The Knowlton School welcomes the following new faculty: Assistant Professor of Architecture Erik Herrmann, Assistant Professor of City and Regional Planning Yasuyuki Motoyama and Assistant Professor of Architecture Ashley Bigham.

Erik Herrmann – Assistant Professor of Architecture

“My ongoing research and design work reconsiders the computer as a lens through which to examine the world, not merely a tool for simulating it.”

Prior to his appointment at the Knowlton School, Erik Herrmann was the 2016-2017 Walter B. Sanders Fellow and a lecturer at the University of Michigan, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. Previously, Herrmann was a visiting researcher at the Institute for Computational Design (ICD) at the University of Stuttgart as a 2014/2015 German Chancellor’s Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Professionally, Herrmann has practiced with Gray Organschi Architecture in New Haven, CT and Trahan Architects in Louisiana. He is currently co-director of Outpost Office, a design practice which focuses on issues of formal genericism, digital aesthetics, and material experimentation. He holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Tennessee College of Architecture and Design and a Master of Architecture from the Yale School of Architecture where he was awarded the Carroll L.V. Meeks Memorial Scholarship in recognition of outstanding performance in History.

Yasuyuki Motoyama – Assistant Professor of City and Regional Planning

“My general research area is about entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic development.  In particular, I am interested in understanding connections and disconnections between entrepreneurs and support organizations within a local entrepreneurship system; for example, differences by industries, business models, race/ethnicity, and gender.”

Prior to his arrival at the Knowlton School, Yasuyuki Motoyama was an Assistant Professor at the University of Kansas, with a joint appointment in the Department of Geography and School of Business. Previously, Motoyama was a director in Research and Policy at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, where his research focused on regional ecosystem of entrepreneurship, drivers of high-growth companies and university-industry relations. Prior to joining the Kauffman Foundation, Motoyama was a postdoctoral fellow with the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Motoyama is the author of “Global Companies, Local Innovations: How Engineering Aspects of Innovation Making Require Geographical Proximity,” and a co-author of “Local and Global Networks: Immigrant Professionals in Silicon Valley.” He holds a Bachelor of Arts with triple majors in history, international relations, and political science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a Master of Public Administration from Cornell University and a PhD in city and regional planning from the University of California, Berkeley.

Ashley Bigham – Assistant Professor of Architecture

“My research is characterized by an interest in the relationship of regional and generic systems, often exploring the intersection of global typologies and local cultures.”

Prior to her appointment at the Knowlton School, Ashley Bigham was a Lecturer of Architecture at the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, where she was the 2015-2016 Walter B. Sanders Fellow. In 2013-14, Bigham was a Fulbright Fellow in Ukraine at the Center for Urban History of East Central Europe. As an architectural designer, Ashley has practiced at MOS and Gray Organschi Architecture in New Haven, CT. She is currently co-director of the architectural practice Outpost Office, a design practice which focuses on issues of formal genericism, digital aesthetics, and material experimentation. Ashley holds a Master of Architecture from Yale University and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Tennessee, where she was awarded the Tau Sigma Delta Bronze Medal for best graduating project. Her work has been featured in Metropolis, Mark Magazine, STUDIO, POOL, and CLOG.