J. Collin Garnett

EDUCATION
Master of Architecture, University of Michigan, 2023
Bachelor of Science in Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2017

Collin is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Auburn University APLA Environmental Design Program. Multi-scalar in scope, Collin’s work finds its domain within material culture, adaptive reuse projects, and systems-based thinking. With a particular interest in digital tool-building, information dissemination, territorial studies and public interest design, Collin leverages active research as the basis of his design practice. Central to this effort is the substantiation of the modern built environment as both product of societal values and co-conspirator with power structures.

Most recently, Collin’s work has taken him to the arctic island of Svalbard to visit extant communities facing challenges related to resource extraction, melting permafrost, and geopolitical sovereignty. This ongoing work, generating an atlas of actors in the area, has been featured in part in faculty showcases and independent publications. Collin previously served as a Lecturer at University of Michigan [U-M] Taubman College, where he taught Undergraduate Core Studios, design foundations courses, and interdisciplinary classes on creative process. He also worked as a project designer at PLY+, an architecture firm focused on community-driven projects in the Detroit-metro area.

While in Michigan, Collin served as Assistant Director and Studio Instructor for U-M’s summer pre-college architecture program [ArcStart], as well as a student instructor for courses in Professional Practice, Sustainable Systems, and Architectural Theory. He has experience as an editor for Dimensions, journal of architecture, and as a co-principal investigator and installation designer for Robotic Exhalation, a material research project and exhibition.

RESEARCH INTERESTS
Architecture
Post-Extraction Infrastructure
Material Ecologies
Adaptive Reuse
Housing Policy
Social Infrastructure