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2002 Knight Scholars
Carolina Arias-Smith
Carolina graduated from University of Miami’s School of Architecture
in 2000. Prior to and during her college career, she worked for two
summers at the Lee County Planning Office in Fort Myers, Florida. It was
there that she was introduced to historic preservation and its importance
and impact on communities and people. She also observed the interactions
that occur between various disciplines associated with community building
and came to understand the importance of involving multiple professions in
community building endeavors.
After receiving her bachelor’s degree in architecture, Carolina
worked for Joseph K. Oppermann Architect, P.A., an historical preservation
firm in Winston-Salem, N.C. The firm specializes in the restoration of
civic buildings important to their communities. In her career, Carolina is
interested in combining her interests in architecture, historic
preservation, and urban design.
As part of her assistantship, Carolina helped organize the Civic Art
2002 symposium and the advance preparations for the San Jose charrette.
Carolina will also be assisting with the Peer Review session and final
report for the Palm Beach County Code Revision project, which is managed
by the Knight Program.
Malik Benjamin
Malik received his bachelor’s degree in architecture from Cornell
University. After a one-year term as a Cornell University junior executive
intern and design studio professor, he enrolled in the University of Miami’s
School of Architecture.
In addition to his curriculum with the Suburb and Town Design Program,
Malik is pursuing a master’s degree in Computing in Design, for which he
is working on a thesis analyzing and restructuring the relationship
between "the school" and "the home" within the
community. He is working with professors Richard Langendorf and David
Burnett of UM’s School of Architecture and Arnold Spokane of Lehigh
University.
As part of his assistantship, Malik assembled and prepared GIS data and
base materials for the San Jose charrette and has been working with
Professor Bohl on the mapping and GIS aspects for a survey on the social
and civic dimensions of New Urbanist town centers.
Russell S. Preston
Russ is a native Floridian who is returning to his home state after
receiving his bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of
Notre Dame in 2002. During his undergraduate career he focused on the
importance of architecture and its role in making beautiful cities. This
interest evolved into his thesis topic, "Florida Atlantic University
Stadium and Town Center," which won the Notre Dame School of
Architecture’s Noal Blank Thesis Design Award. Upon matriculating from
Notre Dame he founded Stanton Studios. In its short existence the studio
has worked on several new residences and renovations in Florida,
Wisconsin, and Michigan.
The principles of city making were first introduced to Russ during a
year of study in Rome, Italy. Through his involvement in the Suburb and
Town Design Program and working with the Knight Program in Community
Building, he hopes to begin to contribute to the creation of beautiful
cities.
As part of his assistantceship work with the Knight Program, Russ is
involved in developing the Knight Program website (www.arc.Miami.edu/knight)
and publications.
Raquel Raimundez
Raquel graduated from the University of Miami’s School of
Architecture in 2002. It was there that she was introduced to the
philosophy of New Urbanism from the onset of her architectural training.
She recognized the importance of urban design as it related to
architecture and decided to continue her studies with the Suburb and Town
Design Program.
Last summer Raquel interned at Michael Graves & Associates in
Princeton, N.J., where she worked on several projects including a master
plan for a town in the Canary Islands. She gained valuable experience
there, which fueled her passion for town design. Raquel currently works
part-time at a Miami firm, Santos/Raimundez Architects, gaining more
experience in several areas.
As part of her assistantship work with the Knight Program, Raquel is
working with School of Architecture dean Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk to
catalog materials collected from architects, planners and public officials
throughout the United States and abroad that will become the foundation of
a New Urbanism library based at the School of Architecture. |
