Elias Bennett

For his design thesis, Elias Bennett re-imagined San Francisco's forgotten street stairs as part of a larger network of civic spaces which not only choreographed new formal and visual relationships across the city, but also addressed the city's homelessness epidemic through the introduction of essential municipal services such as washrooms and food pantries. This project is emblematic of his interests in urbanism and architectural design at multiple scales, which have developed over his five years at AAP. In addition to pursuing his degree, Elias has held multiple positions including AAP Material Practice Facility shop assistant and teaching assistant to the structural concepts and systems classes. He was a proud recipient of the Seipp Memorial Competition Prize in 2018, and was the degree marshall for the Bachelor of Architecture degree in 2020. Next year, he will be returning to Cornell as a teaching associate for the first-year B.Arch. design studio.