me
(she|they)
Hey there!
My name is Emilia Cabeza de Baca. I am an emerging architectural professional specializing in spaces of Justice, with specific scholarship and advocacy dedicated to design integrating gender, race, ethnicity, age, and sustainability. I love the sound of fresh snow underfoot, the smell of wet cedar and concrete, smooshing clay and mud through my hands, and unexpected animal friendships.
Seattle is where I dwell, the USA is where I currently practice architecture, Earth is my heart, but I am made from the soil-air-water-blood shared between California, Jalisco, New Mexico, Colorado, Spain, and Germany. I would happily live and practice in outer space, on another planet or galaxy.
My primary place-making tools are curiosity, storytelling, and advocacy. I have had some amazing opportunities in life that I am immensely grateful for, and hope to continue in the future. I’ve mentored female and non-binary public school students interested in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction; presented contemporary justice design theory to students in state custody as well as public and private universities; and participated in local and international Design-Build programs with community partners.
I am the product of consensual as well as forced union between Indigenous and settler people in the North American West, and am in the process of decolonizing myself and supporting others in their journeys of liberation.
I speak english and spanglish, y necesito practicar español. I identify as Chican@/x or Xican@/x; Mestiz@/x, Latinx, Hispanic, Latin American, American are generally applicable though problematic. My 21st-century pronouns are She/they; while I embody and identify with femininity, my soul is one with all things and has no gender/all genders.