Community Builder
After working for years as an architect, Araceli Garza (ARCH ’98) found herself wanting more: more involvement in the design process, in the community outreach, even in financing, so that she could...
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Staying Local: Chicagoan’s New Perspective of the City
(B.Arch. 4th Year)Chicago is deeply ingrained in the heart of Fionn Hui (B.Arch. 4th Year). She grew up riding her bike past her home in the Bridgeport neighborhood and around Illinois Tech’s Mies Campus, and she knew...
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Building Sustainability
(ARCH ’01)Just shy of 1,200 feet in height and coming in at 101 stories, the Studio Gang-designed St. Regis Chicago has already become a recognizable part of the Chicago’s skyline. Its height and three-stem...
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Designs on a Dream
(M.A.S. ARCH ’14)In 2021 Alzira Maldonado Protsishin (M.A.S. ARCH ’14) won the American Institute of Architects Chicago (AIA Chicago) Dubin Family Young Architect Award—a title that, on the surface, might suggest a...
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Preservation Rooted in Memories
(ARCH ’13, M.ENG. ARCE ’15)Although she didn’t recognize it then, Allison Toonen-Talamo’s path to becoming an historic preservation leader began when she saw that in the mid-2000s, the ranches, homes, and mom-and-pop businesses...
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A Full-Circle Experience
(ARCH ’16)Martin Majkrak’s Illinois Tech experience came full circle when he joined the College of Architecture as an adjunct faculty member. As a student, he transferred from Wilbur Wright College and...
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Shaping a Community’s Quality of Life
(Architecture 5th Year)Involved with music and the arts from an early age, Andrew Jiang considered pursuing a degree in musical performance. Along the way he discovered the field of architecture and felt it was the “perfect...
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At 19, Frank Fu Is Already Applying Architecture to Art
(Architecture 4th Year)Frank Fu (Architecture 4th Year) has lived the world over, from Shenzhen, China, to Abu Dhabi to Omaha, Nebraska. When Fu knew he wanted to study architecture, though, he knew Chicago was the place to...
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Rachel Wiesbrock Wants to Rethink the Future of Accessible Architecture
(Architecture 4th Year)Having been born and raised in what she calls “a generic town” northwest of Chicago, Rachel Wiesbrock (Architecture 4th Year) says coming to study architecture in Chicago—and all the opportunity it...
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A Life-Changing Layover
(M.L.A./M.ARCH. 3rd Year)When Alexis Arias-Betancourt (M.L.A./M.ARCH. 3rd Year) was confronted with a 20-hour layover in Chicago on a trip to China, he decided to make the most out of the situation with a trip to S. R. Crown...