Debbie’s work revolves around transforming utilitarian aspects of infrastructural space into ones that entice, delight, and connect us to the elemental nature of infrastructure. This motivation is rooted in the belief that infrastructure plays a huge role in navigating the climate crisis. Environmental and political issues are systemic in scale – they are infrastructural issues. Yet the way we understand the benefits and limitations of these systems are always at a human scale – a social and cultural scale. Her work aims to suggest new ways of experiencing resource infrastructure through design proposals that reframe human relationships with the elements we rely on and take for granted.

As a current artist-in-residence at the Sím Residency in Reykjavik, Debbie is diving into the social and spatial qualities of geothermal systems in Iceland. Working through field observation and architectural model-making, Debbie is producing a small set of design maquettes inspired by the formal and material conditions of public baths around the country. Debbie will share this work in progress, along with other past projects touching upon similar themes.

Debbie Chen
Debbie Chen is Assistant Professor in Architecture at Rhode Island School of Design. Her work explores how infrastructural typologies warrant design attention by shaping cultural practices. Equally interested in installation-scale work and digital simulation, her projects prompt questions regarding climate representation and atmospheric desires. In pursuit of infrastructural intimacy, Debbie is currently designing a series of alternative water and energy infrastructures that foreground ritual-making and recreation.

As a licensed architect, Debbie previously served as Project Architect at Morphosis Architects and as Project Lead at LTL Architects. Prior to joining RISD, she taught at Syracuse University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she was the 2021-2022 Architectural Activism Fellow. She received a Master of Architecture from Princeton University and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Southern California.