MARIE SALDAÑA

I am a multidisciplinary scholar and designer working at the intersection of cultural heritage and data.

I studied humanities and archaeology before earning an M.Arch. and Ph.D. in Architecture at UCLA, and I am currently an assistant professor of cultural heritage informatics at the University of Arizona.

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TAMING THE WILD HORSE DESERT
Mission Canal Company Second Lift Pumphouse, Mission TX, c. 1910. Photo: NPS
 Teaching, Design Studio
Spring 2024
School of Interior Architecture
College of Architecture & Design
University of Tennessee - Knoxville


Humans draw and defend national borders, but birds migrate freely among seasonal homelands. This studio investigates how human-wildlife entanglements can provide a new perspective on notions of home, habitat, and identity. The design project imagined the adaptive reuse of a historic pumphouse in Mission, TX, near the South Texas border with Mexico as an addition to the 9 existing locations of the World Birding Center in the Rio Grande Valley, a major bird migration corridor. The mixed-use program included a public birding center with lodging for visiting scientists, plus an observation pavilion.




©2025 Marie Saldaña