Operative Spatial Technologies

POST was recently awarded a “Humanities in Place” grant from the @mellonfoundation for a 2.5 year, $450,000 project entitled “ULTRAVIOLE(N)T EXPOSURES.” The project assembles experts in architecture, urban planning, environmental and spatial justice, with collaborators in border histories and community engagement and the support of fellows in design research and urban history, to develop exhibits, public programming, and a project website that collaboratively construct the shared, untold, and unseen histories and trajectories of ultraviolet exposure conditions in vulnerable borderland communities. The project is structured into three phases, beginning with an in-depth engagement with the community of El Segundo Barrio, a once-thriving neighborhood in El Paso that now grapples with severe shade deficiencies. Subsequent phases will expand the project's scope to encompass the broader El Paso/Ciudad Juárez area, culminating in a platform for disseminating the findings to other cities. The project is led by co-principal investigators Ersela Kripa (associate vice provost for outreach and engagement, director of the Texas Tech University Huckabee College of Architecture in El Paso, and director of projects at POST) and Stephen Mueller (associate professor and director of research at POST). Dr. Yolanda Chávez Leyva, director of the UTEP Institute of Oral History and associate professor at University of Texas at El Paso also joins the project as co-PI. ##ultraviolentexposure Ersela Kripa @ersela_kripa Stephen Mueller @stphn_mllr TTU Huckabee College of Architecture @ttuhcoa UTEP Institute of Oral History @uteporalhistory

The invisible logics of the contemporary city problematize expectations of exposure in public and private space. Designers must subvert multispectral sensing to construct public spaces that act as the interface between people and surveillance systems, encouraging people to participate actively in the construction and curation of their own urban signature. New material assemblies must be imagined that protect from the ubiquitous reach of sensing, while allowing inhabitants to project their own signature patterns. POST has developed and constructed an installation to provide multispectral protection for the 2021 @exhibitcolumbus art and architecture biennial exhibition, curated by @mimizeiger and @ikergil . The installation, entitled Spectral, explored issues of protected space in an urban alley. Spectral was designed as both a public gathering place and a meditation on increasingly pervasive aerial infrared imaging. The project created a protected public space in an exposed urban lot through the calibrated design and rapid deployment of custom-fabricated infrastructural elements. The material array shielded the thermal activity of visitors to the site from the view of multispectral cameras and sensors, making it a kind of safe space in the urban landscape. Spectral built on the logics of multispectral camouflage by suspending an array of infrared reflective material, fragmenting the legibility of thermal activity from the aerial perspective while activating the site with multispectral shadow. The installation camouflaged and altered thermal signatures, authoring a new collection of indecipherable patterns. This created a public interface that mediates the public’s relationship with aerial infrared imaging while offering a site for new, undetectable thermal activities.

POST directors @ersela_kripa Kripa and @stphn_mllr , along with Francesco Marullo (UIC) are co-editors of JAE’s latest issue, Deserts, available now! This issue of the Journal of Architectural Education explores the environment of the desert in its geopolitical, infrastructural, and aesthetic dimensions, acknowledging that deserts continue to transform architectural imagination and collective intelligence. The word desert—from the Latin desertum, left, abandoned, and withdrawn—has been exploited for centuries as a reductionist trope to evoke desolate ecosystems where hostile climatic circumstances and extreme temperatures prevent life from thriving. Eurocentric and Western perspectives especially have mischaracterized deserts as precarious and dangerous wastelands, often connoted with mystical, exotic, and sublime dimensions, enabling violent occupations, extractive campaigns, and colonialist expansions. Centuries of environmental racism have extracted, excluded, and exploited desert territories and desert communities, exacerbating conflicts across the most contested regions of the planet to this day. The volume includes contributions by @ivanlmunuera @dmalsayer @faysaltabbarah @hesean.yousef @asaiel__ @chiefofsaph @aseelalyaqoub e_isbilen @tamarzinguer @synthetic_milk @hellagabrielle @tbr0603 #sethdenizen @dante_furioso @heyphda @agha_menna @jllfcb @piperb @zacharycolbert @dry_matters @gonzalo.pimentel.9 @alvarovelascoperez #brendanoneill #SamanthaL.Martin#margaretfreeman @architecte.salimanaji Thank you to @norawendl and @o.saloojee for their editorial magic, the JAE board for their astute guidance and direction, and all authors for their urgent and insightful contributions. Available now, link in bio! @acsanational #desert #architecture #journalofarchitecturaleducation

Meet our Research Assistant, Tahmures! Tahmures Ghiyasi is a first-year Ph.D. Student in Land-use Planning, Management, and Design at Texas Tech University. With a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering and a Master of Science in Architectural Technology - Digital, his research focuses on integrating computational design, robotic fabrication, and sustainable architectural practices. His work on human-robot collaboration in construction aims to transform traditional building methods, as showcased in his publication at the 41st eCAADe Conference. Additionally, he is collaborating with his Ph.D. advisor, Dr. Ali Ghazvinian on creating a free-form structure from reclaimed golf clubs. Tahmures' participation in various interdisciplinary projects and the End of Year Show highlights his commitment to advancing design quality and sustainability through research and practical applications. At POST, Tahmures applies his expertise to tackle urbanization and desertification challenges using advanced design computation methods. His involvement in POST aligns with his passion for interdisciplinary research and innovative solutions in sustainable development. Tahmures Ghiyasi, Research Assistant, POST (2024–) @postborders @tahmuresy Ph.D. candidate, @ttuhcoa

Meet our Research Assistant, Mahamat! Mahamat Adoum Hassane is a graduate student at Texas Tech Huckabee College of Architecture (HCOA) with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture Studies from Limkokwing University in Malaysia. Mahamat has two years of experience working in architecture firms overseas. He developed his intense passion for architecture from traveling worldwide, which sparked his interest in equitable and sustainable communities. To become a distinguished architect, Mahamat seeks to leverage his skills and knowledge at POST to develop sustainable, innovative designs that elevate our built environment. Mahamat Adoum Hassane, Research Assistant, POST (2024) @postborders B.S. Arch, limkokwing(2019) M.Arch candidate, @ttuhcoa (2025) @hassane7777

Meet our research assistant, Salma! Salma Rodriguez is an undergraduate student pursuing a B.S.Arch degree from Texas Tech University Huckabee College of Architecture at El Paso. Being of two nationalities, Salma has had to face many challenges, crossing borders to be able to pursue her passion of an education and a career in architecture. Viewing architecture from her binational perspective, Salma is determined to achieve a social and environmental impact through her work. Salma Rodriguez, Research Assistant, POST (2024–) @postborders @salmarxchi B.S. Arch candidate, @ttuhcoa (2025) @salmarxchi

Meet our Research Assistant Suylen! Suylen de la Rosa graduated from the Texas Tech University Huckabee College of Architecture in El Paso in Spring 2024 with a B.S.Arch. Suylen will begin attending graduate school at USC in the fall for her M.Arch degree. She hopes to push the envelope of designing for environmental justice and social equity. Suylen would also like to use her time at USC to further explore ideas of resilient materials-based practices. Suylen De La Rosa, Research Assistant, POST (2024) @postborders B.S. Arch, @ttuhcoa (2024) @suylxn M. Arch candidate, @uscarchitecture

Meet our Research Assistant Valeria! Valeria Dueñas graduated from the Texas Tech University Huckabee College of Architecture in El Paso in Spring 2024. Valeria spent her childhood living in Ciudad Juárez and the majority of her life in El Paso, which is why she feels so strongly about equity in the borderland. Outside of school, Valeria has been a small jewelry business owner and jewelry maker to support her studies. Valeria will attend MIT for graduate school and plans to develop projects towards sustainable and socially equitable designs in the future. Valeria Dueñas, Research Assistant, POST (2024) @postborders B.S. Arch, Cum Laude, @ttuhcoa (2024) @vals.arch @v.alnilla M.Arch candidate, @mitarchitecture e

Meet our research assistant, Jonathan! Jonathan Lira believes “design is a tool beyond architecture; a medium that bridges creative liberties and a purpose-oriented life.” Outside school, Jonathan is passionate about cocktail design, bartending, and boxing. In his design projects as a B.S.Arch student at Texas Tech Huckabee College of Architecture in El Paso, Jonathan optimized performative geometries and data-based design to upcycle spatial and material synergies at the unit, assembly, and systematic scales. Attending MIT for graduate school, Jonathan plans to “leverage the intersection of sustainability with digital fabrication and robotics to ethically interface the built and natural environments in calculated, yet meaningful ways.” Jonathan Lira, Research Assistant, POST (2024) POST - Project for Operative Spatial Technologies @jon_arqui B.S. Arch, Summa Cum Laude, @ttuhcoa (2024) M.Arch candidate, @mitarchitecture

Meet our research assistant, Melissa! Melissa Lexa graduated this Spring with a B.S. in Architecture from Texas Tech Huckabee College of Architecture in El Paso. A German-Mexican, Melissa has spent the majority of her life moving to different cities across three continents, experiencing many incredible cities and different ways of living. Living in the El Paso/Ciudad Juárez binational metroplex has educated her to see how design can serve and respond to the needs of a community. Melissa brings these interests to her studies, exploring topics of spatial justice, equitable architecture and urbanism. Melissa plans to complete her M.Arch degree at @uscarchitecture where she will expand upon her commitment to spatial equity and urban design. Melissa Lexa, Research Assistant, POST (2024) POST - Project for Operative Spatial Technologies @lexa_arch B.S. Arch, @ttuhcoa (2024) M.Arch candidate, @uscarchitecture

POST directors Stephen Mueller and Ersela Kripa have been awarded a selective U.S. National Science Foundation Convergence Accelerator Phase 1 grant as part of a national interdisciplinary team of researchers. Mueller contributes to the project as co-principal investigator (co-PI) with Kripa serving as senior personnel. Additional team members include Alex Mayer, principal investigator, (PI) University of Texas El Paso (UTEP), Josiah Heyman (co-PI, UTEP), and Darrel Jenerette (co-PI) University of California Riverside (UCR). The (NSF) Convergence Accelerator program “addresses national-scale societal challenges through use-inspired convergence research [and] seeks to transition basic research and discovery into practice”, addressing selected themes, including “equitable water solutions.” The $650,000 award will support team science efforts throughout 2024 to design decision-making tools that optimize tree canopy coverage in desert cities. The full interdisciplinary and extramural team includes experts in water management, anthropology, urban ecology, public health, environmental justice and geospatial mapping, and team science—among other fields— and a broad coalition of public and private stakeholders including representatives from municipal government (City of El Paso), community organizations (Project Bravo) and public utilities (El Paso Water). Funding will support Mueller and Kripa to develop strategies for computational urban and environmental analyses promoting environmental justice through the equitable distribution of tree canopies in the El Paso region, alongside graduate and undergraduate research assistants in POST (Project for Operative Spatial Technologies), an HCOA research center in El Paso they co-direct. The Convergence Accelerator Phase 1 grant recipients work to identify resources and partnerships to accelerate their projects and will compete for substantially increased funding in Phase 2, which supports “deliverable research prototypes and sustainability plans.” @ersela_kripa @stphn_mllr @postborders @nsfgov @ttuhcoa

Ersela Kripa discusses current and upcoming projects promoting #spatialjustice with @postborders in the second part of her interview with @frank.news titled “Spatial Justice, Surveillance, and Shade”. Link in bio. #environmentaljustice #shadeequity #environmentalanalysis #computationaldesign #urbandesign #architecture