitics – he steps outside Eurocentric theory to better understand not only the Black experience but the experiences of "othered" groups. Jackie received his M.Arch degree from Portland State University and a MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

**Tommy CheeMou Yang**
2022-23 Ann Kalla Visiting Professor, Visiting Special Faculty

Tommy CheeMou Yang will continue in the Ann Kalla Visiting Professorship for the next year, and subsequently continue for an additional year as visiting special faculty. His research and creative practice focuses on bridging the disciplines of architecture, cartography, and humanities through storytelling and spatial ethnography. He focuses on how cities adapt and change over time through fieldwork, public history, and multi-scale analysis. Tommy received his professional M.Arch degree from Parsons the New School of Design with Distinction and is a recipient of multiple awards and fellowships.

**Jenna Kappelt**
Special Faculty, Director of Outreach Programs, Director of Pre-College

Jenna Kappelt has been appointed full time Special Faculty with the school. She has managed the outreach programs for the School of Architecture through the Center for Architecture Explorations (CAE) since January 2019. She also oversees the Architecture Learning Network. Jenna works to create a cohesive experience of lifelong learning for people of all ages interested in the diverse practice and pursuit of architecture. She is devoted to the pursuit of architecture as a means of creating joy and excitement in our built environment, thereby building personal investment in an equitable and ecologically responsible building industry.

**Nathan Sawyer**
Special Faculty, Facilities Director

Nathan Sawyer has been appointed full time Special Faculty and Facilities Director for the school. This fall he will teach “48-116: Building Performance Fundamentals.” He will also oversee the facilities for the School of Architecture. Nathan is a 2022 graduate of the school’s Master of Science in Architecture–Engineering–Construction Management (MSAECM) program. He holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Oregon.

**Lynn Kawaratani**
Liaison Librarian to the School of Architecture

Lynn Kawaratani has received a faculty appointment as the Liaison Librarian to the School of Architecture. Prior to joining the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries, she served as the Assistant Director for Partnerships and Programing at the University of Pittsburgh Asian Studies Center. She also worked as an exhibit designer at several museums including the Smithsonian Institution. She holds a Bachelor and Master of Architecture degree from UC Berkeley and is currently completing her Master of Library and Information Science degree.

**Jared Abraham**
Associate Studio Professor

Jared Abraham has been appointed to a new full time role as Associate Studio Professor with the school. He is an educator and architectural designer based in Pittsburgh. His professional experience includes several years as an Associate at Allied Works Architecture, where he contributed to multiple award-winning projects. Jared has held teaching appointments at the Yale School of Architecture and the University of Cincinnati SAID. He earned his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Oregon AAA in 2007 and a Masters of Architecture from the Yale School of Architecture in 2016.

Matthew Huber has been appointed to a new full time role as Special Faculty with the school. His teaching focuses on issues of ecology, environmental ethics, ontology and tectonics, building performance, and methods of construction. He currently serves as a research assistant to principal investigators and SoA professors Dana Cupkova and Joshua Bard on an interrelated set of projects examining binder jet printing with recycled granular construction waste, shape optimization using computational tools, and intertwining ecological and material intelligences through complex morphological processes. Matthew holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University and studied as a visiting student at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

Christine Mondor has been renewed as part time Special Faculty with the school. She has been active in shaping Pittsburgh’s buildings and landscapes as an architect, educator, and activist. Her diverse experience enables her to note trends and technologies and bring benefit across project types. In over a decade of experience, Christine has worked with contractors to build custom residential homes and additions, collaborated with builders to create award winning historic housing, and has explored the use of new technologies for more efficient affordable urban housing in projects such as Crawford Square and Voskamp Village.

Francesca Torello, PhD is an architectural historian and Special Faculty with the Carnegie Mellon University School of Architecture since 2007. She writes about the role of history in architectural education and practice, particularly at the turn of the twentieth century. She is also engaged in digital humanities projects that explore architecture’s latent virtuality and the cultural shifts brought about by digital technologies. These projects include ReCast (2018), the augmented reality (AR) experience for historic plaster casts, and Virtual Fresco for the Great Hall of the College of Fine Arts, a Beaux Arts building on Carnegie Mellon’s Pittsburgh campus.

Valentina Vavasis has been renewed as part time Special Faculty with the school. She has the unique perspective of a professional with a combined background in architecture and real estate finance. She worked in commercial real estate on behalf of both for-profit and non-profit institutions for over 25 years. Valentina has also had her own consulting practice for over 10 years, in which she assists clients with a variety of real estate issues including long-range planning, project management, and financial analysis. Valentina has experience completing small-scale property rehabilitation projects and has a particular interest in community development.

**Garett Wood-Sternburgh**
Adjunct Instructor

Garrett Wood-Sternburgh, an Architect at DRAW Collective Architecture, joins the studio teaching faculty in the Poiesis 1 Studio. Garret’s architecture practice focuses on K-12 education and healthcare design in the greater Pittsburgh area. Prior to joining DRAW, he practiced in Ann Arbor and Detroit, MI and Philadelphia, PA. While in Philadelphia, he worked for Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown. He brings with him a strong background in digital fabrication with an emphasis in three- and five-axis CNC routing and welding. He received both his Bachelor of Science in Architecture and Master of Architecture from the University of Michigan, where he studied under David Adjaye.

Charlie Schmidt, of Midland Architecture, joins the studio teaching faculty in the Poiesis 3 Studio.

Ala Tannir, Curatorial Research Fellow at the Heinz Architectural Center at the Carnegie Museum of Art, joins the studio teaching faculty in the Praxis 1 Studio.

Vicky Achnani, the recipient of a 2022 Master of Architecture degree from Yale University, joins the studio teaching faculty in the Praxis 1 Studio.

Louis Suarez joins the studio teaching faculty in the Praxis 1 Studio. Louis is an emerging architectural designer, scholar, and educator from Pittsburgh. He has worked with the Manufacturing Futures Initiative where he researched additive manufacturing approaches to circular economy and is currently pursuing architectural history research on the links between travel and pedagogy in early 20th century American architectural education. As a professional, Louis has recently joined Perfido Weiskopf Wagstaff + Goettel Architects as a graduate architect. Louis holds a MS in Sustainable Design and a Bachelor of Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University.

Jill Swensen, Studio Leader and Principal at SmithGroup, joins the studio teaching faculty in the Praxis 3 Studio.

Theo Issaias, Associate Curator at the Heinz Architectural Center at the Carnegie Museum of Art, joins the studio teaching faculty in the ASO Studios.

**Alison Petrucci**
Graduate Academic Advisor

Alison Petrucci joins the school in the new role of Graduate Academic Advisor. In this role, she assists graduate students with registration, scheduling, and degree progress, and gives guidance on SoA and university resources and policies. Alison also advises the Graduate Student Assembly Committee (GSAC).

**Steven Sontag**
Assistant Shop Director

Steven Sontag joins the school as the Assistant Director of the School of Architecture Shop (ArchShop). Steven returns to the School of Architecture after graduating with a Bachelor of Architecture in 2021. During the few years before he returned to Pittsburgh, he worked as a fabricator and designer of custom furniture, objects, and ice sculptures. When he is not instructing or helping maintain the ArchShop, Steven enjoys pursuing new skills and crafts ranging from fine woodworking to advanced digital fabrication techniques. As a young professional, he gained extensive experience working in a hybrid fashion, switching between digital and analog fabrication techniques, and hopes to explore this further in his own work.

**Christi Danner**
Marketing & Outreach Manager

Christi Danner joins the school as the Marketing & Outreach Manager. In this role she will assist with the SoA’s marketing and outreach efforts, working closely with staff working across Communications, Student Recruitment/Admissions and Alumni Relations to strengthen and promote the reputation of the school nationally and internationally.