Elizabeth Chen

Adjunct Lecturer in Architecture and Real Estate Development

Elizabeth grew up in the exurbs of southern Florida where branching curvilinear roads, gated cookie-cutter housing communities and retail chains were built on top of wetlands. For special occasions, family meals happened at the Cracker Barrel somewhere around where Interstate-95 crosses the Saint Lucie River: a waterway which would become nationally known for blooming cyanobacteria slime due to toxic discharges from Lake Okeechobee. The setting of her childhood led Elizabeth to question the American Dream and designers’ role in it. She became interested in how we can design for sustainable futures that center justice and collective joy in the built environment. 

This interest led her to join Colloqate, a Design Justice practice focused on intentionally organizing, advocating, and designing spaces of racial, social and cultural equity.

Her pro-bono design-build work with Learn to Live, a community health and water justice NGO has impacted her professional direction. Elizabeth's role collaborating on rainwater catchment and filtration systems for rural communities in North Sulawesi Indonesia led to learning from local builders, collaborating on an arts exchange between students in Indonesia and New Orleans, and researching colonial and post-colonial impacts and legacies in the region.

Elizabeth is a registered architect whose work has been recognized by AIA New Orleans, ASLA Louisiana and USGBC Louisiana.