Sean Burns is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Ball State University with a primary focus on design studios and structural principles. Sean has a professional Bachelor of Architecture degree from Kent State University and a post-professional Master of Architecture degree, with specialization in Design and Theory, from the University of Pennsylvania.
Sean's current interests concentrate on how architecture and structural principles, analysis, and performances can inform one another within the design process. This research is grounded in the writings and lessons from several authors of architectural theory and other allied disciplines, and applied through the methodological approaches to design as evident in his studio and structures courses. Sean’s most recent publications explore the relationships of structural behaviors as an influential agent to form making, spatial-void definition, systems deployment, and towards the integration of architecture within, among, and beyond a site’s ground substance.
Prior to joining the faculty at Ball State, Sean worked for various architectural firms in New York City including Rafael Viñoly Architects and FXFowle as a registered architect and LEED Accredited Professional. Some of the noteworthy projects that Sean has worked on during his career include Brookfield Place (formerly known as the World Financial Center) in lower Manhattan and the Carrasco Airport Terminal in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Currently, Sean teaches second-year architectural design studio and courses within the structures, statics, and properties of materials courses within the undergraduate architectural program at Ball State University. Sean has also taught design-build elective workshops and studios that have resulted in the design, fabrication, and erection of multiple permanent installations along the existing trail system near Morrow’s Meadows in Yorktown, Indiana. Sean has also served as an advisor for several Honor’s College thesis projects, fellowships, and graduate thesis projects for candidates of both the undergraduate curriculum and the Master of Architecture program at Ball State University.