ABOUT
Lauren Davis is a designer and artist currently pursuing a Master of Architecture (MArch) at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).
She is interested in innovative, community-driven architecture through a design-build lens, with a focus on small-scale, low-tech interventions that translate acts of building into intimate, socially driven experiences of placemaking. Her work explores how relationships to materials and resources can be engaged playfully, mediating connections between people and the environment. She is deeply invested in craft, approaching each project with care and intentionality across all scales.
Alongside her architectural practice, her illustration work takes an observational lens, finding both lightness and reverence in moments ranging from the mundanity of daily life to extended journeys across the country. She shares these reflections through zines, prints, and stickers, using drawing as a way to translate experience into narrative.
EDUCATION
RISD (Rhode Island School of Design)
Fall 2024 - Spring of 2026
Enrolled in the advanced standing track of the Masters in Architecture program, one of the few programs in the US embedded in a college of art and design
Wood shop technician from Fall 2024 - Current
Current GPA: 3.9
CLEMSON UNIVERSITY
Fall 2016 - Spring 2020
B.A Architecture, Art History Minor, GPA 3.7, Cum Laude
Dean’s List: Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Spring & Fall 2018
President’s List: Spring and Fall 2019, Spring 2020
BARCELONA ARCHITECTURE CENTER
Spring 2019 (4 Months)
Study abroad program focused on training architects in the frame of European urban and landscape design tendencies
CLEMSON DESIGN CENTER CHARLESTON
Fall 2019 (4 Months)
Program bridging academia and practice by teaching in a hybrid environment, focused in community service
RESEARCH
ENERYGY TRANSFORMATIONS
Fall 2025 - Spring 2026
Energy Transformations is a project led by Debbie Chen that considers infrastructural systems as critical cultural technologies in addressing climate change. The design argues for an alternative type of infrastructural apparatus, focused on the intersection of bathing cultures and passive solar systems. I worked with a research team including Samuel Choi and Yang Tian to develop research and resulting designs and models for the project.
AFTER ADHESIVES
Spring 2026
After Adhesives, a project led by Sam Sheffer and Emily Ezquerro, examines architectural practices that move beyond permanent bonding toward systems of assembly, repair, and reuse, contrasting contemporary architecture’s reliance on irreversible material transformations that compress geological time into short-lived products with slate roofing’s reversible, repairable system rooted in regional extraction. Within this body of work, I collaborated with Abby Jarvis and Molly Sullivan to conduct research and contribute to the installation of SpaceSuits.US, a project that explores retrofit strategies for adapting existing buildings to extreme climatic conditions.
SOUTH CAROLINA RILEY MAYORS DESIGN FELLOWSHIP - CHARLESTON, SC
Research Team | Aug 2019 - April 2020
Design research initiative that equipped selected mayors of small towns in South Carolina with tools to address local challenges through urban design, enabling the implementation of projects that enhance the built environment and foster economic opportunity. I contributed to the development of design proposals for six participating towns.
EXPERIENCE
COMMUNITY REBUILDS - MOAB, UT
Drafting Team | June - Aug 2025
Led the production of construction drawings for straw bale, affordable single-family housing projects in Moab, Utah and supported the feasibility development of multi-family housing projects
WORKS PROGRESS ARCHITECTURE - PORTLAND, OR Design Team Member | Feb 2022 - March 2023
Conducted design, documentation, and management from schematic design to permitting on a 60,000 SF, 4,000 occupant venue in Santa Ana, CA. The venue was a part of a larger redevelopment of the Main Place Mall. It is designed to be a flexible space depending on what capacity and event is needed, utilizing a large main hall, VIP areas, bars, and a roof deck. Worked from schematic design to final construction document submittals. Collaborated directly with clients, structural engineers, contractors, acoustic engineers, landscape architects, civil engineers, and interior designers.
MENT ARCHITECTURE - PORTLAND, OR
Architectural Designer | Aug 2020 - Jan 2022
Conducted project design, documentation, and management on custom single family homes and renovations on all stages of design including initial schematics, interior and exterior construction details, spec writing, material selection, and permitting services. Collaborated directly with clients, structural engineers, contractors and interior designers. Assisted in setting up project schedules and writing proposals. Improved and established graphic standards from client presentations, to renderings and marketing.
METANOIA - NORTH CHARLESTON, SC
Contractor Intern | Aug - Dec 2019
Worked closely under a contractor to coordinate pricing, develop design solutions, and oversee construction for new affordable housing as well as a restaurant. Completed an analysis and presentation that inventoried opportunities for affordable housing, blight reduction, and owner occupied emergency repair in 5 historic neighborhoods.
SYNCHRONICITY - CHARLESTON, SC
Architecture Intern | May - Aug 2019
Participated in all phases of design on mixed-use urban infill projects in the dense historic district of downtown Charleston including: restaurants, single-family, and multi-family housing. Collaborated with landscape architecture consultants within firm.
ARCOSANTI - MAYER, AZ
Planning Intern | May - Aug 2018
Completed a five week construction workshop; interned with an architect to assist with construction projects on site, field work, and archival research projects that seek alternatives to urban sprawl. Worked as an architectural tour guide in spare time.
AWARDS
CLEMSON ARCHITECTURE FOUNDATION STUDENT PRIZE
Spring 2020
5,000 dollar travel grant recognizing an outstanding student with professional promise and a clear plan to enrich their post-grad education through travel, awarded through an essay and portfolio compitition Winning Essay Here
UNDERGRADUATE PRIZE IN DESIGN
Spring 2020
Outstanding design work for senior studio design project, tied for second
RUDOLPH E. LEE AWARD PROFESSIONAL PROMISE AWARD
Fall 2018
Nominee, awarded to a third year student with clear professional promise
PUBLICATIONS
EPHEMERAL
Fall 2024
Contributed a series of illustrations for Ephemeral, a storytelling collective based in the Colorado Plateau, highlighting themes of place, memory, and identity
v.1
Fall 2024
Featured illustrations for the fall edition of v.1, the RISD student-run publication dedicated to showcasing the work, ideas, and creative discussions of RISD students
POWELL’S BOOKSTORE - PORTLAND, OR
Summer 2022
Self-published and sold a zine entitled Things I Saw on My Bike Ride at Powell’s, the largest independent book store in the country, to raise money for Drift West - a service bike ride I completed in August 2022
COMMUNITY INVOLVMENT
BIKE AND BUILD DRIFT WEST
August 2022
Spent 30 days biking 1,000 miles across the state of Washington, with 10 days building affordable homes with organizations like Habitat for Humanity; raised funds (90,000$ as a team) and awareness for the affordable housing crisis
STUDIO V
Fall 2019
Participated in a community build studio to build a farm stand for a a site under the National Registry of historic places in Charleston, South Carolina that benefitted an affordable housing neighborhood with a community garden, partnered with the nonprofit Green Heart
AIAS BOARD MEMBER
2016-2020
Events planner, assisted in planning the South Quad forum in 2020
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY
2016-2018
Club Member, Assisted in a Virtual Reality Model for the Clemson Habitat for Humanity house project in 2018
KONNAROCK TRAIL CREW
Summer 2017
Worked with a team to restore wildfire destroyed trails in the Nantahala National Forest
SALAMANDER SPRINGS (WOOF)
Summer 2017
Volunteered on a permaculture farm in Millidgeville, Georgia to learn its principles of organic farming and sustainability
PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENTS
PACIFIC CREST TRAIL
April-September 2023
Completed a 2,653-mile through-hike from Mexico to Canada along the PCT, fostering an appreciation for the natural environment and sustainable design principles and developing a strong sense of self-reliance
