Student Showcase: Architecture Futures

Exhibition Abstract

The future of architectural practice holds much promise. Barriers to licensure are diminishing. New efficiencies are emerging with the adoption of AI tools in the workplace. Increasing the use of Integrated Project Delivery means more collaboration between architects, engineers, and builders. Participatory design processes continue to gain traction, and the badge of honor one may have gotten in the past for surviving the tedium of time-intensive overwork seems to be going out of style in favor of live-work balance. There is much to celebrate. However, these optimistic trends are still more exceptions than rules. The Pritzker pantheon lacks diverse representation. Toxic overwork culture is alive and well in many offices, where hiring remains competitive. By and large, in the United States, design—especially in the public realm—is shackled by the threat of lawsuits and value engineering. Where do we go next?

Students in the Spring 2025 ARCH 5201 Professional Practice elective taught by Department of Architecture Lecturer Hanna Tulis have imagined the future they want to see in the profession and the discipline more broadly. Considering ethical, legal, financial, ideological, and aspirational frameworks, they have composed a 180-word oath expressing a commitment to the future of the profession and visualization in the form of a cover page for a future professional publication. Inspired by the oaths of other professional guilds, what might architects recite upon graduation or licensure? What values need fortification? What matters now more than ever?

Biography

Hanna Tulis is a Lecturer in the Department of Architecture at Cornell AAP, where she teaches design studios and seminar courses, including the ARCH 5201 Professional Practice elective. She is a 2024–2025 Einhorn Center Engaged Faculty Fellow and coordinates the B.Arch. Engaged Practices Studio. Prior to becoming an educator, Hanna worked at McBride Architects, Preston Scott Cohen Inc., Beyer Blinder Belle, OMA, and Selldorf Architects. She is the founder of Both- And Collaborative, a multidisciplinary design practice in Ithaca, New York. Her research interests span media and lie at the intersection of architecture, urbanism, and the performing arts.