Jess Vanecek
Education
Bachelor of Science in Architecture, University of Virginia
Master of Architecture + Master of Construction Management, Washington University in St. Louis
Biography
Jess Vanecek (she/her) is a designer, researcher, and educator with an interest in the anthropogenic factors and processes that radically alter the natural environment. Her work and research explore the complex spatial intersections between architecture, infrastructure, landscape, urbanism, climate change, and various interest groups along coastal communities and inland waterways. While trained formally as an architect, she works fluidly across disciplines and scales, especially interested in the interdisciplinary spatialization and speculation of climate research and data.
Prior to joining the UVA School of Architecture as an inaugural Virginia Architecture Fellow, Jess was a lecturer within the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, where she taught a range of studios and seminars on architecture, architectural representation, and design research. She has worked on numerous award-winning competitions across the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design, most notably the St. Louis Chouteau Greenway Competition with TLS Landscape Architecture, Object Territories, and [dhd] derek hoeferlin design. Jess was a primary contributor on the research and publication of Way Beyond Bigness: The Need for a Watershed Architecture (AR+D Publishing, 2023) by Derek Hoeferlin, a design-research project that studies the Mekong, Mississippi, and Rhine river basins, with particular focus on multi-scaled, water-based infrastructural transformation. Aside from teaching and research, she also continues to practice as a residential architect. Jess holds a dual Master of Architecture and Master of Construction Management (both with Honors) from Washington University in St. Louis, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Architecture with Minors in Architectural History and Historic Preservation from the University of Virginia.
