Madalyn Asker

About

Madalyn Asker is an Assistant Professor in the Illinois School of Architecture at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, where she teaches and researches at the intersection of architecture, social justice, and ecological care. Drawing from feminist and decolonial theory, her work examines how social hierarchies, economic systems, and environmental forces become spatialized—and how design can expose and transform the violence those structures produce.

She is the founding director of Studio Otherwise, a design-research lab that bridges critical theory, participatory practice, and speculative making. Through built installations, exhibitions, and community collaborations, the studio explores architecture’s role in social repair and collective imagination.

Before joining Illinois, Asker practiced with Eldorado Architects (Portland, Oregon) and Big Tent Design Studio (Washington, D.C.), contributing to civic and community-based projects across the United States. In Idaho, she partnered with the Moscow Affordable Housing Trust to design and build an affordable home recognized for its innovative, community-driven approach to housing equity.

Her work has been recognized with the Sustainability Award in the Buildner Affordable Housing Competition and presented at national conferences and exhibitions across the United States, including the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and other venues focused on design, pedagogy, and spatial justice.

Asker holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Idaho and pursued additional studies at Academia Italiana in Florence, Italy.