Westphal College of Media Arts & Design

Jacklynn Niemiec is a Registered Architect and Assistant Professor of Architecture in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design at Drexel University. She specializes in architectural representation and teaches in the foundation year design studios. Her research on design pedagogy topics has investigated the role of process in design education, both in the studio and curriculum development. Her recent applied research includes a survey of existing graphic models and their adequacy in translating spatial data for indoor navigation and wayfinding. Her work seeks non-traditional tools to explore movement and navigation in the built environment. In an interdisciplinary collaboration titled Variable Space, Professor Niemiec tested the use of motion capture to visualize physical response to spatial language. She teaches Architectural Visualization and Representation, Design Studios, and an interdisciplinary Game Level Design course in the Westphal College of Media Arts & Design at Drexel University. She received her undergraduate degree in Architecture at Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Architecture degree at the University of Pennsylvania.

M. Arch, University of Pennsylvania
B. Arch, Pennsylvania State University

• Niemiec, Jacklynn. "Curriculum Mapping through Data Visualization." International Conference of The Design Communication Association (DCA) 2020: Perception to Execution, Atlanta, GA, Delayed until October 2021.

• Niemiec, Jacklynn and Lilley, Steven. "Cost in Space: A Value-Based Approach to Architectural Pathfinding." In Conference Proceedings ARCC-EAAE 2021: Performative Environments, Tuscon, AZ, 2021.

• Niemiec, Jacklynn. "Visualizing Curricula." In International Conference on Theory and Application of Diagrams, pp. 544-547. Springer, Cham, 2020."

• Brack, Mark; Jung, Uk; Koltick, Nicole; Mangold, William; Niemiec, Jacklynn. "Motley Crews: Learning Collaboration Through the Design Charrette." In Conference Proceedings ACSA 108 Annual Meeting: OPEN, San Diego, CA, 2020.

• Niemiec, Jacklynn. "Documenting Intent: A Survey of Spatial Models for Indoor Navigation." In Conference Proceedings ARCC-EAAE 2018: Architectural Research for a Global Community: Shaping the Quality of Life, Vol. 2, pp. 263-268. Philadelphia, PA, 2018.

• Niemiec, Jacklynn. "Drawing the Known and the Imagined." In Conference Proceedings NCBDS, 33: Begin with Why: Values and Ethics in the Beginning of Design, pp. 308-311. Salt Lake City, UT, 2017.

• Austin, Jason and Niemiec, Jacklynn. "Citing Site: Utilizing the process of mapping to answer Why…." In Conference Proceedings NCBDS, 33: Begin with Why: Values and Ethics in the Beginning of Design, pp. 19-25. Salt Lake City, UT, 2017.

• Austin, Jason and Niemiec, Jacklynn. "Presenting Incomplete(ness)." In Conference Proceedings NCBDS, 32: 1:1, pp. 429-434. San Luis Obispo, CA 2016.

• Niemiec, Jacklynn. "Variable Space; Seeking Space for Movement in Beginning Design Education." In Conference Proceedings NCBDS, 31: Engaging Media, pp. 393-398. Houston, TX, 2015.

• Austin, Jason and Niemiec, Jacklynn. "Presenting Architecture in Reverse." In Edge Condition, Vol. 2, pp. 04-07.

 

Jacklynn's current research looks at the relationship between wayfinding and individual needs or values in space. She was awarded a 2020 Summer Faculty Research Award to develop the research and recently presented it at the ARCC conference. In this project, circulation paths are altered in buildings based on prescribed variables in the built environment one's affinity for them. These variables could be related to wellness in the built environment (e.g. daylight) or accessibility and equity in spaces; both are areas of interest for future research.

 

A Value-Based Approach to Architectural Pathfinding (PI)

Funding Source: Drexel Faculty Research Grant

March 2020 – June 2021

 

Cost in Space

Funding Source: Westphal Mini-Grant

March 2019 – September 2020

 

Portraits through Time: Exploring Connections to Place through Writing and Drawing

Funding Source: Westphal Mini-Grant

March 2016 – September 2017

 

Variable Space

Funding Source: ExCITe Center Seed Grant

July 2014 – January 2015

Title: Building a Village. Media: Digital Hybrid Drawing. 2015. Generative drawings from; Variable Space. Digital models built from spatial movement recorded in motion capture lab, published in JAE Discursive Images Gallery.

 

Title: OverBUILD. Media: Digital Collage. 2016. from; At Home in a Rowhouse A 21st Century Rowhouse Design Competition. Niemiec & Co. Entry; Top 10, Honorable Mention.