Erin Carraher portrait
  • Associate Professor, School Of Architecture
  • Director of Strategy & Partnerships, Equitable Housing & Livability Institute
  • Ivory Fellow, Sorenson Impact Center
  • Director of Undergraduate Studies, School Of Architecture
801-585-5354

Current Courses

Spring 2025

  • ARCH 2634-001
    Arch Des Fund Studio

Fall 2024

Entrepreneurial Experience

  • Equitable Housing & Livability Institute. 01/01/2018 - present. Employees: 4.

Professional Organizations

  • Women in Architecture SLC. 01/01/2022 - present. Position : Board Member.
  • Building Technology Educators' Society. 01/01/2019 - 12/31/2019. Position : Past President.
  • Building Technology Educators' Society. 01/01/2018 - 12/31/2018. Position : President.
  • American Association of University Women. 01/01/2018 - present. Position : Member.
  • International Living Future Institute. 05/01/2017 - present. Position : Member.
  • Building Technology Educators' Society. 01/01/2017 - 12/31/2017. Position : President-Elect.
  • American Institute of Architects, Utah Chapter. 09/2015 - 11/2015. Position : Design Awards Jury Chair.
  • Building Technology Educators Society. 02/2014 - 06/2015. Position : 2015 Conference Co-Chair.
  • Building Technology Educators Society. 01/2014 - 12/2015. Position : Board Member.
  • American Institute of Architects, Utah Chapter. 01/2014 - 12/2015. Position : Young Architects Forum Chair.
  • American Institute of Architects, Utah Chapter. 09/2013 - 11/2013. Position : Central Section Design Awards Jury Member.
  • Building Technology Educators Society. 01/2013 - present. Position : Member.
  • American Institute of Architects, Utah Chapter. 01/2012 - 12/2014. Position : Young Architects Forum Technology Committee Co-Chair.
  • American Institute of Architects, Utah Chapter. 01/2012 - 12/2014. Position : Technology in Architectural Practice Committee Member.
  • American Institute of Architects, Utah Chapter. 01/2012 - 10/2012. Position : Conference Planning Committee.
  • National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. 06/2010 - present. Position : Certified Record Holder.
  • American Institute of Architects. 02/2010 - present. Position : Member.
  • US Green Building Council. 01/2008 - present. Position : Member.

Teaching Philosophy

“The nobility of architecture has always rested on the idea that it is a social art—whose purposes include, yet transcend, the building of buildings. Architects, in short, are engaged in designing the physical features and social spaces of our daily lives, which can shape how productive, healthy, and happy we are both individually and collectively. The profound and permanent impact of the architecture profession demands an education not only highly technical and practical, but broad and intellectually liberating as well.” — Ernest L. Boyer and Lee Mitgang, “A Profession in Perspective,” 1996

 

With an emphasis on undergraduate education in the architecture major, I work to empower students to make positive impact through their work and to understand their position within the larger continuum of professional practice beginning on their first day of school. To do this, I develop special project opportunities that engage students in meaningful collaborations with practitioners, researchers, and community partners. My teaching approach is based on principles of integration, application, immersion, inclusion, and collaboration, which inform and are informed by my research work in similar areas. 

Courses I Teach

  • ARCH 3010 - Architectural Design Studio I
    This course teaches beginning students the principles of architectural design and the design process in a studio setting. Students will work through projects introducing both a depth and breadth of knowledge relative to design fundamentals through hands-on application. In this course, process is valued as highly as product for ideas and applications because it is critical to students' development. This includes the ability to be self-critical, to cycle through multiple iterations of a design concept, to look to precedent and be able to adapt and adopt these into their own work. The objectives of this course are to teach students the basic skills of architectural composition and representation; an awareness of the role of program in architecture; and an awareness of the interaction between buildings and their context. Technical skills that will be introduced include plan, section and elevation; form generation and its relationship to space making and program; basic material properties; fundamentals of different envelope assemblies and structural systems; model-making skills (both physical and computer-generated); modes of representation (both digital and analog); and collaboration and teamwork skills related to group projects. Projects will be conducted at both the 1:1 as well as conceptual scales through design-build projects in collaboration with community partners and proposals for building projects at more of a theoretical scale.
  • ARCH 3011 - Architectural Design Studio II
    This course teaches students the principles of architectural design and the design process in a studio setting. Students will work through projects intended to introduce both a depth and breadth of knowledge relative to design fundamentals through hands-on application. In this course, process is valued as highly as produce because it is critical to students' development. This includes the ability to be self-critical, to cycle through multiple iterations of a design concept, to look to precedent and be able to adapt and adopt these into their own work. The objectives of this course are to help students develop basic skills of architectural composition and representation, the awareness of the role of program in architecture, and their awareness of the interaction between buildings and their context - building on concepts introduced in ARCH 3010. Technical skills that are further developed include plan, section and elevation; form generation and its relationship to space making; compositional techniques; intermediate material properties; basic programming skills; and intermediate model-making skills (both physical and computer-generated) and modes of representation(both digital and analog). Projects will include full-scale mockups of design proposals as well as explorations of theoretical proposals for actual sites across the country. Each spring, students in ARCH 3011 travel to visit a major metropolitan area in the US to explore architectural projects in context and to conduct site analysis that will be used in design proposals. The course has an emphasis on the interrelationships among design process, site historical precedent, structural elements, theoretical explorations, and technology of construction as design response to programmatic requirements.
  • ARCH 3050 - Architectural Communications I
    This course will introduce the application of analog and digital media, verbal and visual communications, architectural graphic standards, and representational techniques in the architectural design and communication process. Beginning with simple processes, the class will regularly introduce additional media while establishing proper workflow and best practices between various platforms. Through the course assignments, students will be challenged to expand their creative and conceptual approach to incorporating drawing and media into their design process through the intelligent use of appropriate tools to create well-crafted, evocative, and highly informative representations of your designs. Architects have at their disposal a myriad of media that can aid in the development of their designs. However, none of these tools is capable of doing all the tasks required nor are many of them specifically geared toward architecture. Students and practitioners often appropriate tools from the graphic design, computer animation, and manufacturing industries to meet their needs. This class will address these various tools and discuss the best way to use them individually and more importantly in combination toward their successful implementation in the design process.
  • ARCH 4701 - Pro Practice I: Leadership and Collaboration
    ARCH 4701 Professional Practice I is designed to introduce undergraduate architecture majors to important issues in professional practice, with an emphasis on leadership and collaboration. Current architecture practice requires a collaborative approach to leadership both within the architecture firm and beyond, as when working with client groups, community and governmental organizations, contractors and subcontractors, and material fabricators. Architects also must understand their responsibility as global citizens and as stewards of the built and natural environments and must work to ensure that the interests of all groups are embraced in the design process, including those who typically are “invisible” to the profession. ARCH 4701 prepares students to understand the challenges facing contemporary architecture practice and to employ collaborative skills within professional and academic situations.
  • ARCH 6960 - Emerging Off-site Construction Methodologies
    This special topics course will explore the current state of emerging off-site construction methodologies and their impact on architectural practice.

Teaching Projects

  • Re-Inhabitations. Project Lead: Erin Carrahert. Collaborators: Christopher Nelson, Hannah Vaughn, Matthew Daines. Sub-Award from Epicenter for NEA Our Town Grant 08/15/2016 - 05/31/2017. Total Budget: $16,565.00.
  • Our SLC: Claim It! Project Lead: Erin Carrhaer. Collaborators: Dwight Yee. 08/24/2015 - 01/31/2017. Total Budget: $2,250.00.
  • Girl Scouts of Utah Cabin Project at Trefoil Ranch. Project Lead: Erin Carraher. Collaborators: Joerg Reugemer, Ryan Smith. Girl Scouts of Utah 05/2012 - present. Total Budget: $150,000.00.
  • Recycling at the SoA. Project Lead: Erin Carraher, faculty sponsor. Collaborators: Justinian Popa, project manager. University of Utah SCIF Fund 11/2011 - present. Total Budget: $3,700.00.
  • Leadership in Collaborative Architectural Practice. Project Lead: Ryan Smith . Collaborators: Erin Carraher, Joerg Reugemer. American Institute of Architects 10/2011 - present. Total Budget: $80,000.00.
  • School of Architecture Student Publication. Project Lead: Prescott Muir, department chair. Collaborators: Erin Carraher, faculty advisor. School of Architecture 08/2011 - 08/2012. Total Budget: $10,000.00.
  • Solar Shades for Marriott Library Plaza. Project Lead: Erin Carraher, faculty sponsor. Collaborators: Jane Collette, project manager. University of Utah SCIF Fund 03/2011 - present. Total Budget: $12,964.00.

Professional Licensure

Registered Architect, State of Utah (license number 8161109–0301), 2011 – present