Landscape Architecture Graduate Student Partners with FabLab to Complete Thesis Project

When Ángeles Margarida, master’s student in landscape architecture, was ready to bring her thesis project to life, she knew just the resource to turn to—the University of Texas at Arlington FabLab.

“[I] knew that we had that resource that gave affordable price options, good timely work, and it was near where I live,” Margarida said. “They are also very knowledgeable in assisting you to make your design into a reality.”

Margarida’s project, called “Empowering Artists Who Have Experienced Homelessness Through Temporary Public Art in the city of Dallas, Texas,” is a collaboration between Margarida and five DFW-based artists who have a connection with homelessness.

The temporary public art installation features multiple large wall-like structures built and designed by Margarida. These pieces required significant woodwork, as well as vinyl cutting—and that’s where the FabLab came in.

“Ángeles contacted us to request components be fabricated on our ShopBot CNC Router in the Shop Room,” said Timothy Neill, FabLab Technician. “Over the course of multiple consultations, we discussed the fabrication constraints of the equipment and different materials we provide, then helped Ángeles prepare her design file. From there, the Shop Room student workers and I made final preparations to her files and operated the ShopBot CNC Router on her behalf.”

Neill, along with Morgan Chivers, FabLab Librarian, and their student workers, assisted Margarida through the FabLab Alternate Consultation Experience, a virtual service that connects Mavericks with FabLab staff and equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, one FabLab team helped Margarida cut the top and bottom bases and middle inserts using the CNC machine, while another helped cut the vinyl stickers for her panels.

“She did a great job, not only with the fabrication, but also working with the city and partnering with them and collaborating with different artists, as well,” Neill said.

Margarida’s constructions were later adorned with murals painted by her artist collaborators. The installation was displayed in the Main Street Garden Park in April and will be moved to the College of Architecture, Policy, and Public Affairs building for a secondary installation later this year.

Margarida’s goal is to discover if temporary art can become a tool of empowerment in the public landscape for homeless individuals. Her hope is that stories by artists who have experienced homelessness can alter misconceptions about homelessness, provoke creative solutions, and make an impact.

“This project matters to the artists who have experienced homelessness because their opinions are heard and valued,” Margarida said. “In the past, landscape architecture has divided and excluded communities by not including them in the process; however, this project aims to unite, include, and improve the quality of life of the homeless community in Dallas, Texas.”

Margarida’s work was inspired in part by her time working with a vulnerable community in Tanzania in 2019, as well as the public art of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“I was awestruck by the impact these statements had on the public and wondered if my project could do the same,” Margarida said.

Margarida will graduate in Fall 2021 after she defends her thesis this summer. Once she is finished with school, she hopes to continue her work with a company that shares her values.

“I want to work for a landscape architecture firm that works with communities in a meaningful way,” Margarida said. “I am looking to stay in the DFW area for now, but I don’t know what the future holds!”

Margarida expressed immense gratitude for the support of the FabLab as she worked on her final thesis project.

“I am very grateful and thankful for their work, especially to Timothy Neill, Morgan Chivers, and their student workers,” Margarida said. “They are a very supportive and hard-working staff.”

Located on the first floor of UTA Libraries, the FabLab is a creative hub for students, faculty, and staff, providing access to technologies, equipment, training; opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration; and inspirational spaces in support of invention, and entrepreneurship. Learn more about the FabLab on the UTA FabLab website.