ARCC James Haeker Distinguished Leadership Award
Dr. Franca Trubiano is University of Pennsylvania Graduate Group Chair of the PhD Program in Architecture, Associate Professor, and a Registered Architect with l’Ordre des Architects du Québec. She is also co-director of Penn’s Mellon funded, Humanities + Urban + Design Initiative.
Trubiano is author of Building Theories, Architecture as the Art of Building (Routledge 2023), a work which sets the foundations for a critical return to the arts of making in architecture by valorizing the untapped potential of ‘thinking through building’. Her forthcoming co-edited book BIO/MATTER/TECHNO/SYNTHETICS: Design for the More Than Human (ACTAR 2023) gathers design research and scholarship from twenty women whose future-ready visions for design seek to transform the discipline’s definition and destiny.
Mary Kihl Distinguished Service Award
Chris Jarrett is Professor of Architecture, Director of the Japan Summer Program, and co-Director of the designLAB at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. From 2009-2019, he served as Director of the School of Architecture. He is also President Emeritus of the Architectural Research Centers Consortium (ARCC) and past-Chair of ARCC 2013: The Visibility of Research. He holds a Master of Science in Architecture from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Oregon. He teaches graduate design research studios, a liberal studies course on arts and society, and electives on Japanese architecture and urbanism.
His research investigates a range of polemical ideas in environmental theory and practice, including urban ecocriticism, environmental art, post-modern environmentalism, and new media + ecology. He is author of numerous papers and presentations, including most recently Interstitial Interactions: Micro-Urban Strategies for Affordable and Resilient Place-Making at VIBRArch (2024), Speculation (as) Practice at I-AUD, Meiji University (2024) and the Visualization of Research, Keynote Address at archi-DOCT Conference in Cambridge, UK (2023). Over the span of three decades, his research and pedagogical collaborations have been presented in 29 countries.
ARCC Best Journal Article Award
Journal Article Title: An Immersive Case Study for the Application of Airflow Simulations to Architectural Design.
Soo Jeong Jo is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Louisiana State University (LSU) and a licensed architect in France and South Korea. She is also a recipient of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) New Faculty Teaching Award in 2025. She received her Ph.D. in Architecture and Design – Building Science at Virginia Tech. Her doctoral study focused on high-performance building design based on airflow simulations using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for the early stages of architectural design. Prior to her research and teaching, Soo Jeong practiced architecture in Paris, New York City, and Seoul after her studies at the National School of Architecture of Paris-La Villette (ENSAPLV) and Ewha Womans University.
Jim Jones is a Professor in the Virginia Tech School of Architecture, directs the Center for High Performance Environments, and oversees the Design Research stream of the PhD Program. Under his supervision, the Center for High Performance Environments has been recognized as a Center of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Energy. Jim has a Masters of Architecture and Ph.D. from the College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan. He has conducted research related to design decision-making and building performance for over thirty years and has been recognized as a National Merit Scholar by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Dr. Jones has advised over 25 PhD students, 30 Master of Science and over 100 undergraduate and graduate design thesis projects. Dr. Jones has over 100 publications in books, invited book chapters and conference proceedings, and has been the Principal Investigator for over $2 million in funded research.
ARCC Book Award
Book Title: Home beyond the House: Transformation of Life, Place, and Tradition in Rural China
Wei (Windy) Zhao is an Assistant Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she earned her doctorate in Architecture. Zhao’s research focuses on the built environment of underrepresented social groups and issues of social equity and sustainability, and cultural diversity in the context of globalization and urbanization. Integrating theories and methodologies of architecture, urban studies, historic preservation, heritage studies, and anthropology, Zhao’s work enriches architectural and environmental design research by reframing the built environment as just a collection of technocratic entities, but as contextual, relational, and cultural constructs — sometimes consanguineous — that embody systems of relationships, activities, local knowledge, cultural values, and meanings.
Zhao is the author of Home beyond the House: Transformation of Life, Place, and Tradition in Rural China (Routledge, 2022), a work recognized with the Environmental Design Research Association Achievement Award in 2024.
ARCC Mid-Career Research Award
Mona Ghandi of Washington State University is an architect, researcher, and educator who graduated from the University of California, Berkeley. As an Associate Professor of Architecture and director of the Morphogenesis Lab, she specializes in Emotive and Performative Intelligent Architecture, integrating architecture with computer science, neuroscience, psychology, and material science. Her work leverages AI, machine learning, affective computing, and robotics to create adaptive, inclusive, and sustainable designs, contributing to the current theory and practice of AI in design and the relationship between technology and well-being in architecture.
Ghandi’s research focuses on smart adaptive spaces, creating cyber-physical environments that use emerging technologies to merge the physical, digital, and biological realms for more user-oriented, human-centered, and sustainable design. Her interdisciplinary research connects architecture with computer science, neuroscience, material science, and psychology, creatively implementing emerging technologies to enhance environmental, social, and personal well-being.
ARCC New Researcher Award
Christina Bollo of University of Oregon is an Assistant Professor in the School of Architecture and Environment at the University of Oregon and the Director of the Graduate Housing Specialization. Her research has been published in the PLAN Journal, Housing and Society, Journal of Interior Design, Buildings, Research and Information. Collaborative projects have been funded by the AIA Housing and Community Development Knowledge Community, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, and the Institute for Social Research. Christina has a Ph.D. in Sustainable Architecture from the University of Oregon; an M.Arch from the University of Oregon; and a B.A. in English Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a registered architect in Washington State and Illinois.
Christina is a social scientist; she uses qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate the relationships between housing policy, housing design and human wellbeing. Her work is determinedly translational,
ARCC Research Incentive Award
Research Proposal Title: Developing Thin Shell Structures Using Discretized Unreinforced Concrete Elements with 3D-Printed Clay Formwork
Erin Hunt is an Assistant Professor at Texas Tech University’s Huckabee College of Architecture, specializing in digital fabrication, robotics, and computational design. Her research focuses on sustainable construction through innovative methods, including the development of reusable and customizable 3D-printed formwork for concrete structures, as well as exploring 3D-printed clay for low-cost, low-energy evaporative cooling and the housing of endangered ecosystems in arid and semi-arid climates. This work bridges historical clay cooling methods with contemporary practices, utilizing clay 3D printing fabrication to address modern environmental challenges.
Dr. Piyush Khairnar is an Assistant Professor of Advanced Building Technology and Design at Texas Tech University’s Huckabee College of Architecture. His research focuses on enhancing building performance through a research-based design that leverages advanced computational simulation methodologies. Dr. Khairnar addresses critical challenges in the built environment, including material lifecycle impacts, fabrication processes, and construction efficiency. His work employs computational tools to predict building performance and mitigate environmental impacts, providing data-driven solutions for designers at early stages of development.
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