esther@estherchoi.net
+1 609-937-9379
Esther Choi (b. Toronto) is a multidisciplinary artist and writer based in New York. Her photographs, sculptures, installations, social sculptures, and writing have examined how environments and quotidian objects can shape subjectivities and bring different human and nonhuman constituencies in relation.
Informed by her training in architectural history, her work approaches the histories and artefacts of the built and managed environments as tools to probe the politics of sociability and sharing in and with the commons. She has explored food as a sculptural and social medium in Fluxus-inspired occasions that have sought to transform the increasingly rarified activities of commensality and aesthetic connoisseurship into accessible and unusual configurations of kinship. She is presently at work on a book based on these events entitled Le Corbuffet for publication with Prestel in 2019.
Choi is the coeditor of two books: Architecture Is All Over (Columbia Books on Architecture, 2017) and Architecture at the Edge of Everything Else ( MIT Press, 2010). Her writing has appeared in Artforum, Art Papers, The Journal of Architectural Education, Architectural Review, 032c/ SSENSE, and PIN-UP. She has also contributed essays to exhibition catalogues such as Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia (2015) and Reaper: Richard Hamilton, Sigfried Giedion (2017). Choi has participated in speaking engagements and panels at Cranbrook Art Museum, Museum of Modern Art, University of Michigan, Cranbrook Art Academy, Harvard Graduate School of Design, among others.
She studied photography and architectural history and theory at Princeton University, Harvard University, Concordia University, and Ryerson University. Her dissertation explores the exchanges that took place between British modern architects, biologists, writers, and artists to reimagine a new world order and a reconstructed human nature in the period between and following the two World Wars.
She has shot photographs for T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Dazed and Confused, Another Magazine, Another Man, and Vice Records.
- Education
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2018
Princeton University
Ph.D. Candidate, History and Theory of Architecture; Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in the Humanities (Expected) -
2014
Princeton University
M.A., History and Theory of Architecture -
2008
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
MDes, History and Theory of Architecture -
2007
Concordia University
MFA, Studio Arts, Photography, Installation -
2001
Ryerson University
BFA (Hon.), Photography
- Solo and Two Person Exhibitions
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2018
HumanTRANSforms, an installation and social sculpture produced for the Mellon Research Forum on the Urban Environment, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
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2008
Harvard Graduate School of Design, Gund Hall, Cambridge, MA
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2007
Continuous Structures, Espace 528, Centre d’art Belgo, Montréal, QC
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2007
Esther Choi & Jeanie Riddle, Galerie Thérèse Dion, Montréal, QC
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2007
Relative Room, Relative Space, Toronto, ON
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2006
Gemini (In collaboration with Leigh Davis), Bourget Gallery, Montréal, QC
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2001
Running with the Devil (with Katia Taylor) Ryerson Gallery, Toronto, ON
- Selected Group Exhibitions
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2018
The Store Show, an ad hoc variation on Asad Raza's The Home Show, hosted by Asad Raza, D. Graham Burnett, Jeff Dolven, and Brooke Holmes, Labyrinth Books, Princeton, NJ (April 25, 2018)
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2018
On Sympathy: A one-off Occasion hosted by Isabel Lewis, with Brooke Holmes, Michael Squire, Chiara Cappelletto and Esther Choi, as part of The Classical Now exhibition, Kings College London, UK (April 6, 2018)
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2015
Radical Pedagogies, 7th Warsaw Under Construction Festival, Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland (Oct. 12-Nov. 10, 2015)
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2014
Radical Pedagogies- Action-Reaction-Interaction, Venice Biennale 14th International Architecture Exhibition, Venice, Italy (June 7- Nov. 23, 2014)
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2013
Radical Pedagogies, Lisbon Triennial “Close, Closer,” Lisbon, Portugal (Sept. 12-Dec. 15, 2013) Curator: Jose Esparza
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2012
Break/Step, Radiator Gallery, Long Island City, NY. Curator: Eileen Jeng
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2012
Horizon Variations, Camera Club of New York, New York, NY. Curator: Elizabeth Saperstein
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2011
Summer Group Show, Angell Gallery, Toronto, ON. Curator: Gareth Brown-Jowett
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2009
Elektra Festival International Arts Numériques (10th Edition), Usine-C, Montréal, QC (May 1-10, 2009)
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2007
Group Show, Galerie Thérèse Dion (Espace 2), Montréal, QC
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2006
Ignition 3, Leonard & Bina Ellen Gallery, Montréal, QC (Dec.7-Jan 6, 2007) Curator: Marie-Josée Jean and Michèle Thériault
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2006
Lucid, Concordia FOFA Gallery, Montréal, QC. Curator: Geneviève Cadieux
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2005
Décalage, The Parisian Laundry, Montréal, QC. Curator: Jeanie Riddle
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2002
Will Munro, Spin Gallery, Toronto, ON
- Academic Appointments
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2008– 16
Assistant Professor (Tenured 2012)
OCAD University, Faculty of Art
Depts. of Photography; Criticism and Curatorial Practice (CRCP); Interdisciplinary Masters in Art, Media, and Design (IAMD) -
2016
Lecturer
The New School
Dept. of Art and Design History and Theory -
2015
Assistant Professor, Adjunct
Cooper Union
Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture
- Cultural Programming (Convened and Moderated)
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2017
"You're Not the Boss of Me Now: Assemble x Architecture Is All Over", Amica Dall, Joseph Halligan and Esther Choi in conversation, e-flux, New York, NY (Nov. 3, 2017)
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2017
Architecture Is All Over - Book Launch and Discussion, with Esther Choi, Marrikka Trotter, Rosalyne Shieh and Troy Schaum, A/D/O, Brooklyn, NY (Oct. 18, 2017)
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2016
An Evening with Assemble, with Paloma Strelitz, Fran Edgerley, Martino Stierli, Sean Anderson, Esther Choi, Michael Meredith, Bill Menking, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (March 28, 2016)
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2016
A Pop-Up Discussion with Assemble, with Paloma Strelitz, Fran Edgerley and Esther Choi, Bright Lyons Art Space, Brooklyn, NY (March 25, 2016)
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2011
Architecture Is All Over Symposium, with D. Graham Burnett, Jill H. Casid, Esther Choi, David Gissen, K. Michael Hays, Patty Heyda, Jennifer W. Leung, Sanford Kwinter, Trevor Patt, Andrew Payne, Olga Touloumi, Marrikka Trotter, Mason White and Alexander Hilton Wood. Co-presented by OCAD University and University of Toronto Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, TIFF Bell Lightbox, Toronto, ON (Feb. 11-12, 2011)
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2010
Photography Lecture Series with Anthony Goicolea, Manon de Pauw, Leigh Davis, Scott McFarland, OCAD University, Toronto, ON
- Publications
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2019
Le Corbuffet: A Compendium of Edible Art and Design Classics (New York/ London/ Munich: Prestel Publishers, Forthcoming).
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2017
Architecture Is All Over. Edited by Esther Choi and Marrikka Trotter (New York: Columbia Books on Architecture and the City, 2017).
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2010
Architecture at the Edge of Everything Else. Edited by Esther Choi and Marrikka Trotter (Cambridge: Work Books, Inc./ MIT Press, 2010).
- Selected Book Chapters, Essays and Reviews
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2018
"Introduction: This Must Be the Place," Dash Marshall: Matter Battle, 45 Lessons Learned (New York, 2018)
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2017
"Disorderly Conduct: Reimagining a World Built with Lava," 032c/ SSENSE. Web.
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2017
“Second Lives” in Reaper: Richard Hamilton, Sigfried Giedion. ed. Carson Chan (Zurich: JRP Ringier, 2017).
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2017
“User Experience: Rick Owens New York,” 032c/ SSENSE. Web.
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2017
“Insides and Outsides: On 'The Other Architect'," Journal for Architectural Education. Web.
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2017
"An Appeal to Consciousness," Paprika - Fold: 3-01: Foundations. Yale School of Architecture Web.
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2017
“Introduction: The Crisis of the Crisis,” with Marrikka Trotter, Architecture Is All Over (New York: Columbia Books on Architecture and the City, 2017).
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2016
“New Power Generation: Interview with MOS,” PIN-UP Magazine (Fall/ Winter 2016-17). Link.
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2015
“Sociable Realism: On Assemble,” Artforum, vol. 54, issue 3 (November 2015): 133–34. Link.
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2015
“Atmospheres of Institutional Critique: Haus-Rucker-Co’s Pneumatic Temporality,” Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia., ed. Andrew Blauvelt (Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 2015), 31–43.
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2015
“On Covers, Connections, and Criticality: Interview with Günter Zamp Kelp, Haus-Rucker-Co” Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia, ed. Andrew Blauvelt (Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 2015), 395–402.
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2015
“Unspeakable Signs: Interview with ONYX,” Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia, ed. Andrew Blauvelt (Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 2015), 411–18.
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2015
“Natural Disasters,” Into the Wild, ed. Caitlin Sutherland (Hamilton: Hamilton Artists Inc., 2015)
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2015
“Photographic Architecture” (Book review), Art Papers (Jan. 2015): 63-4.
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2014
“Art Post-Internet Questionnaire,” Art Post- Internet (exh. cat.). Curated by Karen Archey and Robin Peckham (Beijing: Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, 2014).
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2013
“From Object to Field: Sketches for a Virtual Ecology,” in Krabbesholm Høj Skole Studio by MOS (Skive: Krabbesholm 2013).
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2012
“Radical Pedagogies in Architectural Education,” with Beatriz Colomina, Ignacio Gonzalez-Galan, Anna-Maria Meister, The Architectural Review 233 (October 2012): 78-83. Link.
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2010
“How Does It Feel to Feel?,” Architecture at the Edge of Everything Else, eds. Esther Choi and Marrikka Trotter (Cambridge: Work Books, Inc./ MIT Press, 2010).
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2010
“Airtight: A Conversation between Philippe Rahm and Esther Choi,” Architecture at the Edge of Everything Else, eds. Esther Choi and Marrikka Trotter (Cambridge: Work Books, Inc./ MIT Press, 2010).
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2010
“Introduction: The Name of the Game,” with Marrikka Trotter, Architecture at the Edge of Everything Else (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2010).
- Invited Talks, Conferences and Panels
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2018
"The Nature of the Beast: Tecton and the Gorilla House at the London Zoo," Media and Modernity Doctoral Colloquium, Princeton University School of Architecture, Princeton, NJ (May 15, 2018)
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2018
"Against the Architectural Imagination: Sustainability's Image Problem," Panel: Towards an Aesthetics of Geology in the Age of Anthropocene, Association for Art History Conference, King's College London and Courtauld Institute, UK (April 7, 2018)
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2018
“Microbes”, a conversation between Orkan Telhan and Esther Choi, Spring 2018 Mellon Research Forum on the Urban Environment, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ (April 2, 2018)
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2018
"Against the Architectural Imagination: Sustainability's Image Problem," Cranbrook Academy of Art, Architecture Lecture Series, Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI (March 21, 2018)
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2018
"Audience/ Experience" panel with Lucia Allais, André Brock, Esther Choi and Megan Sapnar Ankerson, moderated by Thom Moran and Laida Aguirre. Becoming Digital Conference, University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Planning, Ann Arbor, MI (Feb. 3, 2018)
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2017
"The Nature of the Beast: Tecton and the Gorilla House at the London Zoo," The Center for Experimental Humanities, New York University, New York, NY (Nov. 3, 2017)
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2017
Architecture Is All Over - Soft Book Launch and Discussion, University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Planning (Sept. 21, 2017)
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2017
“Common Denominators: Biotechnics and Architectural Modernism," GSD HIS-04491: Narratives of Design Science, Harvard University GSD (March 24, 2017)
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2016
“Rethinking Radicalism,” Free Radicals Symposium, Cranbrook Art Museum (October 9, 2016)
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2016
"Ganges Water Machine: Designing New India’s Ancient River. A Discussion on Visualizing Environmental Change" with Anthony Acciavatti, Sean Anderson, Esther Choi, Upmanu Lall, Rhode Island School of Design, SY Partners, New York, NY (March 29, 2016)
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2015
“Frederick Kiesler’s Magic Architecture” Workshop led by Spyros Papapetros with Gerd Zillner, Laura McGuire, Stephen Phillips, Felicity Scott, Lucia Allais, Craig Buckley, Esther Choi, Michelle Fornabai, Romy Golan, James Graham, Nadine Helm, Steven Lauritano, Ara Merjian, Rachel L. Price, Effie Rentzou, Julian Rose, Carolyn Yerkes , Princeton University School of Architecture, Princeton, NJ (April 24, 2015)
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2015
“Ornament and Evolution in ‘The Age of Force’.” Panel: Darwinism and the Evolution of American Architecture. Society for Architectural Historians Annual Conference, Chicago, IL (April 15-19, 2015)
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2015
“Frederick Kiesler’s On Correalism and Biotechniques.”GSD HIS-04491: Narratives of Design Science, Harvard University GSD (April 8, 2015)
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2014
“On Frederick Kiesler’s On Correalism and Biotechniques.” Panel: Making Reality Visible: Redefining the Art and Reality Relation in the 21st Century. Universities Art Association of Canada Conference, OCAD University, Toronto, ON (Oct. 23-26, 2014)
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2014
"Trend Forecasting” discussion with Greg Fong, Sean Monahan and Emily Segal (K-Hole); Michael Rock; Michael Meredith; Axel Kilian; Lucia Allais; Alejandro Zaera-Polo; Carson Chan; Esther Choi; Liam Young. SoA Lecture Series, “The New How”, Princeton University School of Architecture, Princeton, NJ (Oct. 8, 2014)
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2014
“From Shirts to Shelter: On Frederick Kiesler’s Biotechnical Correality.” Cornell University AAP, New York
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2012
“Atmospheres of Institutional Critique: Haus-Rucker-Co’s Pneumatic Temporality,” Panel: Artistic Research and Institutional Critique. Universities Art Association of Canada Conference, Concordia University, Montréal, QC (Nov. 2, 2012)
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2010
"Artists’ Research Round Table" panel discussion moderated by Rebecca Duclos, OCAD University, Toronto, ON
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2009
Artist Talk, International Marketplace for Digital Arts Conference, Cinémathèque Québécoise, Montréal, QC
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1996
"On Fanzines and DIY Feminism," York University, Dept. of Women's Studies. Toronto, ON
- Bibliography (Work Featured)
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2018
Interview, Monocle on Design, “Who are the Pritzkers?”, Monocle Radio (June 12, 2018).
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2018
Robert Wiesenberger, Review of Architecture is All Over, Art Papers (Winter 2017/2018).
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2018
Matthew Scribner, “What is happening to architecture?” Concordia Magazine (Jan. 22, 2018)
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2017
Sammy Medina, “The Architecture Book Is Alive but Evolving,” Metropolis (Dec. 2017).
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2017
Kristina Ljubanovic, “It was all a dream,” Globe and Mail (Nov. 2, 2017)
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2017
Christopher Hawthorne, “Two decades after Gehry's Guggenheim Bilbao, where does architecture stand?” Los Angeles Times (Oct. 12, 2017). Web.
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2017
Mollie Claypool, “Architecture Is All Over,” The Journal of Architecture vol. 22, 7 (Sept. 2017): 2162-65.
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2017
Sammy Medina, “Is Architecture Finished? Depends on How You Define It.” Metropolis vol. 36, 11 (2017): 162-65.
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2015
Jan Kattein, “Made in Architecture: Education as collaborative practice,” Architectural Research Quarterly vol. 19, 3 (2015): 295–306.
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2002
Terrence Dick, “Three Short Essays on Growing Up,” Fuse Magazine (May 2002)
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2001
John Gemmell, “Metalheads Are People Too,” The Eye Opener (Sept. 19, 2001
- Fellowships and Awards
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2018
Princeton Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in the Humanities Travel Grant
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2018
Princeton Postclassicisms Global Collaborative Network Travel Grant
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2017
Princeton Interdisciplinary Humanities Doctoral Program Fellowship
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2014-16
Howard Crosby Butler Traveling Fellowship in Architecture, Princeton University
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2011-16
Henry N. Young III Fellowship, Princeton University School of Architecture
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2014-15
Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies Travel Fellowship
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2015
Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts
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2015
Canadian Centre for Architecture–TD Bank Group Research Grant
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2015
Society for Architectural Historians Graduate Fellowship
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2014
Graduate School Dean’s Fund for Scholarly Travel, Princeton University
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2012-13
Joseph Sanford Shanley ’17 Memorial Award, Princeton School of Architecture
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2010
Social Sciences Humanities Research Council of Canada Institutional Grant
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2010
Social Sciences Humanities Research Council of Canada Aid to Research Workshops and Conferences in Canada
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2008
Harvard Graduate School of Design International Student Grant
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2007
International Council for Canadian Studies Graduate Scholarship
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2007
Harvard University International Employment Award
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2007
Ontario Student Opportunity Grant
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2007
Centre Interuniversitaire des Arts Mêdiatiques Project Grant
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2006
Toronto Arts Council Media Arts Grant
- Residencies
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2018
Artist in residence, Concordia University, Dept. of Photography, Montréal, QC