ELENA WHITTLE

Portrait courtesy of Elena Whittle.

Architectural Designer in New York, NY

Bachelor of Architecture ‘20 from Syracuse University

Elena Whittle is a Brooklyn based Architectural Designer with an interest in the social impact that responsible and sustainable architecture can have on local and global communities. She seeks to produce work that allows architecture and design to become a tool to empower marginalized groups and empower them to question the built environments around them. She is a May 2020 graduate of Syracuse University, where she has received an honorable mention for her undergraduate thesis, which explores gentrification, affordable housing, and class dynamics in urban space.

Unexpected Lessons

What inspired you to pursue architecture?

Growing up, I always knew I wanted to pursue a profession that was creative. I went through a phase of wanting to be an artist, a fashion designer, a photographer, and more. Yet never once as a child did I think about becoming an architect—I don’t think I was even aware of the concept of architecture until I was a teenager. Even when I first began college, I was in a completely different program from the architecture program. During those first few months at Syracuse University, I was extremely lost and unsure of what field to pursue, despite being enrolled at SU’s prestigious School of Communications. Somewhere along the way, I discovered architecture. I can’t pinpoint exactly what made me decide to apply to transfer into Syracuse University’s School of Architecture, but I spent a great deal of time researching different architecture programs and exploring the work from the students there. I remember being so impressed and inspired by these ambitious projects that sought to create major changes by rethinking the way the built environment around us operates.  In architecture and these student’s projects, I saw something exciting that I hadn’t seen in any other industry—I saw the possibility to make a meaningful and concrete impact in the world, through a creative means. This ultimately led me into architecture school and the profession. Since then, my admiration and understanding of the possibilities of this field have only grown.

Graduation photos courtesy of Gabrielle Whittle.

Graduation photos courtesy of Gabrielle Whittle.

What is the most important thing that you learned in the past year?

Something that I and many others have learned in this past year is the importance of being adaptable and flexible. This pandemic has forced everyone to rethink the way we work and live. Furthermore, it has reminded us that we can’t always have things go the way we planned, no matter how badly we might want them to.  

I think this applies to architecture as well. Something I’ve learned both in school and in my young professional career is that we as architects cannot act as top-down designers of the world. We shouldn’t be designing our projects in a way that dictates the exact way we want people to interact with space. Realistically, people are going to move and interact with the spaces we design in whatever way they want. This might sound bad to any of us who have ever designed a project with a very specific intention for how space would be used; but ultimately, I believe this is a good thing. If more designers realize this, we can as a profession can avoid creating future designers like Robert Moses, who among other things, slapped highways and infrastructure across New York City wherever he saw fit, without any real consideration for how this would affect the existing communities in these areas.

Photo at the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia during my semester abroad in Italy. Photo courtesy of Elena Whittle.

What are some architectural organizations (or specific person/role model) that helped you learn to overcome an obstacle? How did they?

I’m truly grateful to my thesis advisors for helping me overcome the obstacle that is the undergraduate thesis. In a nutshell, my thesis was an exploration of how capital plays a critical role in the morphology of the built environment, as manifested through the phenomenon of gentrification. The case study for the project was San Francisco, a place where unchecked capitalism and a complacent city government have resulted in a reshaped urban environment where poor communities have been pushed aside.

 While my project sought to address this extremely complicated social and architectural issue, one of my advisors was fundamental in helping me realize that it is ok for the project to not have all the answers. This was an extremely relieving realization once you come to terms with that. In fact, my advisor taught me that architecture is not necessarily capable of solving the social issues that I sought to tackle; yet at the same time, this very shortcoming could be something to leverage and use as a commentary and design tool in my project. My advisor helped me to conclude that architecture alone is not responsible for the negative effects of gentrification, but there can still be ways to rethink power and social structures to allow disadvantaged communities to have more authority over the way their built environment evolves.

Image from my undergraduate thesis, “Redesigning Gentrification: Creating an Architecture for the Displaced” showcasing one of the many possible manifestations of the flexible housing proposal. Photo courtesy of Elena Whittle.

If you were given the opportunity to repeat the year, what is one thing you’d do differently?

If I could repeat this year again, I would spend more time working on personal projects. After graduating from school, I was exhausted and never wanted to open Rhino again for a year. Throughout the summer I took time away from doing almost anything architecture-related. I think this was healthy because it allowed me to focus on other things and explore my own interests. But in the months after I feel like it would have been a good use of my time to reflect more on my past projects and start new ones that personally interest and excite me. This is something I am working on now as the year is wrapping up.

In “Redesigning Gentrification,” part of the proposal argues for utilizing available air rights over existing buildings as the site for low-income housing. Photo courtesy of Elena Whittle.

As you reflect on the past year, what did you discover as your biggest strengths?

This past year has been filled with unexpected events and turbulence. From the world turning upside down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, to the ongoing racial and social tensions starting with the murder of George Floyd—2020 has been an exhausting and chaotic year. Throughout this, I like many others, have had to grapple with obstacles both professionally and personally. During this time, the biggest strength that I discovered within myself was perseverance and patience. In the past year, I’ve had to finish my undergraduate thesis remotely and successfully get a job after losing an initial job offer due to the failing economy. At the same time, I worked to maintain my mental health throughout. Without this perseverance, I don’t believe I would have gotten through any of it. A large part of having perseverance for me means staying calm and focused during what may feel like a never-ending storm. This has gotten me through a lot, and it will hopefully help me through future obstacles.

An image illustrating another part of the thesis, which proposes a new kind of Accessory Dwelling Unit typology for center block housing, which is integrated within the existing residential fabric. Photo courtesy of Elena Whittle.

The project also seeks to speculate on how the different stakeholders involved could influence a different manifestation of the intervention. The resulting architecture may be more or less favorable for each of the different groups. Photo courtesy of Elena Whittle.

In terms of rising concerns and problems (in the architectural profession) over the past year, what is one change that you wished would happen and it did not? This can be in an educational or work atmosphere. 

I would like to see architectural education to become more accessible and holistic. I don’t think architecture should be taught in a vacuum, we should be teaching it from many different frameworks—including the social and cultural impact of architecture throughout history.

A render from “Redesigning Gentrification.” Photo courtesy of Elena Whittle.

A render from “Redesigning Gentrification.” Photo courtesy of Elena Whittle.