About Me
Professor Franck received her PhD in Environmental Psychology from the City University of New York. She holds a joint appointment at NJIT in
the College of Architecture and Design and the College of Science and Liberal Arts. She also serves as Director of the Joint PhD Program in Urban Systems.
Education
Ph.D.; City University of New York; ; 1978
B.A.; Bennington College; ; 1970
B.A.; Bennington College; ; 1970
2020 Fall Courses
USYS 790A - DISSERTATION RESEARCH
Teaching Interests
Currently I teach three kinds of courses, all in a seminar format and all courses I developed:
1. Elective architecture courses that are open upper level architecture undergraduate students, masters students in Architecture and Infrastructure Planning and PhD students in Urban Systems (e.g. Public Space: Alive and Well?)
2. Required courses for PhD students in Urban Systems (The Good City, Architectural Perspectives in Urban Research)
3. Capstone seminars in the humanities and social scientists for NJIT students from all fields (Food, Politics and Technology; Where is Home?)
All of my courses share several characteristics:
a. The course topics and readings address contemporary places, circumstances and/or problems;
b. One course goal is to stimulate students’ curiosity about daily life and its social and physical context and their interest in questioning assumptions and thinking critically;
c. One course objective is to improve students’ research, writing and analytic skills;
d. An emphasis is placed on student participation in discussion and their independent research on topics of their choice.
Past Courses
ARCH 583: ST:SPACES OF DISPLAY
ARCH 662: ST:
ARCH 662: ST: ARCH ASPECTS OF URB RESEARC
ARCH 662: ST: EXTRAORDINARY LIFE IN THE PUBLIC REALM
ARCH 662: ST: MAKING AND REMAKING COMMUNITY
ARCH 662: ST: PARKS PAST AND PRESENT
ARCH 662: ST: POLITICS AND PUBLIC SPACE
ARCH 662: ST: REDISCOVERING THE WATERFRONT
ARCH 662: ST:COMMUNITY, LOST AND FOUND
ARCH 662: ST:DESIGN AND USE OF PUBLIC SPACE
ARCH 662: ST:FOOD ARCHITECTURE AND THE CITY
ARCH 662: ST:PUBLIC SPACE: DEAD OR ALIVE
ARCH 662: ST:SPACES OF DISPLAY
ARCH 662: ST:TEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE, TEMPORARY URBANISM
ARCH 662: ST:THE STREET:DESIGNED, LIVED, REGULATED
ARCH 686: RES METH FOR ENVIRN DSGN
HSS 408: STS SEM:
HSS 408: STS SEM: FOOD, POLITICS & TECH
HSS 408: STS SEM: WHERE IS HOME?
HSS 408: STS SEM:FOOD, POLITICS&TECHNOLO
HSS 408: STS SEM:FOOD,POLITCS & TECHNOLO
HSS 408: STS SEM:WHERE IS HOME?
URB 6003: THE GOOD CITY:ENV DES& QUAL LIF
URB 788: SELECTED TOPICS
USYS 711: THE GOOD CITY:ENV DES& QUAL
USYS 788: ST:
USYS 788: ST: ARCH PERSPCTV IN URBAN RES
USYS 788: ST: ARCHITECTURAL PERSPETIVES IN URBAN DESIGN
ARCH 662: ST:
ARCH 662: ST: ARCH ASPECTS OF URB RESEARC
ARCH 662: ST: EXTRAORDINARY LIFE IN THE PUBLIC REALM
ARCH 662: ST: MAKING AND REMAKING COMMUNITY
ARCH 662: ST: PARKS PAST AND PRESENT
ARCH 662: ST: POLITICS AND PUBLIC SPACE
ARCH 662: ST: REDISCOVERING THE WATERFRONT
ARCH 662: ST:COMMUNITY, LOST AND FOUND
ARCH 662: ST:DESIGN AND USE OF PUBLIC SPACE
ARCH 662: ST:FOOD ARCHITECTURE AND THE CITY
ARCH 662: ST:PUBLIC SPACE: DEAD OR ALIVE
ARCH 662: ST:SPACES OF DISPLAY
ARCH 662: ST:TEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE, TEMPORARY URBANISM
ARCH 662: ST:THE STREET:DESIGNED, LIVED, REGULATED
ARCH 686: RES METH FOR ENVIRN DSGN
HSS 408: STS SEM:
HSS 408: STS SEM: FOOD, POLITICS & TECH
HSS 408: STS SEM: WHERE IS HOME?
HSS 408: STS SEM:FOOD, POLITICS&TECHNOLO
HSS 408: STS SEM:FOOD,POLITCS & TECHNOLO
HSS 408: STS SEM:WHERE IS HOME?
URB 6003: THE GOOD CITY:ENV DES& QUAL LIF
URB 788: SELECTED TOPICS
USYS 711: THE GOOD CITY:ENV DES& QUAL
USYS 788: ST:
USYS 788: ST: ARCH PERSPCTV IN URBAN RES
USYS 788: ST: ARCHITECTURAL PERSPETIVES IN URBAN DESIGN
Research Interests
Over the years the topics of my research and writing have varied (e.g. alternative housing, concepts of building and place type, food and the city, design that emerges from an understanding of people and site, unplanned uses of public space, collaborative design by clients and architects). At a more general level all my work consistently addresses several common themes:
1. The relationships between buildings or spaces and people’s use of them;
2. How to best conceptualize these relationships;
3. How people’s use and experience of space is, or can be, enhanced by design choices.
Journal Article
Jones, john , & Franck, karen (2019). A Brewery in a Foundry, A Winery in a Strip Mall: Adaptive Reuse by Food Enterprises . Urban Design Interational, 24(2), 108-117.
Huang, Te Sheng, & Franck, Karen (2018). Let's Meet at Citicorp: Can Privately Owned Public Space be Inclusive?. Journal of Urban Design , 23(4), 951-972.
Stevens, Quentin , & Franck, Karen, & Fazakerley, Ruth (2013). Counter-monuments: The Anti-monumental and the Dialogic. The Journal of Architecture , 17(6), 951-972.
Stevens , Quentin , & Franck, Karen (2011). Indefinite meanings, indefinite uses: the minimalist aesthetics of Berlin’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe . Planungsrundschau , 19(NA), 167-188.
Huang, Te Sheng, & Franck, Karen (2018). Let's Meet at Citicorp: Can Privately Owned Public Space be Inclusive?. Journal of Urban Design , 23(4), 951-972.
Stevens, Quentin , & Franck, Karen, & Fazakerley, Ruth (2013). Counter-monuments: The Anti-monumental and the Dialogic. The Journal of Architecture , 17(6), 951-972.
Stevens , Quentin , & Franck, Karen (2011). Indefinite meanings, indefinite uses: the minimalist aesthetics of Berlin’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe . Planungsrundschau , 19(NA), 167-188.
Chapter
Franck, Karen (2018). Memorials Behind the One We See: The Story of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. , R.C. Aden (Ed.), Lexington Books. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books
franck, karen (2016). Museums of memory: Remarkable missions, daunting challenges, Michael Andres Forero Parra (Ed.), National Center for Historical Memory. (pp. 25-37). Bogota : National Center for Historical Memory
Franck, Karen (2016). Introduction in Architecture Timed, Karen A. Franck (Ed.), Wiley. (pp. 7). Chichester: Wiley
Franck, Karen (2016). Visiting Karsten Harries and Revisiting his “Buildings and the Terror of Time" in Architecture Timed, Karen A. Franck (Ed.), Wiley. (pp. 8). Chichester: Wiley
Franck, Karen (2015). Food, Time and Space: Mobile Cuisine in New York and Portland , Mirjana Lozanovska (Ed.), Routledge . (pp. 17). New York : Routledge
franck, karen (2016). Museums of memory: Remarkable missions, daunting challenges, Michael Andres Forero Parra (Ed.), National Center for Historical Memory. (pp. 25-37). Bogota : National Center for Historical Memory
Franck, Karen (2016). Introduction in Architecture Timed, Karen A. Franck (Ed.), Wiley. (pp. 7). Chichester: Wiley
Franck, Karen (2016). Visiting Karsten Harries and Revisiting his “Buildings and the Terror of Time" in Architecture Timed, Karen A. Franck (Ed.), Wiley. (pp. 8). Chichester: Wiley
Franck, Karen (2015). Food, Time and Space: Mobile Cuisine in New York and Portland , Mirjana Lozanovska (Ed.), Routledge . (pp. 17). New York : Routledge
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Book
Franck, Karen (2016). Architecture Timed: Designing with Time in Mind . Chichester: Wiley
Franck, Karen, & Stevens , Quentin (2015). Memorials as Spaces of Engagement: Design, Use and Meaning . New York: Routledge
Franck, Karen, & Howard, Teresa (2010). Design through Dialogue: A Guide for Clients and Architects. Chichester : John Wiley and Sons
Franck, Karen, & Stevens , Quentin (2015). Memorials as Spaces of Engagement: Design, Use and Meaning . New York: Routledge
Franck, Karen, & Howard, Teresa (2010). Design through Dialogue: A Guide for Clients and Architects. Chichester : John Wiley and Sons
Book Review
Food Justice by Robert Gottlieb and Anupama Joshi
Environmental Ethics, October (4th Quarter/Autumn) 2013
Environmental Ethics, October (4th Quarter/Autumn) 2013
Other
Architecture from the Inside Out
Wiley, April (2nd Quarter/Spring) 2013
Wiley, April (2nd Quarter/Spring) 2013
Translation or Transcription
Design through Dialogue (in Chinese)
Phei , July (3rd Quarter/Summer) 2012
Ordering space: Types in Architecture and Desisgn
Nanam Publishing House, April (2nd Quarter/Spring) 2012
Phei , July (3rd Quarter/Summer) 2012
Ordering space: Types in Architecture and Desisgn
Nanam Publishing House, April (2nd Quarter/Spring) 2012
Conference Proceeding
Occupying the Edge and the Underneath
Institute for Urban Design, Urbanism and Landscape, Technical University of Munich, February 2010
Institute for Urban Design, Urbanism and Landscape, Technical University of Munich, February 2010