Marcos Escamilla-Guerrero and Jaeha Kim: Data/Migration/Design
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This exhibition explores migration in the Americas as both a humanitarian and infrastructural crisis, proposing architecture not as a solution but as a critical tool for inquiry. Centered on the dangerous migration corridors through Mexico, it blends spatial analysis, participatory research, and computational methods to uncover how migrants imagine and prioritize spaces of care, rest, and protection. Visualized through data-rich drawings, speculative infrastructures, and a mosaic of game-based design iterations by migrants, the exhibition constructs a multi-scalar narrative of displacement. Data/Migration/Design is also a live research environment that invites visitors to contribute to the growing dataset, enabling a comparative analysis between "professional" design assumptions and migrant informed preferences. Through this convergence of design, data, and participation, the project challenges conventional humanitarian approaches and repositions architecture as a practice grounded both in evidence and engagement. This exhibition exemplifies how academic design research can confront complex crises not only by observing them, but by acting within them.
Biographies
Marcos Escamilla-Guerrero (M.S. AAD '24) (artist) is a Mexican architect, designer, and researcher whose work investigates the role of design in addressing societal challenges. Currently, he is a Visiting Critic at Cornell AAP where he teaches design studios and elective courses. Through his practice, MEAL (Making Experimental Architecture Lab), he operates at the intersection of architecture, urbanism, geospatial analysis, and social justice. Marcos has a particular focus on Latin American representation and alternative spatial practices related to migration and displacement. He holds a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design (M.S. AAD, research track) from Cornell AAP and a Bachelor of Architecture from Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM-MTY).
Jaeha Kim (data specialist) is a Ph.D. candidate in Systems Engineering at Cornell University. She holds an M.S. in Advanced Architectural Design from Cornell University and a B.Arch. from Hanyang University in Seoul. Jaeha's research focuses on window view analysis, housing quality, human-environmental behavior, and performance-driven design workflows at both the urban and architectural scales. She developed Viewscore.io, a data-driven human satisfaction prediction tool for design feedback.
