Kate O’Connor

Kate O’Connor is an Assistant Professor at the Marywood University School of Architecture. She received her Bachelor of Architecture from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC with a concentration in Design, and earned her Master of Architecture II at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is the Director of the design your future high school immersion program and develops and coordinates the Foundation and Second Year Studio sequences and develops and teaches the Structures curriculum.

She strongly believes that the role of the architect can have an influential impact on society and challenges the profession to become leaders who can solve the very complicated problems of society today. Socially responsible architects must serve as a bridge across borders, to develop architecture that responsibly serves people and their communities without imposing arbitrary restrictions. Ultimately they must create an architecture that understands real human needs such as economic stimulation, social consciousness and provide architecture that balances design with environmental awareness. Her projects engage students to embrace the holistic approach to design, by addressing the environmental, economic and social empowerment of design.

Her beginning design studios focus on materiality explorations with an emphasis on spatial explorations through tactile and rendering exercises and digital integration. Sectional investigation of objects and models inform spatial relations.

She coordinated a Hurricane Sandy Relief Effort for residents in Union Beach and Atlantic Highlands, NJ. Her most recent accomplishment was a TEDx Talk about her Farmitecture class that focuses on building for animals in need at a local animal shelter with the emphasis on designing for those who cannot speak.