Three Taubman College students were selected as recipients of the 2025 Architecture Student Research Grant (ASRG). Established by the Class of 2013, ASRG provides $3,000 to student research projects that push the boundaries and possibilities of architecture. This year, Alireza Fazel, Ph.D. Arch, Dana Salama, Ph.D. Arch, and Nick Grosh, M.Arch ’27 were selected to receive the grant.
Project proposals can take a variety of forms, including built objects, experiments, written work, or models for alternative practice. This year, projects ranged from 3D printing methods for architecture, to a short film, and a proposal for co-operative housing:
Stress-Guided Overprinting: Robotic 3D Printing for Reinforced Thin Shells
Alireza Fazel
To address challenges in fused deposition modeling (FDM), this proposal introduces a stress-guided overprinting method, where material deposition is aligned with principal stress trajectories derived from structural analysis, leading to a more material-efficient and structurally optimized design. The research and its resulting temporary pavilion contribute to the broader adoption of additive manufacturing in architecture, promoting environmentally responsible fabrication methods without compromising structural integrity.
Losing Lake Qaroun
Dana Salama
Losing Lake Qaroun interrogates relationships between cultural heritage, memory, and ecologies in decay. The proposal focuses on Egypt’s Fayyoum Oasis, located 60 km southwest of Dana’s hometown, Cairo. The aim of the research is to produce a short film and large appliqué textile as a critical cartography, exploring the politics of representation, refusal, and heritage conservation.
A New American Housing
Nick Grosh
This project investigates the barriers for cooperative methods for housing development in the United States. Building on a previous analysis of the system that enabled this type of unique, affordable, and beautiful development in Europe, the proposal aims document American cooperatives in New York, the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as Southeast Michigan through drawings and interviews with residents, housing providers, architects, and policymaker in order to expose barriers and hint at solutions.
The projects will be presented at an exhibition and gallery talk in November, 2025.
