On Hispanic Heritage Month, we would like to recognize Prof. Patricia Saldaña-Natke, Founding Partner of UrbanWorks and recipient of the Illinois Architecture Medal as a distinguished alumna of the ISoA.
Pat’s extraordinary record of public service imbues the firm with a strong civic ethic and she has led the School’s efforts in ethical sourcing of materials through a strategic collaboration with Grace Farms.
A graduate of UIUC, Pat has served as Adjunct Professor at the IIT College of Architecture, Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, a Facilitator at Archeworks, and as a Masters in Architecture Thesis Advisor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is currently a Teaching Assistant Professor at the Illinois School of Architecture and a member of the ISoA Alumni Advisory Board.
Among her professional accomplishments, Pat chaired the National AIA Diversity Committee for the American Institute of Architects. She was recently listed in in the “2014: 50 Chicago Designers” by New City, one of the five Emerging Designers by Crain’s Chicago in 2014, and in Crain’s 2020 and 2021 Notable Women in Construction. In 2018 Pat was elevated to the AIA’s College of Fellows in the Design Category. In 2022 she received the Arquitectos Society of Hispanic Architects Legacy Award.
On Hispanic Heritage Month, we would like to recognize Prof. Patricia Saldaña-Natke, Founding Partner of UrbanWorks and recipient of the Illinois Architecture Medal as a distinguished alumna of the ISoA.
Pat’s extraordinary record of public service imbues the firm with a strong civic ethic and she has led the School’s efforts in ethical sourcing of materials through a strategic collaboration with Grace Farms.
A graduate of UIUC, Pat has served as Adjunct Professor at the IIT College of Architecture, Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, a Facilitator at Archeworks, and as a Masters in Architecture Thesis Advisor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is currently a Teaching Assistant Professor at the Illinois School of Architecture and a member of the ISoA Alumni Advisory Board.
Among her professional accomplishments, Pat chaired the National AIA Diversity Committee for the American Institute of Architects. She was recently listed in in the “2014: 50 Chicago Designers” by New City, one of the five Emerging Designers by Crain’s Chicago in 2014, and in Crain’s 2020 and 2021 Notable Women in Construction. In 2018 Pat was elevated to the AIA’s College of Fellows in the Design Category. In 2022 she received the Arquitectos Society of Hispanic Architects Legacy Award.
The fifth edition of the Chicago Sukkah Design Festival is now open through October 19, 2026, featuring the work of multiple Illinois School of Architecture faculty members Wekeana Lassiter and Madalyn Asker. The Chicago Sukkah Design Festival brings together neighbors, community organizations, architects, designers, artists, and students to co-create sukkahs—structures inspired by Jewish tradition—reimagined as places of belonging, solidarity, and community identity. During the Festival, the landscape of unique sukkah structures is activated with multiple public programs. After the Festival, each sukkah is relocated and permanently re-installed at the facilities of the community organizations that co-designed them, as vibrant new program spaces that stimulate community development. This year’s festival features sukkahs designed by Assistant Professor Madalyn Asker (@studio_otherwise) and Teaching Assistant Professor Wekeana Lassiter. Prof. Asker collaborated with NeighborSpace to create a sukkah as nature play pavilion; and Prof. Lassiter collaborated with Celestial Ministries Association to create a sukkah as a vertical garden and drum circle space. Associate Professor Joseph Altshuler (@couldbearchitecture) serves as the Festival’s founding artistic director.
The Chicago Sukkah Design Festival is located at James Stone Freedom Square, 3615 W Douglas Blvd, Chicago, and open daily from 10:00am–5:00pm from September 27–October 19, 2026.
The fifth edition of the Chicago Sukkah Design Festival is now open through October 19, 2026, featuring the work of multiple Illinois School of Architecture faculty members Wekeana Lassiter and Madalyn Asker. The Chicago Sukkah Design Festival brings together neighbors, community organizations, architects, designers, artists, and students to co-create sukkahs—structures inspired by Jewish tradition—reimagined as places of belonging, solidarity, and community identity. During the Festival, the landscape of unique sukkah structures is activated with multiple public programs. After the Festival, each sukkah is relocated and permanently re-installed at the facilities of the community organizations that co-designed them, as vibrant new program spaces that stimulate community development. This year’s festival features sukkahs designed by Assistant Professor Madalyn Asker (@studio_otherwise) and Teaching Assistant Professor Wekeana Lassiter. Prof. Asker collaborated with NeighborSpace to create a sukkah as nature play pavilion; and Prof. Lassiter collaborated with Celestial Ministries Association to create a sukkah as a vertical garden and drum circle space. Associate Professor Joseph Altshuler (@couldbearchitecture) serves as the Festival’s founding artistic director.
The Chicago Sukkah Design Festival is located at James Stone Freedom Square, 3615 W Douglas Blvd, Chicago, and open daily from 10:00am–5:00pm from September 27–October 19, 2026.
Congratulations to the Context Graduate Prize First Place Winner, Prajakti Gautam, Afrin Moury, and Rebecca Brodne, as well as their professor Paul Armstrong.
About their winning project The Triada: The Triada is a mixed-use tower proposed between N Columbus Dr. and E North Water St. in Chicago’s mixed-use zone, the site has a strong potential to become more active, public, and connected to the city. The social aspect responds to nearby residents and workers, including young married people, working professionals, and some older families. The environmental aspect responds to rivers, parks, and public spaces around the site. Green corridors from surrounding parks continue upward through the hotel, residential, and penthouse zones, creating an urban green continuum where landscape becomes part of daily life.
Congratulations to the Context Graduate Prize First Place Winner, Prajakti Gautam, Afrin Moury, and Rebecca Brodne, as well as their professor Paul Armstrong.
About their winning project The Triada: The Triada is a mixed-use tower proposed between N Columbus Dr. and E North Water St. in Chicago’s mixed-use zone, the site has a strong potential to become more active, public, and connected to the city. The social aspect responds to nearby residents and workers, including young married people, working professionals, and some older families. The environmental aspect responds to rivers, parks, and public spaces around the site. Green corridors from surrounding parks continue upward through the hotel, residential, and penthouse zones, creating an urban green continuum where landscape becomes part of daily life.
Congratulations to Barcelona Earl Prize Third Place Winner, Marco Maniacci, as well as their professors Alejandro Lapunzina and Laia Cistero.
About their winning project Twin Theatres:
Twin Theatres is situated in Poblenou, located in Barcelonas developing neighborhood “El Poblenou”. The project reconsiders conventional relationships between performance, audience, and building by elevating the primary theatre above ground, creating a series of alternative, flexible performance spaces beneath the main auditorium.
Congratulations to Barcelona Earl Prize Third Place Winner, Marco Maniacci, as well as their professors Alejandro Lapunzina and Laia Cistero.
About their winning project Twin Theatres:
Twin Theatres is situated in Poblenou, located in Barcelonas developing neighborhood “El Poblenou”. The project reconsiders conventional relationships between performance, audience, and building by elevating the primary theatre above ground, creating a series of alternative, flexible performance spaces beneath the main auditorium.
Congratulations to Junior Earl Prize Third Place Winner, Itzel Cruz Davalos, as well as their professor Tait Johnson.
About their winning project Cultural Nodes: “The design fosters the concept of culture through developed curvilinear spaces that bring the Urbana community and future cohousing residents together. Boneyard Creek’s path through Champaign and Urbana inspired the creation of cultural nodes, which unify the entirety of the site through conversations, music, and learning enviorments, ultimately highlighting the importance of living in community.”
Congratulations to Junior Earl Prize Third Place Winner, Itzel Cruz Davalos, as well as their professor Tait Johnson.
About their winning project Cultural Nodes: “The design fosters the concept of culture through developed curvilinear spaces that bring the Urbana community and future cohousing residents together. Boneyard Creek’s path through Champaign and Urbana inspired the creation of cultural nodes, which unify the entirety of the site through conversations, music, and learning enviorments, ultimately highlighting the importance of living in community.”
Congratulations to the Space+Wellness Graduate Prize First Place Winners, Jenna Lin, Ellie Lynch, and Jeremiah Pham, as well as their professor Botond Bognar.
About their winning project Kyoto Ma: Kyoto Ma Studio is a mixed-use architectural complex located in the dense urban center of Kyoto. Inspired by the Japanese concept of Ma, the space in between, the project explores how architecture can create layers of transition, filtration, and pause within an active urban environment. A continuous pathway weaves through fragmented building volumes, creating an elongated experience of movement between interior and exterior. Aluminum shading panels filter light, air, and views, creating shifting moments of openness, enclosure, and pause while maintaining a connection to the surrounding environment.
Congratulations to the Space+Wellness Graduate Prize First Place Winners, Jenna Lin, Ellie Lynch, and Jeremiah Pham, as well as their professor Botond Bognar.
About their winning project Kyoto Ma: Kyoto Ma Studio is a mixed-use architectural complex located in the dense urban center of Kyoto. Inspired by the Japanese concept of Ma, the space in between, the project explores how architecture can create layers of transition, filtration, and pause within an active urban environment. A continuous pathway weaves through fragmented building volumes, creating an elongated experience of movement between interior and exterior. Aluminum shading panels filter light, air, and views, creating shifting moments of openness, enclosure, and pause while maintaining a connection to the surrounding environment.
Congratulations to Junior Earl Prize 1st Place Winner, Shayna Friedland, as well as their professor Cyrus Dochow.
About their winning project Möbius Urbana: “Möbius Urbana explores cohousing as a model for balancing individual autonomy with collective living. A continuous winding path links four residential pillars, weaving together shared spaces and layered unit types to create a gradient of public and private zones. Through spatial proximity, shared experiences, and adaptable living arrangements, the complex prioritizes connection while preserving opportunities for retreat, flexibility, and individual living.”
Congratulations to Junior Earl Prize 1st Place Winner, Shayna Friedland, as well as their professor Cyrus Dochow.
About their winning project Möbius Urbana: “Möbius Urbana explores cohousing as a model for balancing individual autonomy with collective living. A continuous winding path links four residential pillars, weaving together shared spaces and layered unit types to create a gradient of public and private zones. Through spatial proximity, shared experiences, and adaptable living arrangements, the complex prioritizes connection while preserving opportunities for retreat, flexibility, and individual living.”
Five Program Areas shape our curriculum, giving students the opportunity to think about architecture and design at different scales and through different media.
We have exchange programs with Munich and Switzerland.
Discover Architecture
Discover Architecture is a summer program on the University of Illinois campus. It is open to high school and pre-college students. The program is organized around the design studio and provides a studio-focused, design-intensive workshop over the course of a week.
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