RISD's Sophia Francesco on Community Efforts, Larger Narratives, and the Beauty of Change
By Julia Gamolina
Sophia Francesco is an Indigenous Mexican-American advocate, activist, and designer pursuing a Bachelor of Architecture at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) with a double minor in Nature-Culture-Sustainability Studies (NCSS) and History, Philosophy, and Social Sciences (HPSS) in Gender, Sexuality, and Race. A descendant of the Tacuate People in Oaxaca, Mexico, Sophia believes in the power of collaboration and active participation of all individuals to represent lived experiences and shape the world around them.
JG: Why did you decide to study architecture?
SF: I decided to study architecture to build upon my interest in community development and outreach as a person who continues to affirm her existence in the many spaces she inhabits. Architecture has the potential to inspire discovery, provoke inquiry, encourage healing, and create dialogue at various scales. I am invested in intentionally centering on an interdisciplinary team of community members, activists, artists, and designers addressing the complexities of the world around them as everyone has the right to participate in the design process, especially those who are to inhabit the spaces we build. I consider architecture as a form of storytelling and am determined to render the lived experiences of communities visible within the larger framework of a design practice.
RISD Architecture Advanced Studio Extreme Heat Mexico - Building with Nature Windcatcher Towers in La Campana.
RISD Architecture Advanced Studio Future Architecting Polychrome Worlds - Philadelphia 2124 The City of Chosen Family.
What are some of the initiatives you’ve focused on in school, and why?
Throughout my life, I have grappled with affirming my existence as an LGBTQIA+ BIPOC person and have worked hard to connect deeply with the communities I identify with and the people I collaborate with. I continue to serve as the president of the RISD Latine/Latinx Student Organization—Mango Street—and work with an amazing group of executive board members to foster, promote, and encourage inclusivity on campus. We host various community events and recently collaborated with RISD BAAD—Black Artists and Designers—to host a BIPOC ballroom event that intersected between the culture of our affinity groups and LGBTQIA+ representation.
Then in my fourth year, I had the opportunity to serve as the architecture department representative with the RISD Student Alliance. It is important to represent the diverse student voices in the architecture department by facilitating conversations, ideas, and community. As a department representative, I work closely with RISD NOMAS and AIAS to engage with students through outreach, social events, and initiatives that support student concerns, connections, and collaboration. I have also worked as a teaching assistant for undergraduate studios in the department, which has played back into my internship experiences working with youth students.
“I consider architecture as a form of storytelling and am determined to render the lived experiences of communities visible within the larger framework of a design practice.”
This summer, you interned with the Navajo Nation in the Division of Community Development. I’d love to hear more about this.
I am a recipient of the RISD Undergraduate Internship Discovery Grant which provides students with a unique summer internship to dive deeper into their current studies and exposes them to an experience somewhere else. I deeply appreciate my professor Angelo Baca (Diné/Hopi) for endorsing my internship program, as well as Katherine Belzowski and Dwayne Waseta (Zuni) for welcoming me to the nation with open arms.
I’m working with the nation as the nation navigates master planning procedures with 110 Chapter committees and oversees architecture, infrastructure, and cultural projects. Master planning begins with the desires of community members, and it develops over time with the integration of planning phases, eventually leading to architecture and engineering coming to fruition. I have learned that a community-based practice is a labor of love and would not be possible without the guidance and support of community members themselves.
I also had the opportunity to collaborate with the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) Arizona chapter for Project Pipeline 2024 in St. Michaels, AZ. Project Pipeline is a national initiative that exposes middle and high school students to design. Our role as mentors is to introduce students to equitable architectural practices that empower them to affect change in their communities. This was the second year that Project Pipeline took place at St. Michaels Indian School in the Navajo Nation. Thank you to all who have supported my internship program in the Navajo Nation this summer—RISD Career Center, Department of Captial Projects Management Department, and to the various organizations that invited me to see other community-based practices—NOMAarizona, Homewise, and MASS Design Group.
NOMA Arizona 2024 Project Pipeline Navajo Nation. St. Michael, Arizona.
When searching for internships and jobs in general, what are you looking for?
I search for opportunities that stem from community-based values, specifically organizations that emphasize collaboration through hands-on experiences that integrate mentorship. This summer I am working as an architectural intern at the Navajo Nation Capital Projects Management Department in Window Rock, AZ. In addition to working in the nation’s capital, I have been encouraged to explore other parts of the reservation and the other community-based organizations around the region. Spending time in different parts of the reservation speaks to the ecological diversity, cultural richness, and specific needs of each chapter community as everyone has their own stories to share. I recently spent time in the Northern agency near Monument Valley and the Four Corners, which was very different than the Fort Defiance agency where I typically work.
In 2022, I worked as a Children’s Program intern at Anderson Ranch Art Center in Snowmass, Colorado, working alongside visiting art teachers to host weekly workshops for K-12 students. These are also the spaces I feel representation matters most as I imagine my introduction to design as a child without someone who might have looked like me. Being able to see yourself in the positions you one day hope to be in is essential in providing students with the confidence to pursue their dreams.
“Being an advocate does not mean being an expert and I recognize that I cannot speak on behalf of an entire community. I believe in the power of collaboration and active participation of all individuals to represent lived experiences and shape the world around us.”
What’s important to you? What inspires you?
Being an advocate does not mean being an expert and I recognize that I cannot speak on behalf of an entire community. I believe in the power of collaboration and active participation of all individuals to represent lived experiences and shape the world around us. It is important to me to support other creatives who are also developing their styles of representation, and storytelling, that pay homage to the places they derive from. The beauty of storytelling is that it is ongoing and will continue to develop over time. I am hopeful that we will continue to create places that empower those who shape the future through mutuality and respect.
I recently modeled—something I have never done—for RISD’24 Textile artist Shelly Nieto in her thesis project titled En tu Dia, which stems from the tradition of a Quinceañera in Mexican culture and the strong connection shared between generations of families. Her work speaks to mending the past with the present as she recreates a Quinceañera dress that references her late grandmother’s textile designs that she has cherished throughout her life. I am motivated by the community effort to share individual stories that generate a larger narrative shared by many.
What do you hope to do in your career?
I hope to continue to be curious. My passion for architecture stems from community engagement and the one thing that I have learned from all my experiences collectively is that community work is complex, interconnected, and challenging. Ideally, I would like to pursue a career in architecture that focuses on storytelling. If I could continue to visualize the lived experiences of others, while working hands-on with them, that would be an opportunity for mutual exchange to occur.
RISD Latine, a Latinx Student Organization Mango Street.
Sophia Francesco and Alejandro Gamero by Daniel Brambila Diaz.
Who do you look up to? Both in terms of women in architecture and in general.
I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve and pursue connections that feel like genuine exchanges of knowledge, guidance, and learning experiences. Over the last four years, I have connected with a diverse group of individuals who have entrusted me with their stories and endorsements. I am grateful to members of my cohort Samantha Salazar and Lauren Cochran for pursuing architecture alongside me. The encouragement from other community members who inhabit these spaces inspires me to continue advocating for the future we hope to experience ourselves.
I cherish the individuals who have shared their time, attention, and energy with me as I develop a studio practice that embodies my core values as an advocate, activist, and designer. To my dear friends who have recently graduated—Lily Gufca, Jasmine Flowers, Naheyla Medina, Rosanna Valencia, and Leslie Ponce-Diaz—I admire your strength, courage, and ability to pursue community-based practices and speak upon lived realities from the places you reside. Thank you also to all those who have come before me and helped pave the way for my existence in design.
What advice would you give to those in high school now, who are choosing their field of study?
Establishing a studio practice, core values, and your personal investment in architecture takes time—the hardest thing to do is be patient. I am so grateful for all of the experiences I have been able to pursue during my time at RISD, but none of these opportunities would have been possible without the time to let them develop. It seems that with each year, I have been able to pursue completely different aspects of architecture and I am so grateful to everyone who has supported me on my journey in figuring out what comes next.
As with most phases of life, there will be growing pains amongst the beauty of change. Learning experiences are bound to occur with each stepping stone, yet the one thing that I would like to encourage is our ability to remain authentic to ourselves. I say, live your truth and never be afraid to take up space!