Welcoming our New Faculty and Staff + Highlighting Promotions — Fall 2024

The School of Architecture is excited to announce new faculty and staff who are joining us this fall 2024 semester, as well as highlight recent promotions and appointed leadership positions.

New Faculty

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MEGHAN BLUMSTEIN
Assistant Professor (Tenure-Track), Environmental Sciences and Landscape Architecture

Blumstein joins UVA as a new tenure-track assistant professor across the Departments of Environmental Sciences and Landscape Architecture. Researching the unprecedented levels of stress that forests are currently facing from pest and disease outbreaks, frequent and intense disturbance, fragmentation and a changing climate, Blumstein takes an interdisciplinary approach to ask, “How will forests survive the next century of stress?” She seeks to determine how much potential they have to respond, utilizing tools from genetics, genomics, physiology and modeling to understand how that stress is shaping the tree populations that provide us with countless ecosystem services while serving as a critical stabilizing force for the climate.  

Blumstein holds a Ph.D. in organismal and evolutionary biology from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from Middlebury College in Vermont. Before coming to UVA, she served as a Bullard Fellow at the Harvard Forest. Holding joint appointment, Blumstein will develop courses with the potential for cross-registration aimed at introducing students to plant biology, physiology and the study of spatial patterns in natural landscapes. More about Meghan.

CÉSAR A. LOPEZ
Assistant Professor (Tenure-Track), Architecture

César A. Lopez is a first-generation Mexican American architectural designer, researcher, and educator who draws on his upbringing in the Mexico-United States Border Region as critical knowledge to explore the entanglements between architecture, territory, and the politics that dictate them. He co-directs FRONTERA-NATION with Germán Pallares-Avitia, a design, research, and advocacy practice that re-frames political borders as a constellation of sites and identities. He joins the University of Virginia School of Architecture as tenure-track faculty in the Department of Architecture in Fall 2024.

As an educator, César embraces his experiences as a first-generation college graduate to explore grounded pedagogical approaches in teaching core and research-based design studios, visualization courses, and seminars on the politics of representation. In 2023, he received the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) / American Institute of Architectural Students (AIAS) New Faculty Teaching Award by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. In 2024, César was appointed to serve on the 2024-2025 ACSA Leadership Committee. As a design researcher, César has presented at national and international conferences and symposiums and published in prominent journals. He is co-authoring a book titled Exclusions, Edges, and Ecologies: An Architecture… which documents the infrastructural and architectural typologies along political boundaries to identify the entanglement between architecture and power structures. More about César.

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ESTHER LORENZ
Associate Professor (Tenure-Track), Architecture

Esther Lorenz is a licensed architect and academic with education from TU Graz and TU Delft. She brings to her research and teaching extensive experience from practicing architecture and urban design in Austria, the Netherlands, and Australia. Most recently, she designed a multi-unit housing project in Austria, which was completed in 2024. Lorenz joined the UVA School of Architecture faculty in 2012 and has served as the undergraduate architecture program director for close to a decade. 

Lorenz’s research explores density in architecture and urbanism through design, representation, embodied spatial narratives and theorization in relation to different cultural contexts, with outputs in design, exhibition, and writing. Her work has been exhibited in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, at the Venice Architecture Biennale, and repeatedly at the Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture, with contributions in both venue locations, Hong Kong and Shenzhen.  Currently, Lorenz is working on a book project that describes and theorizes the unique morphology and the specific architectural, urban and infrastructural typologies of Hong Kong in relation to the moving human body. Through the Asian Urban Collaborative (AUC), which she co-founded in 2022, Lorenz develops and curates innovative scholarship and professional insights focused on the complexities and breadth of Asian urbanization. More about Esther.

KATIE STRANIX
Assistant Professor (Tenure-Track), Architecture

Katie Stranix, AIA is a registered architect and co-founding principal of the design collaborative, Office of Things, and principal of Stranix Bachman Architects (XBA). Her practice, research, and teaching focus on the transformation and enrichment of everyday spaces within our shared built environment, identifying opportunities for the insertion of playful and inviting spaces that enhance the physical, mental, and social health of inhabitants.  Her projects operate at multiple scales and explore how form, color, light, and sound impact the senses and heighten the human experience.  Her work with Office of Things has received national and international recognition and has been featured prominently in design publications such as Architect’s Newspaper, Dezeen, Fast Company, Wallpaper, and New York Times Magazine.

Prior to joining UVA, Stranix was a project architect at Studio Gang Architects, working on a variety of project types and scales and with a diverse range of designers, clients, programs, and sites.  Her upcoming book with Routledge Publishing explores the design of restorative spaces in architecture, identifying elements, enclosures, and environments that through both aesthetics and affect act as a welcome foil to their surroundings.  She received her Masters in Architecture from Yale University where she was awarded the William Wirt Winchester Fellowship, the Lord Norman R. Foster Scholarship, and the Wendy Elizabeth Blanning Prize.  She holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Virginia. More about Katie.

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LAUREN CANTRELL
Assistant Professor of Practice (General Faculty), Architecture and Landscape Architecture

Lauren Cantrell, PLA, ASLA, is a Landscape Architect and the founder and owner of DELINEATOR. Her experience spans the globe on a broad range of award-winning landscape architecture, urban design, and planning projects that focus on environmental sustainability and material craft. She credits the strength of her most successful work to her ability to curate strong collaborations with clients, architects, artists, stakeholders, engineers, and communities. She is a registered Landscape Architect in Texas, Virginia, and Maryland and has extensive knowledge in constructing work in North Texas. 

Cantrell’s approach and projects have garnered eight Texas ASLA Awards including The Plaza at Solana in the Town of Westlake, Texas, a renovation of an original design for IBM’s North Texas Campus by Peter Walker Partners and Ricardo Legorreta. In 2023, The Virginia Chapter of ASLA recognized Cottonwood Creeks: A Sustainable Vision Plan with an Award of Merit in the Analysis and Planning Category. In parallel to her professional practice, she is also involved in a broad range of activities including participation on roundtables, advisory boards, and committees with a focus on equitable, environmental, and innovative urban design collaboration. More about Lauren.

MARTA JARABO
Assistant Professor (General Faculty), Architecture

Marta Jarabo’s work spans a wide range of design practices, research, and teaching. She is the founder of Marta Jarabo Studio, which has garnered significant recognition, including nominations for Building of the Year by Archdaily in 2023, Premios Arquitectura del CSCAE in 2022, and finalist recognition for Premis Fad Interiors in 2023. Her work focuses on the interdisciplinary frameworks of architecture and fine art to reflect on how the geopolitical, economical, and technical transformations affect the social/spatial structures created around them.

In addition to her own practice, Jarabo has substantial experience working with renowned firms such as Andrés Jaque / Office for Political Innovation based in New York and Madrid, Luis Feduchi Architects in India, and HIT in China, where she has designed innovative urban and architectural environments.  Jarabo’s artistic work has been widely exhibited and supported through prestigious fellowships. She has exhibited collaborative and individual projects internationally. She begins her appointment as general faculty in architecture in spring 2025. More about Marta.

New Visiting Faculty, Postdoctoral Research Associates, Lecturers, and Fellows

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ALEJANDRO GUERRERO and ANDREA SOTO
Shure Visiting Professors, Atelier ARS

Alejandro Guerrero and Andrea Soto are architects based in Guadalajara, México and co-founders of Atelier ARS. Guerrero and Soto have been working together since 2010. He obtained a Master’s Degree in Architecture, Criticism and Project from the School of Architecture of Barcelona at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in 2006, and taught architectural design studio for more than 14 years at ITESO. He also graduated from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO) in Guadalajara, México. She won the CEMEX Architect Marcelo Zambrano Scholarship which supported her studies for the Master in Landscape Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, graduating with an American Society of Landscape Architects ASLA distinction in 2017. She also graduated from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO) in Guadalajara, México. 

Together, Guerrero and Soto have received the Emerging Voices award, given by The Architectural League of New York and the Design Vanguard from Architectural Record magazine, both in 2015. Their work has been nominated for the Mies Crown Hall America’s Prize, granted by the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, and has been a finalist in the Ibero-American Architecture and Urbanism Biennial in Sao Paulo, Brazil. They have been lecturers at the Graduate School of Design of Harvard through the Latin GSD cycle, Boston Architectural College, as well as UBC SALA, and UVA. More about Atelier ARS.

RINA PRIYANI
Postdoctoral Research Associate/Fellow (Mellon Program in Race, Place, and Equity), Architectural History

Rina Priyani is a Mellon Race, Place and Equity Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Architectural History, School of Architecture. Her research focuses on the racialization of urban space and landscape in colonial and postcolonial Southeast Asia. Prior to coming to UVA, she taught at Bandung Institute of Technology in Indonesia and UC Berkeley. In Spring 2025, she will offer a seminar course on “Bandung: Afro-Asian Solidarity and Urban Futures.” 

Her current book project, Building Bandung: Colonialism, Ethnic Identities and Architectural Practices in Indonesia, examines the efforts of Indonesian intellectuals and visionaries of the postcolonial world who have been reinventing the city of Bandung in West Java, rupturing it from its colonial origin. This research foregrounds class, ethnicity, gender, and race in Bandung’s urban transformation that grappled with the legacies of late Dutch colonialism, Japanese occupation, and Indonesian post-independence. She traced this lineage to the important moment in global history when the city hosted the anticolonial Afro-Asian or Asian-African Conference, known as the ”Bandung Conference,” in 1955 and became a symbol of the Non-Aligned Movement. More about Rina.

BOBBY VANCE
Practitioner Fellow (University of Virginia Environmental Institute), Architecture

Bobby Vance, Chief Design Officer at Servicetry Integrated Services, is a seasoned professional adept at aligning planning, design, and construction. His role involves implementing innovative tools to boost design effectiveness and streamline documentation efficiency. Currently, Vance serves as the Competition Manager for the 2025 Gateway Decathlon in St. Louis, overseeing a groundbreaking event providing a global platform for universities. He joins the University of Virginia's Environmental Institute as a Practitioner Fellow for the 2024-25 academic year, hosted by the School of Architecture.

As a Practitioner Fellow, he serves as a subject area expert to advise research and teaching teams in Architecture and Engineering as they embark on a shared, interdisciplinary program to develop decarbonized, affordable dwelling designs for neighborhoods in Charlottesville. Vance will develop a series of lectures that will be presented to students of partnering courses and a research studio taught in Fall 2024 by Assistant Professor Schaeffer Somers. He will consult in the development of a seminar for Spring 2025, ARCH 5500 ADU Parametric Prototyping, taught by Somers, with Eric Field. Vance will serve as a secondary instructor in the seminar and have an advisory role in shaping an interdisciplinary program to develop built prototypes of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) modeled on his FutureHAUS project experience. More about Bobby.

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SAWYER DAVIES
Lecturer, Architecture

Sawyer Davies is a designer and educator across both Landscape Architecture and Architecture – currently teaching as a Lecturer in the Architecture Department. His projects seek to blur and entangle the distinctions between what are often confined professionally within the regular contours of Landscape or Architecture. His work responds to the complex social, ecological, and historical narratives that comprise spaces, critically engaging multiplicity rather than imposing a singular story. Davies is a recent graduate receiving both his Masters of Architecture and Masters of Landscape Architecture from the University of Virginia. His teaching experience includes work across three departments at the Architecture School and the school’s Summer Design Institute. He will be teaching an advanced research studio in fall 2024 alongside Visiting Shure Professors Alejandro Guerrero and Andrea Soto. More about Sawyer.

THOMAS EITLER
Lecturer, Urban and Environmental Planning

Thomas Eitler is an urban planner and land use professional who is a principal at Urban Development Advisors LLC. Urban Development Advisors provides strategic advice to cities, organizations and companies on a wide range of real estate and land use issues including: Revitalization, Real Estate Development, Municipal Finance, Public Private Partnerships, Urban Planning and Design, Sustainability and Resilience, Organizational Structures, Land Economics, Creative Placemaking and Transportation Systems. From 2006 to 2023 he managed the Urban Land Institute's Advisory Services Program. Since 1947, this program has been providing strategic advice to governments, institutions and companies on a wide variety land use, real estate development and public policy issues ranging from economic development, urban design, finance and infrastructure to revitalization, housing and municipal management associated with the built environment. More about Thomas.

BERNARDO DE MAGALHÃES E MENEZES
Lecturer, Landscape Architecture

Bernardo Menezes is a landscape critic and historian pursuing a Ph.D. in the Constructed Environment at the University of Virginia School of Architecture. His doctoral research explores the development of landscape architecture theoretical discourse as it evolved as a field of study during the early decades of the twentieth century. Soon after training as a landscape architect, Menezes worked as a designer and independent researcher for the Portuguese Association of Historic Gardens (AJH) and the University of Porto. Prior to joining the University of Virginia as a Lecturer, Menezes taught in the Departments of Landscape Architecture and Heritage Studies at the University of Porto for three years, on courses such as “History of Landscape Architecture,” “Landscape Policies,” and “History of Modern and Contemporary Architecture.” More about Bernardo.

LEMARA MIFTAKHOVA
Lecturer, Architecture

Lemara Miftakhova is an architect with Anacapa Architecture, a Santa Barbara and Portland Design Studio, centered on sustainable, innovative solutions for diverse project types, including residential, commercial, and hospitality. Miftakhova’s professional experience includes working as an architect and technical designer at Gensler in San Francisco, and as a design intern at Michael Maltzan Architects, Dripps + Phinney Studio, and DCS. She has worked on projects including the City View Project (San Jose, CA), Burlingame Point (facebook), and many more, including numerous complex research laboratories. While a student at UVA, she taught digital courses, such as Grasshopper 3D, Revit and Dynamo as a Digital Fellow. She was also the recipient of the Sean Steele-Nicholson Memorial Award and the AIA Henry Adams Medal for overall excellence in design and scholarship. More about Lemara.

SASSON RAFAILOV
Lecturer, Architecture

Sasson Rafailov is a theorist and designer whose work is situated at the intersection of new materialist philosophy, craft theory, and philosophy of education. He is currently a student in the PhD in the Constructed Environment Program at the University of Virginia School of Architecture. His dissertation will propose a new approach to craft in the educational training of architects and designers through the lens of posthumanist philosophy. Rafailov graduated with a B.Arch. from Cornell University in 2018, where he pursued research in design pedagogy for his thesis project. He then went on to teach design studio and a foundational theory course at the University at Buffalo’s School of Architecture and Planning, and subsequently enrolled in Harvard University’s Master of Design Program, where he graduated in 2021. He is also an avid craftsperson and designer, and has exhibited work in a variety of materials in domestic and international venues. More about Sasson.

TITHI SANYAL
Lecturer, Architecture

Tithi Sanyal is an architectural designer and an urban design researcher pursuing a Ph.D. in the Constructed Environments at the University of Virginia. Her doctoral research focuses on Cultivating Urbanism: The Agroecological Landscape of the Post-Industrial Shrinking City of Detroit. Sanyal earned her Master of Architecture from Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a Bachelor of Architecture with Honors from NMIMS Balwant Sheth School of Architecture, Mumbai. She was previously a Research Associate at RVTR, a research-based practice at the University of Michigan. At RVTR, she had undertaken design research on sponsored projects examining the applications of complex systems theory to urban design, focused on increasing urban access and the food-energy-water nexus. She has presented internationally at conferences on Architecture, Urban Design, Urbanism, and Interdisciplinary Research. She has been a design critic at the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia. More about Tithi.

New Staff

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JOYCE ARCOS
Senior Fiscal Technician, Center for Cultural Landscapes

 Joyce Arcos, a native of Miami, Florida, cultivated her academic journey with a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Communication from Florida International University in 2019. Her quest for professional growth led her to Charlottesville, VA, where she embarked on a fulfilling career trajectory. In 2020, Arcos joined the University of Virginia within the Contemplative Sciences Department, where she channels her profound enthusiasm for yoga. In summer 2024, she assumed the role of Senior Fiscal Technician at the School of Architecture, serving the Center for Cultural Landscapes. In this capacity, she seamlessly integrates her passions for communication, finance, and cultural landscapes. More about Joyce.

DANIELE DIXON
Project Associate, Center for Cultural Landscapes

Daniele Rose Dixon is the Project Associate for the Out(sider) Preservation Initiative at the Center for Cultural Landscapes. Contributing her expertise to Dr. Andrea Roberts, she channels her passion as a historian into preserving African American history and amplifying marginalized voices. As the point person for the Texas Freedom Colonies Project, Dixon brings her extensive knowledge in ethnographic research, oral history, and community engagement to the forefront. She maintains the Texas Freedom Colonies Atlas’ database, diversifies storytelling, represents the organization at public events, and transforms educational programs. More about Daniele.

SARAH LANE
Senior Fiscal Technician, School of Architecture
Raised in Charlottesville, Sarah Lane joined the School of Architecture as a Senior Fiscal Technician in August 2024.  Lane has training in Data Analytics and a passion for budgeting, spreadsheets, and lifelong learning.  She brings a fresh perspective to contribute to the university’s financial success and is looking forward to making a positive impact at the School of Architecture as part of the Finance Team and Business Office. 

ADRIAN ROBINS
Research Specialist, Natural Infrastructure Lab

Adrian Robins joined the School of Architecture’s Natural Infrastructure Lab (NIL) as a Research Specialist shortly after graduating from the school’s Landscape Architecture Department in May 2024. In this new role, Robins works alongside Associate Professor Brian Davis and project manager Ruby Zielinski on the Natural Infrastructure Innovation Project. This five-year undertaking, funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineering With Nature (EWN) Program, focuses on designing new forms of coastal infrastructure for the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. More about Adrian.

JENNIFER SAUNDERS
Research Associate, Center for Cultural Landscapes

Jennifer Saunders provides general support to the Center for Cultural Landscapes as a whole, including its public-facing research projects. With a background including archaeology, library and archival work, and historic preservation, Saunders brings a broad range of skills and experience to the Center’s projects. An ABD PhD candidate in the UVA Department of Anthropology, her dissertation work examines how communities have worked to preserve history and create a sense of belonging around St. Emma Military Academy and St. Francis de Sales School in Powhatan County, Virginia. Before coming to the Center for Cultural Landscapes, Jennifer took part in numerous cultural heritage and historic preservation projects as an archaeological field technician and an architectural history survey technician. More about Jennifer.

RUBY ZIELINSKI
Project Manager, Natural Infrastructure Lab

Ruby Zielinski is a budding landscape architect and a creative strategist and storyteller who crafts memorable experiences by intersecting multiple design disciplines. She began honing her skills by completing a BFA at Memphis College of Art while simultaneously working at an award-winning design agency. Zielinski was exposed to landscape architecture while working on designing and re-imagining the Memphis Riverfront with the Memphis River Parks Partnership. As the Director of Brand Experience, she led the operations, programming, and design of 250 acres along the Mississippi River, learning how to manage, maintain, and support the connection between people and their parks. She received her Master in Landscape Architecture from the Bartlett School of Architecture in London and joined the Natural Infrastructure Lab at UVA to explore how nature can influence our built environment and inspire innovative approaches to projects that adapt to our changing climate. More about Ruby.

Promotions + Leadership Appointments

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ELGIN CLECKLEY
Associate Professor (with Tenure), Architecture 

We congratulate Elgin Cleckley on his recent promotion to Associate Professor with tenure. Cleckley, NOMA, also holds appointments in the School of Education and Human Development and the School of Nursing. He is the Undergraduate Architecture Program Director for the Department of Architecture. Cleckley is the Director of Design Justice at UVA’s Equity Center (Democracy Initiative Center for the Redress of Inequity Through Community-Engaged Scholarship), and principal of _mpathic design, a multi-award-winning pedagogy, initiative, and professional practice. His recent book is titled Empathic Design: Perspectives on Creating Inclusive Spaces (Island Press).

SHELLEY WALKER MILLER
Senior Administrative Coordinator, Architecture History Department
Program Administrator, PhD in the Constructed Environment and Graduate Certificate Programs

Shelley Walker Miller was promoted to Senior Administrative Coordinator for the Department of Architectural History. Miller has worked with multiple departments’ chairs, faculty, and students since joining the UVA School of Architecture in August 2016. She currently provides support to the Architectural History Chair, faculty and students and is the Program Administrator to the graduate certificate programs: Historic Preservation, Real Estate, Urban Design, and the PhD in Constructed Environment program. She has 35 years of experience in administration, legal work, and higher education.

MATTHEW SEIBERT
Assistant Professor, Landscape Architecture and Graduate Program Director

Assistant Professor Matthew Seibert has been appointed as Director of the Master of Landscape Architecture program. Seibert’s research and teaching challenge dominant modes of knowledge production, employing alternative methodologies and immersive representational tools to cultivate a pluralistic understanding of being in the world. Seibert’s work has been recognized by organizations from the American Society of Landscape Architects to the US Environmental Protection Agency, exhibited across the country from New York to San Francisco, and published internationally. His new book project is The Dark Side of Green: A Narrative Atlas of the Costs and Cautions behind our Clean Energy Utopia (tentative title). 

KYLE STURGEON
Associate Dean of Strategic Initiatives

Kyle Sturgeon was promoted to Associate Dean of Strategic Initiatives in summer 2024. Sturgeon is a licensed architect and maker with over a decade of experience in design education. Before returning to UVA, Sturgeon worked as a designer and construction administrator with the firms of Office dA, Kennedy & Violich Architecture, and Moshe Safdie Architects. He was also director of advanced studios, building technology curriculum, and fabrication labs at the Boston Architectural College. As an Associate Dean of Strategic Initiatives, Sturgeon’s work spans many of the School's academic operations and public programs: direction of the Design Discovery summer program for high school students, coordination of exhibitions, and management of design studio environment. Sturgeon is passionate about demystifying design and providing meaningful educational experiences for students.