Charlotte M
- Research Program Mentor

MArch at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Expertise

architecture, art history, resilient design, preservation

Bio

I attended the University of Pennsylvania and double majored in Political Science and Art History, completing a thesis entitled “Riveting Propaganda: Justifying Gender in Rockwell’s Rosie the Riveter.” However, I realized that my favorite classes in these subjects overlapped regarding local government and city planning, as well as classes on architectural history. I felt like I could have a bigger impact working with the physical world and I decided to switch tracks and pursue architecture. I completed a Masters in Architecture at MIT in 2022, focusing on disaster housing and resilient design. I am also interested in the history and depiction of queerness in public spaces. I now live in Los Angeles and work at an architecture firm that specializes in design with existing buildings. In my free time, I enjoy hiking, going to museums, and playing bananagrams. I played rugby in college and try to catch tournaments as they come through LA. I love cheese - I worked as a cheesemonger and during the pandemic I hosted a podcast: “The Daily Rind.”

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Architectural "seasoning"

What if we approached design like chefs instead of architects? This project would involve learning from enduring buildings and designing elements of or a space that integrates multisensory design.

Manifesto to Movement

This project would start with a manifesto of your choice (ex: Futurist, Dada, Surrealist) and examine the attempts to translate ideas to physical media like drawing, painting, and sculpture. The project would evaluate the success of the artist(s) and their legacy in the art world.

Teaching experience

I was a camp counselor for three summers at a small all-girls camp in New Hampshire where I taught tennis and led backpacking trips. I also taught english as a second language during college to people in prison, and I served as a teaching assistant for the woodshop and fabrication labs at MIT. I have been mentoring at Polygence for three years now.