The MAK Center for Art and Architecture and the SOM Foundation have named Linda C. Samuels, a professor and chair of urban design at the WashU Sam Fox School, as 2026 researcher-in-residence.
Samuels, also the school’s inaugural director of sustainable design and environmental justice, will spend the summer residency in Los Angeles at the iconic Mackey Apartments (1939), designed by the Austrian-American architect Rudolph Schindler. Her research project will utilize data-based analysis and empirical, qualitative explorations to assess the city’s recently rebuilt Sixth Street Viaduct as a mobility conduit, public space and prototype for next-generation infrastructure.
Founded in 1979, the SOM Foundation aims to advance the design profession’s ability to address key topics of our time. The MAK Center, acting as a cultural think tank for current issues, encourages exploration of practical and theoretical ideas in art and architecture.
Read more on the Sam Fox School website.
