Illustrated Essays & Graphic Narratives
This body of work uses drawing, storytelling, and personal narrative to examine the systems, biases, and cultural structures that shape architecture today. Through graphic essays and illustrated critiques, Kathryn Larsen explores themes of identity, access, labour, education, disability justice, and the politics of design.
These works sit at the intersection of architectural journalism, visual communication, and social critique - offering new ways of understanding who architecture serves, who it excludes, and how it might change.
Studio Manifesto (2024) An illustrated vision of architecture as a living, interdisciplinary language. In this hand-drawn manifesto, architecture is expressed as a language shaped by place, memory, ecology, and cultural history. The work reflects on ancestral resource use, material heritage, and the fluid boundaries between art, biodiversity, and building technology. It outlines a practice committed to designing for both human and non-human life, forming the philosophical foundation for Radical Ruralism.
Architecture School: Pay to Play was created as part of Design Drafts #1, a stand-alone publication produced in collaboration between Het Nieuwe Instituut and Disegno Magazine. Selected through an international open call, Kathryn Larsen was commissioned to investigate the experiences of first-generation and working-class architecture students, responding to the provocation: “Is design just a game?”
This illustrated narrative was created for CHART 2023, where the pavilion competition focused on universal design. Drawing from the experience of an artist who was unable to participate due to inaccessible cobblestone terrain, the work highlights how surface materials - often overlooked by most visitors -become significant barriers for wheelchair users and cane users.
Navigating Exclusion is a sixteen-page illustrated essay tracing Kathryn Larsen’s journey across the U.S., Japan, Denmark, and the Netherlands to become an architect - and the barriers she encountered along the way. Through graphic storytelling, the chapter examines the narrow and often exclusionary definitions of who can be recognised as a “real” architect, artist, or designer within the Danish architectural system. Originally published in Who is the Architect?, a book by Building Diversity (2023)
Navigating Exclusion is a sixteen-page illustrated essay tracing Kathryn Larsen’s journey across the U.S., Japan, Denmark, and the Netherlands to become an architect - and the barriers she encountered along the way. Through graphic storytelling, the chapter examines the narrow and often exclusionary definitions of who can be recognised as a “real” architect, artist, or designer within the Danish architectural system. Originally published in Who is the Architect?, a book by Building Diversity (2023)
Navigating Exclusion is a sixteen-page illustrated essay tracing Kathryn Larsen’s journey across the U.S., Japan, Denmark, and the Netherlands to become an architect - and the barriers she encountered along the way. Through graphic storytelling, the chapter examines the narrow and often exclusionary definitions of who can be recognised as a “real” architect, artist, or designer within the Danish architectural system. Originally published in Who is the Architect?, a book by Building Diversity (2023)
Navigating Exclusion is a sixteen-page illustrated essay tracing Kathryn Larsen’s journey across the U.S., Japan, Denmark, and the Netherlands to become an architect - and the barriers she encountered along the way. Through graphic storytelling, the chapter examines the narrow and often exclusionary definitions of who can be recognised as a “real” architect, artist, or designer within the Danish architectural system. Originally published in Who is the Architect?, a book by Building Diversity (2023)
Navigating Exclusion is a sixteen-page illustrated essay tracing Kathryn Larsen’s journey across the U.S., Japan, Denmark, and the Netherlands to become an architect - and the barriers she encountered along the way. Through graphic storytelling, the chapter examines the narrow and often exclusionary definitions of who can be recognised as a “real” architect, artist, or designer within the Danish architectural system. Originally published in Who is the Architect?, a book by Building Diversity (2023)
Navigating Exclusion is a sixteen-page illustrated essay tracing Kathryn Larsen’s journey across the U.S., Japan, Denmark, and the Netherlands to become an architect - and the barriers she encountered along the way. Through graphic storytelling, the chapter examines the narrow and often exclusionary definitions of who can be recognised as a “real” architect, artist, or designer within the Danish architectural system. Originally published in Who is the Architect?, a book by Building Diversity (2023)
Navigating Exclusion is a sixteen-page illustrated essay tracing Kathryn Larsen’s journey across the U.S., Japan, Denmark, and the Netherlands to become an architect - and the barriers she encountered along the way. Through graphic storytelling, the chapter examines the narrow and often exclusionary definitions of who can be recognised as a “real” architect, artist, or designer within the Danish architectural system. Originally published in Who is the Architect?, a book by Building Diversity (2023)
Navigating Exclusion is a sixteen-page illustrated essay tracing Kathryn Larsen’s journey across the U.S., Japan, Denmark, and the Netherlands to become an architect - and the barriers she encountered along the way. Through graphic storytelling, the chapter examines the narrow and often exclusionary definitions of who can be recognised as a “real” architect, artist, or designer within the Danish architectural system. Originally published in Who is the Architect?, a book by Building Diversity (2023)
Critical Essays & Architectural Commentary
This collection brings together Kathryn Larsen’s long-form writing on the social, ecological, and material systems that shape contemporary architecture. These essays move beyond surface-level debate to examine the deeper structures - economic, cultural, environmental, and historical - that influence how buildings are made, who they serve, and what futures they enable.
Through reflective narrative and research-driven analysis, Larsen explores topics ranging from hidden plastics in everyday construction, to the ecological responsibilities of designing for non-human species, to the cultural and systemic barriers within the architectural profession itself. Her writing connects practice with policy, material science with lived experience, and rural development with architectural discourse.
These essays offer a slower, more investigative perspective within the field - one that asks how architecture might act with greater responsibility, imagination, and care toward both people and the environments they inhabit.
This essay investigates the hidden presence of plastics embedded throughout a contemporary Danish apartment, revealing how petrochemical materials quietly shape the spaces we inhabit. Blending personal narrative with architectural analysis, Kathryn Larsen maps the polymers embedded in paints, fixtures, insulation, and building systems, exposing how material choices impact health, sustainability, and the built environment in ways most occupants never see. The piece asks what it means to live inside structures saturated with invisible, irreversible plastics.
This essay explores the intertwined futures of human and marine life through the lens of architecture and material ecology. Drawing from years of research into vernacular construction, eelgrass, and ocean biodiversity, Kathryn Larsen reflects on designing for two worlds at once: the built environments people inhabit and the underwater habitats threatened by climate change and acidification. Through personal narrative and ecological insight, the piece considers how architects might respond to planetary crisis with humility, care, and hope.
Debate Articles & Op-Eds
In these opinion pieces, Kathryn Larsen addresses the policies, labour structures, and systemic challenges shaping contemporary architecture. Writing across national media outlets, she examines issues such as fair wages, climate policy, heritage governance, and the responsibilities of the building sector. These op-eds combine practical experience with structural critique, contributing to public debate and advocating for a more equitable, sustainable, and accountable architectural industry.
“We Ask Citizens to Care for Local Architectural Heritage — But Give Them No Legal or Financial Way to Do It” This Byrummonitor op-ed critiques the disconnect between municipal expectations and the realities faced by citizens who wish to preserve historic buildings. Kathryn Larsen argues that while communities are encouraged to take responsibility for their built heritage, they are offered neither the legal tools nor the financial frameworks needed to act. The piece calls for policy reforms that align municipal governance with genuine community stewardship.
"We Cannot Build Our Way Out of the Climate Crisis — We Need Structural Change" In this Børsen commentary, Kathryn Larsen argues that Denmark’s current approach to climate action places too much faith in new construction and technological fixes, while overlooking the far greater impact of renovation, adaptive reuse, and material reform. She critiques the industry’s “pyramid mindset,” which prioritises carbon-heavy materials and high-temperature processes, and calls for financial structures that genuinely support renovation in lower-income municipalities. The piece urges a shift from growth-driven building culture toward systemic, equitable strategies that reduce risk, extend building lifespans, and meaningfully lower emissions.
“Recycling Demolition Waste into Marine Reefs Produces Lower CO₂ on Paper — but Leaves an Overlooked Environmental Cost” In this Klimamonitor op-ed, Kathryn Larsen critiques the growing trend of repurposing concrete and demolition waste as artificial reefs. While often presented as a carbon-saving solution, she argues that this practice can harm fragile marine ecosystems and distract from more responsible, biobased alternatives. The piece calls for evidence-based material decisions that balance climate goals with ecological integrity.
“The Danish Architecture Industry Has Eaten the Future of Its Young Professionals” This opinion piece exposes the structural issues facing young architects in Denmark: unrealistic expectations, minimal guidance, and a culture that demands technical perfection without providing the training required to achieve it. Kathryn Larsen argues that the industry’s current model erodes confidence, drives talent away, and ultimately weakens architectural practice, urging firms to rebuild pathways of support, learning, and professional care.
“I’m Tired of the Excuses for Paying Young Employees Poorly” This op-ed challenges the persistent underpayment of young architects in Denmark, arguing that low wages and lack of mentorship undermine both professional development and the long-term health of the architectural field. Drawing on her experience as a studio owner, Kathryn Larsen calls for fair compensation, respect for early-career labour, and a cultural shift that treats emerging practitioners as future leaders rather than expendable resources.
Academic Writing
This body of academic work brings together oral histories, material-driven design, and research-by-design to investigate how architecture emerges from cultural memory, vernacular knowledge, and ecological materials. Kathryn Larsen’s peer-reviewed publications include contributions to international conference proceedings and edited scholarly volumes, such as Design for Inclusivity: Proceedings of the UIA World Congress of Architects and Being Algae (Brill’s Critical Plant Studies series) .
Across these texts, Larsen examines colonial infrastructures, indigenous and vernacular craft traditions, and emerging biomaterial practices - using drawing, ethnographic interviews, and material experimentation as analytical tools. Her research foregrounds the voices and techniques often absent from architectural canon, proposing more inclusive pathways for design, heritage, and sustainable building futures.
Being Algae (BRILL, Environmental Humanities Series, 2024)
Published in Being Algae: Transformations in Water, Plants (BRILL, Critical Plant Studies Series), Kathryn Larsen’s chapter, “An Investigation of Algae’s Applications, Inspired by Indigenous and Vernacular Craft Traditions,” explores algae as a culturally embedded material through material-driven design and research-by-design methodologies. Drawing from Danish, Japanese, and Indigenous craft histories, the chapter positions algae and seaweed as critical agents in sustainable building practices and environmental storytelling, bridging architectural heritage with contemporary biobased innovation.
Design for Inclusivity (Springer Nature, 2023)
“The Time Capsule: Memories of Viequense Architecture” was published in Design for Inclusivity: Proceedings of the UIA World Congress of Architects Copenhagen 2023 (Springer Nature). Peer-reviewed and selected for the congress’s scientific programme, the chapter uses oral history and phenomenological research to examine how colonial governance, healthcare inequities, and intergenerational memory shape the architectural identity of Vieques, Puerto Rico. The work contributes to global discourse on inclusive heritage practices, spatial justice, and decolonial methodologies in architecture.