Directors

Associate Professor of Practice, Dept.of Human Centered Design, College of Human Ecology, Cornell University
Graduate Field, Dept. Architecture, College of Art, Architecture and Planning, Cornell University
Leighton Beaman is an Associate Professor of Practice in Human Centered Design and a member of the Graduate Field of Architecture at Cornell University. Beaman’s research is focused on collaborative methodologies of making and generating shared spatial/material experiences, fostering socially and environmentally conscious design practices. He combines human-centered design and architecture approaches and techniques to empower diverse groups in shaping their own built environment in socially and ecologically conscious ways. This work includes the use of intuitive making techniques grounded in cultural identities, inclusive strategies for collaboration, and combines locally sourced materials and vernacular technologies with advanced computational design methods to achieve transformative goals. His design non-profit General Architecture Collaborative has been working with emerging communities in rural East Africa to design, build and maintain community-focused and community lead building projects for 14 years.

Assistant Professor, Dept. Landscape Architecture, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University
Graduate Field, Dept. Architecture, College of Art, Architecture and Planning, Cornell University
Zaneta Hong is an Assistant Professor in Landscape Architecture. Trained as a landscape architect and industrial designer, her teaching and research focus centers on material ecologies, landscape technologies, and sustainable practices. Prior to her arrival at Cornell, she worked at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, University of Virginia, and University of Texas in Austin. Her work has been recognized by the Graham Foundation and Environmental Design Research Association, and she was recently awarded the 2018-19 Garden Club of America Rome Prize Fellowship, MacDowell Fellowship, and Certificate of Teaching Excellence by the Harvard Derek Bok Center. Her ongoing research has appeared in publications including Innovations in Landscape Architecture, Living Systems: Innovative Materials & Technologies for Landscape Architecture, International Journal of Interior Architecture & Spatial Design, and the Journal of Landscape Architecture. In addition to teaching, Zaneta is a Research + Design Consultant for GA Collaborative

Researchers