Digital Fabrication
Studio Collaborative
makelab™ practices innovative
architecture through
design & digital fabrication
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projects
︎Our portfolioprojects
students
In 2010, founding director James Stevens PhD, AIA along with a group of Lawrence Technological University students established makeLab™. The lab was founded in the belief that design cannot be separated from making. makeLab™ has progressed beyond teaching and includes research, industry sponsored projects, and international workshops. The makeLab™ now operates under a Board of Directors of makeLab almuni.
Contact: Info@make-lab.org
James Stevens
FAIA, Ph.D., is the 6th Dean of the Fay Jones School of Architecture at the University of Arkansas. Prior to his appointment as Dean, he served as Director of the Richard A. McMahan School of Architecture at Clemson University from 2020 to 2025. Prior to his appointment at Clemson, Prof. Stevens was Chair of the Department of Architecture at Lawrence Technological University, where he was the founding director of makeLab, the University's digital fabrication laboratory. James is co-author of the book Digital Vernacular, Architectural Principles, Tools, and Processes (Routledge 2015) and has authored multiple peer-reviewed papers and book chapters. He is a licensed architect and certified by the National Council of Architecture Registration Boards (NCARB). He is the recipient of the AIA Henry Adams Medal for Excellence in the Study of Architecture and was the 2016 Fulbright Scholar in Albania. He holds a Ph.D. in Architecture from the University of Ferrara in Italy, where he conducted his residency and research at Polis University in Tirana, Albania. He also holds a Master of Architecture degree from North Carolina State University and a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts degree from The Savannah College of Art and Design.
Chris Westerlund is the former Director and a board member of the makeLab. He is an Architect with
15+ years of experience in the industry. Chris serves as an advisor to the planning committee for Computational Design Detroit (co.de.D). He earned a Bachelor of Science in Architecture and a Master of Architecture from Lawrence Technological University. He is a former Adjunct Professor in the
College of Architecture and Design at Lawrence Technological University. Chris served as an Industry Chair for the ACADIA 2026 conference in Detroit, Michigan.
Board of Directors
James Stevens
Brent Dekryger
Steve Kroodsma
Janelle Schmidt
Chris Westerlund
︎James Stevens
Brent Dekryger
Steve Kroodsma
Janelle Schmidt
Chris Westerlund
