“Architecture can only serve people when it begins with people.”
C.L. BOHANNON
C.L. Bohannon is an architect, urban designer, and educator whose work bridges community engagement, equity, and storytelling. Currently the Director of the Virginia Tech School of Design, Bohannon has dedicated his career to centering marginalized voices in design processes and reframing architecture as a tool for justice and belonging.
His Focus
Bohannon’s practice revolves around:
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Community-engaged design — involving residents directly in shaping outcomes.
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Public interest design — ensuring design serves the broader social good.
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Storytelling and memory — using lived experiences and oral histories as design material.
His Methods
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Facilitating participatory workshops that allow communities to co-create ideas.
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Collecting oral histories and narratives that shape design form and function.
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Partnering with local organizations to create projects that are culturally responsive and socially impactful.
Influence on Thesis
Bohannon’s work provides a process model for this project. His methods guide how to engage community voices in reimagining neglected plazas as nodes of joy and safety. Just as he uses storytelling to shape design, this thesis will draw from collective memory—porches, summer gatherings, intergenerational exchange—to inform spatial patterns.
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Precedent Ideas: participatory design, oral histories, equity frameworks.
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Influence on the Project: ensures that the Porch Network is not just designed for communities but with them.
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Direct Application: integrating story circles, mapping exercises, and narrative-based design decisions as a way of embedding memory into adaptive reuse.