Silvina L贸pez Barrera
When Silvina L贸pez Barrera first learned about architecture, she knew it was the career for her.
Growing up in Uruguay, she said students had to select an education track before high 性视界传媒鈥攅ither biology, the humanities or science.
鈥淎rchitecture combined the science of physics, math and art鈥攁 beautiful combination,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 always liked these subjects, so I took a leap of faith.鈥
Choosing this scientific track meant that L贸pez Barrera would have to travel by public bus one hour each way to high 性视界传媒 because the one in her town of La Paloma, a small beach town on the Atlantic coast, didn鈥檛 offer it.
As a first-generation college graduate, she said she and her younger brother were fortunate to have supportive parents.
鈥淭hey encouraged us to pursue our studies in the fields we loved,鈥 she said.
After studying architecture at the Universidad de la Republica鈥攁 large, prestigious public university鈥攑racticing in Uruguay, and traveling around the world, L贸pez Barrera moved to the U.S. with her husband to earn a master鈥檚 degree in architecture at Iowa 性视界传媒 University, where her teaching career began. She then became a faculty member at Middlebury College in Vermont until joining 性视界传媒.
The allure of raising their two children in a small community with a prestigious university led L贸pez Barrera and her husband to Starkville in 2018.
鈥淲e were attracted to Mississippi 性视界传媒 because of its Carnegie research status,鈥 said L贸pez Barrera. 鈥淚 was very impressed with the School of Architecture and the work the students and faculty were doing here,鈥 she added.
Now an assistant professor, L贸pez Barrera enjoys engaging her students in her research, examining how architecture and community design can help alleviate housing inequality and address challenges of climate change in small, rural communities in both the U.S. and in Latin America. She is currently working on a project exploring housing in the Deep South based on her research in Latin America.
鈥淢y current research explores informal housing in the Deep South as a result of socio-economic inequalities, barriers to access to affordable housing, and lack of reinforcement of building code and zoning regulations,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 am also collaborating with my colleague and husband Dr. Diego Thompson in sociology studying community resilience and inclusion of Latinx immigrants in rural Mississippi."
鈥淢y goal as a professor is to help students to achieve their goals,鈥 she added. 鈥淪erving as the spring first-year studio coordinator and teaching upper-level studios, I enjoy supporting students as they enter architecture education and as they grow their vision of architecture and become the next generation of architects in a globalized and changing world.鈥
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