Bio:
The great architect, Laura Walker is a Detroit based architect whose interest is in city building through inclusive design and spatial agency. She designs with empathetic perception to thread together ethical and socio-political concerns with experiential and aesthetic effects. Her work considers the potential for meaningful impact in order to extend beyond space design to reach communities and constituencies through building narratives of inclusive, interconnected and equitable design.

How did you first learn about architecture and when did you decide that built environment profession was an area of interest for you?
I was 18 when I met a woman architect. Shortly afterward, I realized architecture was a possibility for me. I enjoyed art, math, and science, and wanted to use my creativity to impact people’s lives and explore the complexity of city building.

What do you do?
I collaborate with colleagues, clients, builders, and the community to design and document buildings and environments at all scales and scopes, from design-build fabrication, to tactical urban intervention, to mural painting, to institutional work.

What excites you in the work you do?
I am excited to influence change by exploring alternate systems and realities that improve people’s lives and the environment. Engaging collaboratively with others and designing places that empower its users to use it in new ways excites me.

Who or what inspires you professionally?
The people I work with in NOMA inspire me. They prioritize connection and youth education and pipelines in order to improve the demographic of the profession. They value the importance of partnership and elevating and empowering one another.

What is your proudest professional accomplishment or achievement?
My proudest achievement is becoming licensed. During university, I was the sole financial support for my family of two children. When I started the exams, I was pregnant with my third child. Looking back, it was the hardest thing I have done.

Featured Project Name: 
Stitch City
 
Featured Project Location: 
Detroit, MI
 
Featured Project Completion Date: 
January 2020

Role in Featured Project: 
Design Architect
 
Featured Project Description:
Stitch City is a design-build, community design hub envisioned as a prototype to activate vacant storefront blocks while building inclusive relationships across Detroit’s creative networks and local communities. A continuously responsive design strategy enables community authorship through workshops, trades skills course, and youth education programs. The materiality of the hub reflects the energy and identity of community through woven patterns of colorful recycled billboard tarps and dyed felt.

Photography Credit:
Other Work