Program initiatives - Columbia GSAPP

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AAD PROGRAM INITIATIVES

AAd Edible Summits

The literal and ontological connections between architecture and food surface occur at different scales: from the gut of our bodies to the ecology of territories and the technology of building systems. They bring together the farm, the city, inequity, and the stomach. The abundance produced by industrial agriculture, its promise of food security, comes at a steep cost to the global climate, ecological cycles, biodiversity, rural communities, and plays a central role in the hegemonic influence of humans and our terraforming of the planet. At different scales, from the kitchen table to the forest, we will ask how does architecture, foster, violate and transgress these relationships?

Symphony of Fermentation

During fermentation, microorganisms grow, shift in size, and form colonies, constructing hidden architectures within food. As they multiply, they generate subtle vibrations and frequencies that overlap and resonate, producing a continuous field of acoustic activity. Symphony of Fermentation brings these processes into perception. Through a series of transscalar installations, microbial activity is translated into a layered sonic environment where recorded and live inputs intersect. Simple mechanical listening devices, inspired by automata, amplify and mediate these signals, allowing visitors to engage with biological processes that are otherwise imperceptible.

2026 Spring Students: Nicole Kertznus, Hyeseong Kim, Sungjik Kim, and Meng-Syun Sung, in collaboration with Miguel Gallego (MFA 2026).

Salt Archaeologies

Salt Archaeologies is an edible installation that stages dining as an intimate bodily experience tied to the only rock we eat: salt. Salt runs through air, soil, and water. It is the substance of our tears, our blood, and our sweat. The climate crisis, along with industrial and extractivist processes, is redistributing it where it shouldn’t be. The world is getting saltier, and it’s happening very fast. We ask how far does salt travel in scales, territories and time—from body to air, from mineral to wall, from ocean to table—to reach our tongues. What kinds of labour are involved in the process? How do sodium chloride’s properties blend with salt’s cultural and spiritual connotations? What kinds of food, species and architecture would survive in a saltier world?

2025 Fall Students: Georgios Koltiris, Shannon Shiraz Levkovitz, Valeria Ramirez, Julio Viejo, Vasiliki Zochiou

Locali-tea

What does it truly mean to eat locally? LocaliTea reimagines locality not just as a matter of geography but as an intimate entanglement of bodies, environments, and food cycles. Through four repurposed tables—gardening, sorting, brewing, and decomposing—the project transforms eating into a communal, participatory experience where production, consumption, and decay unfold together. It challenges the conventional experience around tea drinking by integrating food production directly into consumption and transforming the table from a passive surface into an active participant in the local food cycle.

2024 Spring Students: Rudain Almulla, Yeonjin Kim, Minhan Lin, Sewon Min, Amy Suzuki

deCORNstruction

What is food? A ritual, a system, a cycle, or just consumption? deCORNstruction Project unpacks the layers of corn to explore the perception and boundaries between food and waste, from cob to husk, from rural fields to urban tables, from tiny seeds to tangled trade routes. At the center is a dining table that acts as a living system: food is shared, scraps are fed to worms beneath, and soil is regenerated. This continuous cycle invites us to rethink what we eat, what we discard, and what might begin again.

2024 Spring Students: Sungjun Baek, Pimchid Chariyacharoen, Adnan Kasubhai, Dongjae Ko, HyunSeung Moon

Program Supported Student Initiatives

B•SIDE

B•SIDE is a student-run experimental publication at Columbia GSAPP that explores the spaces beside architecture: adjacent practices, peripheral influences, and the small, material traces that shape how we design and remember.

Civic Collective

Civic Collective is a student-driven, volunteer- based organization that believes architecture is a tool for supporting communities. By connecting with nonprofits and community groups, we offer a platform for student and community engagement , and construction ranging from planters for community gardens to pavilions for public spaces. Our goal is to provide students with real-world opportunities to apply their skills, collaborate with diverse communities, and make a tangible impact through small-scale built projects.