Ned Dodington, AIA, (Senior Editor, Founder)
Ned has a Masters Degree in Architecture from Rice University, Houston TX, an Art History Degree from Carleton College. While at Rice University working on his Masters in Architecture, Ned studied ecological design strategies and management with an eye towards the built environment. This evolved into a philosophy regarding the role of biology in design, as well as different ways to expand and explore the edge between humans and surrounding “others” (non-human animals, the earth). His written and design work has appeared in AD Magazine, Texas Architect, Manifold, Plat, Bracket (“On Farming” and “Goes Soft”) and yearly publications from both Rice and Columbia University. He has written for The Architectural League in New York, Manifold Magazine, Arts and Culture Magazine, the Houstonist and has been invited to jury reviews at Rice, Pratt and Columbia. His built work, including an IV-drip supported hanging garden, has been shown at the Lawndale Art Center and in Minnesota; he’s been awarded the Technos international traveling fellowship, the Mitchel Travel Fellowship an RDA Houston Initiative Grant and Presidential Citation for civic work from the AIA, Houston.
Jon LaRocca, AIGA, LEED (Editor)
Jon is a founding partner of The Expanded Environment (previously Animal Architecture). Jonathon LaRocca received his Masters of Architecture degree from Rice University in 2007. He completed his undergraduate education at Cornell University in 2003, earning a Bachelor of Science in Design & Environmental Analysis. He was a 2006 Margaret Everson Fossi Fellowship and 2007 Rice Design Alliance Initiatives for Houston Grant recipient, and spent time traveling to Australian urban farms for research as part of those awards. As a designer, he is committed to using a broad-based and diverse set of social science and design methodologies to understand how the planning, design, and management of the built environment affects individuals, groups, organizations, and communities, and how this knowledge can feed the imagination to generate innovative design solutions to pressing social and cultural issues. Through his work on sustainable design and development, he is also committed to examining and developing designs that contribute to the health of the environment as well as those inhabiting it.
Dustin Graeber (Guest Contributor)
Kylie King (Guest Congtributor) is a design theorist pursuing her MDes in the Department of Interior Architecture, Adaptive Reuse at the Rhode Island School of Design. Her scholarly research lies at the intersection of Architectural Design, Animal Studies, and Critical Geography. Her work bridging animal studies with design theory began while working with Bas Princen at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Forecast Forum in Berlin. Her practice-based research has been exhibited by the La Jolla Historical Society and she has a collaborative design project forthcoming from Insert Blanc Press.
Sarah Gunawan (Guest Contributor) (www.sarahgunawan.com) received her Masters of Architecture and Bachelor of Architectural Studies from the University of Waterloo. Her thesis, entitled Synanthropic Suburbia, examined the interface between humans and animals within prototypical, North American suburbs and proposed a series of prosthetics to the single-family house which created opportunities for cohabitation. Sarah is currently a lecturer at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture and is working as an Intern Architect at Lateral Office, an experimental design practice that operates at the intersection of architecture, landscape and urbanism.
Brandon Youndt (Guest Contributor) (instagram.com/youndty) studied Architecture at Temple University in Philadelphia. He currently lives in Los Angeles and works for the KnowHow Shop as a designer and fabricator. His personal work focuses on animals, and particularly how architecture and design can coexist more peacefully (or interestingly) with the greater natural world. His work is influenced by nature, science fiction and fantasy work, as well as the rituals and lifestyles of indigenous cultures. Brandon also writes fiction, poetry, and music.
