Three Taubman College Students have been named to the 2025 Metropolis Future100, a list that recognizes the country’s top graduate and undergraduate students in architecture and interior design.
Marianna Godfrey, M.Arch ’25, Martin Rodriguez Jr., M.Arch ’25, and Orli Schwartz, M.Arch ’25, were nominated for the Future100 by their professors for their academic excellence and attention to detail during studio courses. Godfrey was nominated by Jonathan Rule, assistant professor of practice; Rodriguez was nominated by Neal Robinson, assistant professor of practice in architecture; and Schwartz was nominated by lecturer Gina Reichart.
Schwartz has presented research on mass timber and adaptive reuse through an internship with Boston firm Annum Architects and won Student Show awards in 2024 for “Aggregate Aggregated,” an archive to demonstrate the amount of natural aggregates used in southeast Michigan, and in 2025 for “re:focus,” a proposal for exclusion zones along the Gowanus canal in Brooklyn.
“Orli brings a clarity of ideas to studio and works thoughtfully through iterations,” said Reichart. “She digs into research topics with an analytical mind and synthesizes engaging insights. She designs holistically: materials, systems, engagement with the ground and context, form, light.”
A Taubman scholar and recipient of the AECOM scholarship, Rodriguez received a 2024 architecture student research grant for his work on “So Fetch!”, a digital system that translates slang into visual art and ornamentation. He also won Student Show awards in 2024 for “TURN INTO CANDY!”, a movie theater model designed out of gummy bears.
“Martin is one of the rare students who is ‘all-in’ in all directions of his education,” said Robinson. “He lives it. He shares it. He champions it. His expertise and attitude will lead the discipline toward more humane and resilient built environments.”
Godfrey was featured in the 2023 Student Show for “Motion Museum Ann Arbor,” a museum designed to inspire motion with elements inspired by the movie “Up”.
“Marianna has proven to be a very talented student and stood out among the rest of her colleagues by demonstrating her capacity to be critical about design, while at the same time being precise, rigorous, and showing an accomplished level of technical competency,” said Rule.
Launched in 2021, the annual Future100 program is sponsored by architecture and design firms interested in recruiting a talented, diverse pool of candidates. The winning students’ information is shared with recruiters from architecture and design firms across the country.
