Penn Smith DesignsArchitecture · Making · Place

Architecture student · University of Arkansas

Designing with
a sense of place.

I’m Penn Smith, a designer and maker interested in the ways thoughtful architecture can bring people, material, and landscape together.

Penn Smith presenting the Timeless timber installation to visitors
Timeless01 / 07

Selected work.

From civic learning spaces to practical fabrication, each project begins with close attention to its context.

Architecture projects

03 projects

Design-build

02 projects

Objects + craft

03 projects

About + Resume

Curious by nature.
Grounded in making.

Portrait of Penn Smith

I’m a Bachelor of Architecture student at the University of Arkansas School of Architecture and Design, graduating in May 2027.

I believe architecture carries a responsibility to improve the built environment for future generations. My work explores how careful observation, clear ideas, and practical testing can lead to spaces that feel generous and connected to their surroundings.

At the University of Arkansas Laser and Model Lab, I help students bring ideas into the world through laser cutting, shop tools, and 3D printing. I’m happiest learning alongside others, in the studio, in the shop, or outside with a sketchbook.

Resume

Experience
and education.

Architecture, fabrication, and community focused design.

Download resume

Experience

Architecture Intern

Summer 2026

Ibáñez and Shaw Architecture · Fort Worth, Texas

Advanced the development of a firm art project, joined site visits, and helped prepare competition drawings for completed projects and projects under construction.

Visit the firm website

Fabrication Lab Student Tech

2024–Present

Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design

Help students turn design concepts into built work, and maintain and calibrate laser cutters, 3D printers, CNC machines, vacuum forming equipment, and other shop tools.

Learn about the fabrication laboratories

Build Lab Assistant

2024–Present

Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design

Support CNC processes, maintain the shop, and assist design studios with fabrication needs.

Barista

2020–2022

Starbucks · Dallas, Texas

Prepared handcrafted beverages and provided personalized service for 400+ customers daily in a busy café.

Education

University of Arkansas

2022–Present

Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design

Bachelor of Architecture · Expected May 2027

Tools & practice

Modeling + BIM
Rhino 8 · Revit · Grasshopper
Rendering
V-Ray · Enscape
AI tools
Midjourney · ChatGPT · Gemini
Making + fabrication
Woodworking · Physical model making · Metalworking · TIG, Arc & Fusion welding · CNC fabrication · Laser cutting · 3D printing · Vacuum forming · Epoxying

Additional skills

  • InDesign
  • Illustrator
  • Photoshop
  • Sketching
  • Photography
  • Leadership
  • Teamwork
  • Critical thinking
  • Multitasking

Community volunteering

Bonton Farms · Heart House · For the Love of the Lake · Special Olympics Texas · Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas · Juliette Fowler Communities

Beyond the studio

Process, recognition
and exchange.

A place for the experiments, milestones, and conversations that shape the work around the projects.

AI postproduction + diagrams

Three visual studies showing how AI supported rendering, rapid iteration, and photo postproduction.

Reframing the Edge · AI postproduction

For Reframing the Edge, Grayson Sheffler and I explored AI-assisted postproduction to communicate the atmosphere and intent of our architecture.

We modeled in Rhino and rendered and textured in Enscape. Perspective images were refined in Lightroom before controlled ChatGPT adjustments to lighting, texture, and material qualities. For the axon, Google Earth and Photoshop established the site context before the AI refinement.

We limited AI to these controlled adjustments, avoiding new objects or unintended elements while maintaining authorship and allowing more time for design development.

Axon workflow: Rhino and Enscape, Google Earth and Photoshop, then ChatGPT
Perspective workflow: Rhino and Enscape, Lightroom, then ChatGPT

Cutting board postproduction

Original photographs of the handmade cutting board alongside their AI post-processed versions.

Chessboard in use
Before · original chessboard photograph
Original photograph
After · AI post-production, chessboard in use
AI postproduction
Cutting face · overhead
Before · original overhead cutting-face photograph
Original photograph
After · AI post-production, overhead cutting face
AI postproduction
Cutting face · angled
Before · original angled cutting-face photograph
Original photograph
After · AI post-production, angled cutting face
AI postproduction
Metal chessboard · overhead
Before · original metal chessboard photograph
Original photograph
After · AI post-production, overhead metal chessboard
AI postproduction

UDBS rapid design iterations

Enscape views used as inputs for ChatGPT renders to explore design directions quickly.

Kitchen
Before · Enscape kitchen view
Before · Enscape kitchen view
After · ChatGPT kitchen render
After · ChatGPT kitchen render
House exterior
Before · Enscape exterior view
Before · Enscape exterior view
After · ChatGPT exterior render
After · ChatGPT exterior render
Bathroom
Before · Enscape bathroom, brighter study
Before · Enscape bathroom, brighter study
After · ChatGPT bathroom render
After · ChatGPT bathroom render

Competitions + recognition

Competition work developed with collaborators and shaped for real places.

COTE project entry · New York City

My COTE project entry, Shifted Timber Nexus, is an academic and community building proposal for Columbia University’s Manhattanville campus in New York City.

Shifted Timber Nexus COTE submission board 1
COTE submission · Board 1
Shifted Timber Nexus COTE submission board 2
COTE submission · Board 2

Talks + events

Lectures, conversations, and visits that bring new ideas back to the studio.

Hay Festival · Dallas City Hall

I attended a Hay Festival conversation with Mark Lamster, Stephanie Drenka, and Veletta Lill at the historic Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff. The discussion focused on saving Dallas City Hall, historic preservation, and the relationship between architecture, government, and the people it serves.

As an architecture student, I was interested in how preserving City Hall means more than saving a building. Its location and organization support communication between departments and provide a central place for citizens to engage with their government. The conversation highlighted the social and civic value of the buildings we already have.

It was my first visit to the Texas Theatre. Exploring its gathering spaces showed how a historic building can continue to bring people together through events and informal conversations. I also picked up a signed copy of Mark Lamster’s Welcome to Paradox City.

Mark Lamster, Stephanie Drenka, and Veletta Lill in conversation at the Hay Festival
Mark Lamster, Stephanie Drenka, and Veletta Lill in conversation at the Hay Festival
The Texas Theatre sign in Oak Cliff
The Texas Theatre sign in Oak Cliff
Welcome to Paradox City by Mark Lamster
Welcome to Paradox City by Mark Lamster
Signed copy of Welcome to Paradox City
Signed copy of Welcome to Paradox City

Modus PK19 + PK20

PK19 · First year

At Modus Studio’s PK19 event, I connected with people shaping our region through music advocacy, downtown Fayetteville revitalization, the Ozark Natural Science Center, and cycling.

The conversations showed how community led design begins with listening. Architecture is connected to the lives and stories a place holds, and the evening offered perspectives I could bring back into my studio work.

Modus Studio + Shop at sunset
Modus Studio + Shop at sunset
Presentations and conversation at PK19
Presentations and conversation at PK19
PK20 · Following year

I returned to Modus Studio’s fabrication shop for PK20, an evening connecting the creative community through a wide range of ideas.

Highlights included Tim Ernst’s waterfall photography and humor, Jason Quall’s inventive creations such as a robotic giraffe on a tricycle, Willa Thomason and Alex Brown’s insights on sustainability in landscape and urban forestry, and Emma Gastineau’s perspective on caves.

The event was a reminder of how much there is to learn beyond the studio. Dogs were welcome, too.

The audience gathered in Modus Studio’s fabrication shop for PK20
The audience gathered in Modus Studio’s fabrication shop for PK20

Fay Jones lectures

The Fay Jones lecture series brings perspectives from outside the studio into my education and gives me new ways to reflect on my own work.

Spring 2024 Lectures and Events schedule at the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, University of Arkansas
Spring 2024 Lectures + Events schedule · Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design

Get in touch

Get in touch.

Emailpenns@uark.edu LinkedInPenn Smith Instagram@pennn.smith