MO ZELL
Mo Zell is the Chair of the Department of Architecture at UW-Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning and principal of the design firm, bauenstudio. Mo is a designer, a licensed architect, and an educator interested in engaged practice and installation as a form of critical inquiry. She engages communities outside the boundaries of her department, school, discipline and campus in hands-on, full scale ‘making ’, such as that found in installations, as an effective vehicle for implementing change. For Mo, engaged practice is a form of collaboration where team members, both disciplinary and interdisciplinary, are sought out to enhance the outcomes of a project. These collaborations build opportunities for engaging a broader audience and more holistic thinking about architecture.
At the core of her engaged practice is a series of partnerships. Partnerships comprise professional design partners, students and faculty in the academy including interdisciplinary colleagues, and communities. One longstanding partnership is with my design partner and adjunct professor Marc Roehrle, with whom she operates a two-person design and research firm, bauenstudio. Their work manifests in the form of speculative design work and built work at the domestic scale. The work of bauenstudio has been recognized with several design awards including a Boston Society of Architecture Honor Award, a Boston Society of Landscape Architecture Merit Award, and an ACSA Faculty Design Award. Her design work has also been exhibited at the Haggerty Museum of Art.
She also partners with faculty and students to expand expertise, engagement opportunities, and production levels. Her partnerships with communities, institutions, and organizations allows her to improve public engagement through programmed cultural events. Partnerships with the Milwaukee Art Museum, area Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) including Near West Side Partners, architecture professionals, art organizations like the Chipstone Foundation, and area developers impact students, professionals and communities across Milwaukee.
Mo spearheaded a number of initiatives at the school that involve community and professional partners including the SARUP externship program, Women in Design Milwaukee, and the SARUP Mobile Design Box.
At the core of her engaged practice is a series of partnerships. Partnerships comprise professional design partners, students and faculty in the academy including interdisciplinary colleagues, and communities. One longstanding partnership is with my design partner and adjunct professor Marc Roehrle, with whom she operates a two-person design and research firm, bauenstudio. Their work manifests in the form of speculative design work and built work at the domestic scale. The work of bauenstudio has been recognized with several design awards including a Boston Society of Architecture Honor Award, a Boston Society of Landscape Architecture Merit Award, and an ACSA Faculty Design Award. Her design work has also been exhibited at the Haggerty Museum of Art.
She also partners with faculty and students to expand expertise, engagement opportunities, and production levels. Her partnerships with communities, institutions, and organizations allows her to improve public engagement through programmed cultural events. Partnerships with the Milwaukee Art Museum, area Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) including Near West Side Partners, architecture professionals, art organizations like the Chipstone Foundation, and area developers impact students, professionals and communities across Milwaukee.
Mo spearheaded a number of initiatives at the school that involve community and professional partners including the SARUP externship program, Women in Design Milwaukee, and the SARUP Mobile Design Box.