Graduate Spotlight: Lauren Jian
Lauren Jian (A+A Co-Founder) used an A+A workshop during her thesis to demonstrate the power— and relative ease— of community-driven design.
Lauren graduated from USC with a Bachelor of Architecture in May. During her time with the A+A USC chapter, Lauren led countless workshops and dreamt up some of our most innovative workshops to teach local youth sustainable urban design. Upon graduation, she was awarded with Magna Cum Laude distinction, the Renaissance Scholar, Global Scholar, Discovery Scholar, and the Thomas Byerts Social and Community Design Award. She is also a LEED AP BD+C certified designer.
“One of my favorite experiences at USC was co-founding Architecture + Advocacy with my peers… I plan to continue my work in design advocacy after graduation.”
After graduation, Lauren’s artwork will be on display at the Venice Biennale. Then, she will head to Columbia to pursue her Masters in Architecture.
City of Play: Vendors as Agents of Change
City of Play, Lauren’s thesis, explores Los Angeles as a food desert, and how food vendors provide an informal resource. They become an agent for urban renewal to create equitable pedestrian friendly third spaces. This enables pedestrians to take back the street as a public, communal space through community led design. She used XR technology to reconstruct and reimagine these in-between built spaces, and give residents access to designing them.
During the A+A workshop Lauren facilitated, local youth designed their ideal neighborhood layout using a kit-of-parts with interlocking magnetic pieces. Each color represents a different use— such as housing, grocery stores, or a school. Youth participants were able to experiment with different configurations, until they found the one they liked best.
