what is architecture without user participation? what is space without site?
These series of questions have guided the way that Juliana Zalzman León approaches the iteration process that is intrinsic to architectural design. A research phase involving community engagement, site specificity, and attention to the human experience has become integral to her philosophy as a creative.
researcher | designer | placemaker
junior architectural designer
As a recent graduate of Cornell University’s five-year Bachelor of Architecture program, B.Arch Class of 2023, I have nurtured an architectural perspective that has been uniquely molded by the empathetic needs of the pandemic and the increasing desire to design under equitable practices. My aim is to combine the technical and creative skills that I have solidified over the course of five years with my foundational belief that the public realm merits active and aesthetically compelling spaces.
Cornell’s approach to architecture has refined my sense of detail and instilled critical thinking in every facet of my design process. I have worked under rigorous methods of iteration, developing the connection between humans and the built environment at every checkpoint, whether that is at the expansive scale of the city or at the more concentrated scale of furniture. I have learned that designed spaces, no matter the scale, can only be completed with user participation, and have consequently found that the communities involved should play important roles in both the process of designing and the final, livable outcome.
