Emilie Taylor Welty is a leader in design build education whose research and practice are grounded in material explorations and expanding access to design. She is an architect and associate professor at the Tulane School of Architecture and Built Environment where she also serves as the architecture program director. Emilie is co-founder and principal at Colectivo, a New Orleans based architecture firm. Her award winning practice has built internationally recognized projects that focus on material investigations and affordability.
At Tulane, Welty has led over thirty applied research projects, teaching design/build studios that make a positive impact in New Orleans neighborhoods. The community-based work of the Albert and Tina Small Center includes award-winning and transformative projects such as Grow Dat Youth Farm and Parisite Skatepark. Welty recently received a national Practice and Leadership award from the AIA/ACSA as well as a Collaborative Practice Award for her work with Small Center from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA).
In addition to the Small x 20 book, Emilie is working on an edited volume titled Designbuild Pedagogies; Past, Present, and Potentials due to be published in 2026.
