Spark Fellowship 2025
Three fellows, three questions, one year of research.
The Fellowship
IA’s Spark Fellowship gives IAers the time and support to pursue bold ideas in the field of design. This year’s research explored a shared question: what makes a place resilient?The most resilient places do three things well. They anticipate change, invite participation, and respond to local context.
Erin Dayrit
Senior Designer
Place Your Bets?
Erin Dayrit examined how strategic foresight can help organizations move beyond predicting a single future. By translating emerging signals into vivid, evidence-based scenarios, designers can make uncertainty tangible and help clients make more resilient workplace decisions.
Lauren Hollaway
Designer
Festival: Transformation & Celebration
Lauren Hollaway studied Barcelona’s Festa Major de Gràcia, where neighbors transform everyday streets through imagination, resourcefulness, ritual, and co-creation. Her research suggests that workplaces can function in much the same way: as immersive environments where people gather, contribute, celebrate, and see themselves reflected in the culture they build together.
Vikki Thorp
SEnior Project Manager
The Geography of Landlord Services
Vikki Thorp explored landlord services across New York, Houston, and Los Angeles, demonstrating that successful properties balance universal tenant expectations with highly local priorities. Amenities matter, but so do the realities of each market.