MONDAY  |  OCT 3 |  5:00 PM | AB 100

Katie Swenson, a senior principal of MASS Design Group since 2020 and author of two books, will speak on the Ball State campus in the Architecture Building Room 100 at 5 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 3. Guests are welcome to join us at 4 p.m. for a reception in her honor in the CAP Atrium or at 5 p.m. for the lecture.

Ms. Swenson will visit the College of Architecture and Planning for two days, meeting students and professionals on both the Muncie and Indianapolis campuses as part of the College of Architecture and Planning’s Sappenfield lecture series which brings distinguished practitioners to campus to interact with students in studio classes and to deliver talks. Because the Covid pandemic interrupted the annual Sappenfield lecture, the college will host two Sappenfield lecturers this academic year with Swenson the first.

Her lecture is titled “Design with Love” and includes the following learning objectives:

  • identify the impact of community centered design and purpose built approaches in architecture
  • integrate strategies of immersion and interpersonal engagement in the project planning and design stages
  • assess project outcomes by their impact on the health and well-being of their respective communities, beyond strictly financial results
  • implement methodology and thinking to inspire future generations of designers and architects

Ms. Swenson’s biography

A nationally recognized design leader, researcher, writer, and educator, Katie Swenson has served as a senior principal of MASS Design Group since 2020. Katie’s work explores how critical design practice can, and should, promote economic and social equity, environmental sustainability, and healthy communities. Katie has over 20 years of experience in the theoretical and practical application of design thinking and is a talented global public speaker and thought leader. A prolific writer, she authored Design with Love: At Home in America, and In Bohemia: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Kindness, both published in August 2020. She co-authored Growing Urban Habitats: Seeking a Housing Development Model with William Morrish and Susanne Schindler. She is a contributing author to Activist Architecture: Philosophy and Practice of Community Design and Expanding Architecture: Design as Activism. Katie was awarded the AIA Award for Excellence in Public Architecture in 2021. Prior to joining MASS, Katie was the vice president of Design & Sustainability at Enterprise Community Partners. An alumni of the Enterprise Rose Fellowship’s second class, Swenson was tapped to lead and grow the program in 2007. Katie also helped found the Charlottesville Community Design Center in 2004.

For more information, contact caplectures@bsu.edu

See her lecture here.