mobile logo

Author: Caryn Brause

June 30, 2025
in News
by Caryn Brause

International Health Promoting Campuses Conference and Research Travel in Ireland

I was fortunate to travel to Ireland this past June to present at the International Health Promoting Campuses Conference to present on my honors research seminar and to conduct research on health, equity, and wellbeing in campus environments. I'm still digesting the many lessons from visits to five Irish campuses - there's nothing like experiencing brilliant architecture in person - some projects I have admired for years and others were still in construction. Thanks to the many Irish academics who spoke to me about their campus initiatives, and to the Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation for supporting the research portion of this travel! ...

Continue Reading
May 15, 2025
in News
by Caryn Brause

New journal article published on adaptive agency and dynamic meaning-making

"Out of confinement: adaptive agency and dynamic meaning-making in accounts of pandemic campus restrictions" published in the International Journal of Architectural Research, shares pandemic spatial disruption research, comparing initial and follow-up interviews from a two stage in-depth qualitative interview study. The findings discuss the role of agency in dynamic constructions of place-meaning, suggest the importance of spatial flexibility and agency in maintaining well-being, and call for greater sensitivity to the importance of spatial and sensory variety in human environments. ...

Continue Reading
June 11, 2024
in News
by Caryn Brause

Presentation on Student Experience in the Post-Pandemic Campus

Great experience collaborating with Derek Noble, Principal at Shepley Bullfinch on a systematic study of the UMass Student Union! Over a two year period, my honors thesis seminar students investigated how the renovated building, reopened during the pandemic, was meeting the needs of a re-adjusting student population. Derek and I presented the work at EDRA 55 in Portland in a talk titled "Student Experience in the Post-Pandemic Campus: Systematic Study of a Student Union Renovation Project and its Contributions to Student Wellbeing.” Derek's insights are also captured in this article. For further information, see Cultivating Campus Settings Research at a Health Promoting University ...

Continue Reading
October 23, 2023
in News
by Caryn Brause

Material Economies

What a great time co-hosting the 2023 ACSA/AIA Conference! With 140 attendees from around the world, the very successful event had two engaging keynotes, four building tours, two hands on workshops, and nineteen panel sessions all designed to maximize the potential for translation between academic and practitioner communities. Thanks to my amazing co-host Chris Flint Chatto from ZGF Architects! Link to Conference Proceedings. Conference Opening Keynote: Mae-ling Lokko, Yale University ...

Continue Reading
June 14, 2023
in News
by Caryn Brause

EDRA presentation in Mexico City

Collaborator Colleen Tully will be in Mexico City next week presenting at EDRA 54 in a panel on the importance of design and spaces during the pandemic. Titled "Spatial Differentiation and Student Wellbeing: Accounts of Pandemic-Related Campus Restrictions and the Construction of Place-Meaning," the presentation shares findings from an empirical qualitative study comprised of two phases of in-depth interviews with on-campus residential students during and after the period of pandemic campus restrictions. ...

Continue Reading
May 22, 2023
in News
by Caryn Brause

Spring Community Engagement Studio partnered with Abundance Farm

Caryn's Community Engagement Studio partnered with Abundance Farm, a food justice farm and outdoor environmental classroom in Northampton. Students first worked in teams to generate a master plan for a Placeholder Project that envisions future farm program expansion. Then they designed and built a custom potting table that articulates the community partner's educational mission. ...

Continue Reading
April 1, 2023
in News
by Caryn Brause

Hello St. Louis!

Caryn was in St. Louis presenting at the ACSA Annual Meeting. She was part of a research panel put together by the ACSA Research and Scholarship Committee focused on REDEFINING CLIMATE RESEARCH IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT. She also shared her work on Abundance Farm in a session on FOOD NETWORKS, TRADITIONS & SYSTEMS. ...

Continue Reading
November 18, 2022
in News
by Caryn Brause

Women in Design Award of Excellence

Caryn has been selected as a 2022 Women in Design Award of Excellence honoree. The award is presented in recognition of a person who has built one's own life around design, whose work exemplifies the best of process and product, and who uses a position of achievement to give back to the world of design and to the community at large. She was honored in Boston at a reception following the Boston Society of Architects Women in Design Intersections Symposium on October 28. ...

Continue Reading
October 14, 2022
in News
by Caryn Brause

Towers are lit!

These decommissioned electrical towers were scheduled to be demolished. As one element of the Corazón / The Heart of Holyoke project, they have been repurposed as dynamic gateways to the future Puerto Rican cultural district and an invitation to Holyoke's arts and entertainment area. ...

Continue Reading


Contact: caryn at sitelabarch.com


Copyright © 2020, SiteLab Architecture
Site by Dylan Brown Designs