Danielle Willkens
Assistant Professor
Education
Ph.D. in Architectural History & Theory, The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London (2015)
Savannah College of Art & Design, Graduate Certificate in Historic Preservation (2011)
M. Arch, University of Virginia (2008)
M. Phil in the History of Art and Architecture, University of Cambridge, St. John’s College (2006)
B.S. in Architecture and Architectural History University of Virginia (2004)
Keywords
Architectural History, 3D Scanning, UAVs (drones), Spatial Visualization
Biography
Danielle S. Willkens, Assoc. AIA, FRSA, LEED AP BD+C is a practicing designer, researcher, and FAA Certified Remote Pilot who is particularly interested in bringing architectural engagement to diverse audiences through interactive projects. Her experiences in practice and research include design/build projects, public installations, and on-site investigations as well as extensive archival work in several countries. As an avid photographer and illustrator, her work has been recognized numerous times in the American Institute of Architects’ National Photography Competition and she has contributed graphics to several exhibitions and publications. She was the 2015 recipient of the Society of Architectural Historians' H. Allen Brooks Travelling Fellowship and her research into transatlantic design exchange has been supported by the Sir John Soane’s Museum Foundation, the International Center for Jefferson Studies, and an American Philosophical Society Franklin Research Grant. She was an inaugural Mellon History Teaching Fellow at Dumbarton Oaks, exploring the project “From Plantation to Protest: Visualizing Cultural Landscapes of Conflict in the American South.” She currently has several research, documentation, and visualization projects in Selma, AL and Atlanta, GA supported by National Park Service’s African American Civil Rights Grants. She is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Atlanta Preservation Center and a member of the Education Committee for the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art’s Southeast chapter.
2022 People’s Choice Award for Advancing Public Knowledge, “Walking in the Footsteps of History” at the 3rd Annual ACCelerate Creativity + Innovation Festival at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
2022 American Institute of Architects (AIA) National Photography Competition, 3rd Place, Cycles
2022 *American Institute of Architects (AIA) National Photography Competition, Honorable Mention, Selma Roof
2021 American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) Educator Honor Award
2021 Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Architecture Dean William L. Fash Award for Teaching Excellence
2021 Georgia Institute of Technology, Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL)/BP America Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award
2021 Georgia Institute of Technology, Spring 2021 Student Recognition of Excellence in Teaching: Class of 1934 CIOS Honor Roll
2017-2018 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) / American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) New Faculty Teaching Award
2015 Society of Architectural Historians’ H. Allen Brooks Travelling Fellowship “Immersive Islands: sustainable tourism and cultural heritage in Iceland, Cuba, and Japan”
Projects
“Digitally Decoding Vernacular Construction: Sellman Tenant House” funded by a 2022 grant from the National Center for Preservation Training and Technology (NCPTT)
“Digitally Decoding Vernacular Construction: Sellman Tenant House” funded by a 2022 grant from the National Center for Preservation Training and Technology (NCPTT)
Historic Structures Report on Tankersley Rosenwald School, funded by a 2022 National Park Service African American Civil Rights Grant
Historic Structures Report on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, funded by a 2018 National Park Service African American Civil Rights Grant
“Walking in the Footsteps of History” at the 2022 ACCelerate Creativity + Innovation Festival at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History
(2019-2022) National Park Service African American Civil Rights (AACR) Grant Program, “Historic Structures Report for the Edmund Pettus Bridge,” Co-PI with Auburn University Associate Professor Junshan Liu
(2021-2023) National Center for Preservation Training and Technology (NCPTT), “Archival Layers and Public Interpretation for Heritage BIM: Two Atlanta Case Studies"
(2021-2026) National Park Service CESU Preserving our Historic Structures: NPS Southeast Region (SER) Parks Cultural Resources Research and Inventory
Digital documentation and accessible interpretation for the USS Drum at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park
Publications
(forthcoming) Willkens, Danielle. The Transatlantic Design Network: Jefferson, Soane, and agents of architectural exchange, 1768-1838. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, expected 2023.
Willkens, Danielle. “The Craft and Care of Reality Capture” Buildings and Landscapes 29.2: Special Issue on Field Work (Fall 2022): 2-14. DOI: 10.1353/bdl.2022.0009
Willkens, Danielle, Heather Haley, and Junshan Liu. “Race, Space, and the Digital Interpretation at Selma’s Old Depot Museum.” ARRIS 31 (2021): 108-118.
Willkens, Danielle. “Design by ‘considerable degree’: Jefferson’s architecture as applied science.” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society v.110 p.2 (2021): 167-194.
Willkens, Danielle. “Clouds and Cataracts: atmospheric experiments at Sir John Soane’s Museum.” TAD: Open 3:2 (2019): 211-220. DOI: 10.1080/24751448.2019.1640539
Willkens, Danielle. Architecture for Teens: A Beginner’s Book for Aspiring Architects. New York, NY: Rockridge Press, 2021.
(forthcoming) Willkens, Danielle. The Transatlantic Design Network: Jefferson, Soane, and agents of architectural exchange, 1768-1838. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, exp. 2022.
(In production) Willkens, Danielle. “Sir John Soane.” Oxford Bibliographies in "Architecture Studies." New York: Oxford University Press, expected late spring 2022.
(forthcoming) Willkens, Danielle. “Domestic Architecture in Diagram: Fiske Kimball as Architect-Historian and the Case for Spatial Analysis.” In Fiske and Marie Kimball: Shaping Our Experience of Buildings and Objects (TBC), edited by Marie Frank. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, exp. 2023.
(In production) Willkens, Danielle. “The Craft and Care of Reality Capture” Buildings and Landscapes 29.2 (exp. fall 2022): TBC.
Willkens, Danielle. “The Epistolary Polygraph.” In Extinct: A Compendium of Obsolete Objects, edited by Barbara Penner, Adrian Forty, Miranda Critchley, and Olivia Horsfall Turner, 181-184. London: Reaktion, 2021.
Willkens, Danielle. “The Curious Homes and Collections of Jefferson and Soane.” In Connective Tissue: Ten Essays by University of Virginia Kenan Fellows 2001-2016, edited by Peter Waldman, 127-158. San Francisco, CA: Oro Editions, 2021.
Willkens, Danielle. “Design by ‘considerable degree’: Jefferson’s Architecture as Applied Science.” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society v.110 p.2 (2021): 167-194.
Willkens, Danielle, Heather Haley, and Junshan Liu. “Race, Space, and Digital Interpretation at Selma’s Old Depot Museum.” ARRIS 31 (2021): 108-118.
Willkens, Danielle. “Clouds and Cataracts: atmospheric experiments at Sir John Soane’s Museum.” TAD: Open 3:2 (2019): 211-220.
"Reading a Building” + "Architecture and the Environment” (2019) SAH Archipedia and NEH Edsitement!, architecturally focused Curriculum Units consisting of lesson plans for K-12
Willkens, Danielle. “Capital and Carbon: Testing the Limits of Tourism in Iceland.” Urban Transcripts 2: 1 (2019).
Willkens, Danielle. “Ruins and renewal in Cuba.” The Architectural Historian 6 (2018): 4-8.
Willkens, Danielle. “Of Time and Place [and Technology]: documenting Hale County.” Dialectic V: The Figure of Vernacular in Architectural Imagination (2017): 81-92.
Willkens, Danielle. “Monuments in Mountains.” Lobby: Faith 5 (Autumn 2016).
Willkens, Danielle. “Reading Words and Images in the Description(s) of Sir John Soane’s Museum.” Architectural Histories 4 (1): 5, Building-Word-Image Special Collection (2016): 1-22.
ARCH 1017 (6 credits) Studio I
ARCH 2111/6105 History of Architecture I (3 credits)
ARCH 3115 Modern Art & Architecture Workshop (3 credits)
ARCH 4823/6160 Race, Space, and Architecture in the United States
ARCH 4016
Architectonics in Greece and Italy, study abroad program
First Year Semester Abroad, Oxford traveling program